SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys

I bought my 98 Trans Am Ws6 in the Summer and I finally have some money to put into it as far as a tuneup goes.

It has some mods already done to it, as listed in my signature.

Right now i'm doing:

-Oil/filter
-MSD wires
-AC Delco Iridium plugs (41110?) (I know that the NGK's were a little bit more popular but i'm **** about American stuff being on my American car when I can help it)

Any typical sensors I should change?

I am also going to clean up the MAF. My car has a SLP Lid and i'm thinking about getting the smooth bellow for it.


I am wondering if you guys have any suggestions as far as other things I should do to make sure my car is running the best it can, on a budget. Obviously I would love to get coil packs and injectors but I don't have loads of money sitting around. Possibly fuel filter? And is there a way to at least clean the coil packs or is it best to just leave them alone til I go aftermarket with them?

I'm relatively new to the LS1 and new to newer fuel injected cars, so I want to make sure i'm not missing anything. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

LASTOFTHEBREED02T/A

iTrader: (15)

Do some free mods if you havent done that already!... I debafled the scoops, Bypassed the Throttle body, and as far as a bellow goes. Dont buy an expensive slp type. Just go to home depot and buy a 3'' Fenco rubber coupling and 2 hose clamps for it, works just as great and only costs around 5 bucks.
You can also cut the lower airbox, at the bottom where it has the rectagle squares to get more air in. Bump stop mod, and just sea foam the hell out the ride... Poor half a can of sea foam in the gas tank, half in the engine oil and drive for about 100 miles and change oil, and another half through the vaccum line. That should restore any loss performance.

Good luck man!

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

Thank you very much for the response, i'll definitely try to get some of those free mods done. How is bypassing the throttlebody done and what are the benefits? Is there a writeup on it? And what is the bump stop mod? I have a can of seafoam waitin' for her! And by debaffled scoops do you mean by removing stuff behind the scoops on the hood, or the front screen part? Might be a dumb question sorry

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The actual GM part number for the plugs is 12621258, if you haven't ordered them already.

If the car has a lot of miles on it, you might pick up a little bit of MPG with fresh front O2 sensors, even if you're not seeing any codes/SES lights for this. But they are not cheap, and you might not notice any difference at all.

MAF cleaning is a good thing. Too many people overlook this. It should be part of any tune up, IMO.

The smooth bellow I would skip. No measureable power gain there, and certainly not worth the money.

Why would you want new coil packs if yours are working fine? So long as you're not getting unexplained misfires, there is nothing to be gained with new coil packs. Anyway, the aftermarket coil packs tend to not be as reliable as the stock ones. I would much rather have stock pieces in this particular application.

If the injectors are high mileage, their spray pattern might not be perfect any more. But they could be serviced/cleaned with something like Seafoam or Red Line fuel additive in the gas tank. For more in-depth cleaning, they would need to be removed. I see no reason to buy new ones if the car is running well though.

Fuel filter swap would be a good idea, and is simple and cheap. If you can change oil, you can change a fuel filter on a 4th gen. The filter itself is very affordable, about $10 or so if I remember correctly.

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the feedback, I really needed all of that. I have a misfire problem WHEN it rains, i'm not sure where that comes from. I was thinking/hoping it was a result of the wires going bad, and/or the connections of the wire boots to the plugs or coilpacks not being that great (so with the new stuff I will be using dielectric grease) But also I wasn't sure if it was a coilpack or not and I did not know how good the stock coilpacks hold up compared to aftermarket.

Where is the fuel filter located? I think I tried searching for this but sometimes it's hard to locate what i'm looking for on the search function.

ajwoodtransport

My fuel filter on my 2000 Camaro was under the car. Almost directly under the rear driver side seat. Don't know if was needed, but I took out the fuel pump fuse and then ran the car until it died to relieve pressure in the fuel line. It took two wrenches (can't remember what size). Put one on the fixed nut thats on the rear of the filter and hold it. Then put the other wrench on the nut that's on the line and simply unscrew it. I still had about a cup of fuel that poured out of the rear line and filter. It took me a little bit of wrestling to get the fuel filter out and back in it's mounting straps, but otherwise the job was pretty easy. Like mentioned, the fuel filter was only about $10 bucks.

LASTOFTHEBREED02T/A

iTrader: (15)

TB Bypass... Just remove the hoses on each side at the bottom of the TB and use a 1/4'' barb fitting with two hose clamps to seal any leaks. Keeps the hot radiator water from warming it up, and letting in a bit cooler air, which in theory creats more Hp, not much but everything adds up in the end.

Bump stop mod... Is shaving down the piece of the throttle body so the butterfly opens up at a complete 90* angle letting in more air. If you get a PNP POTZ throttle body from Ebay, it comes fully worked on with this mod, and Half shaft, which of course allows air to enter with less restrictions.

Debafle scoops... I removed the screens, and drilled out the rivets that hold the inner pieces of the scoops. They also have a bit of glue, your gona have to tug on them for a bit, to get them removed completely.

There are write ups all over the site from ppl like me that have done these simple things.

LASTOFTHEBREED02T/A

iTrader: (15)

Have you done any of these free mods yet?... You should do the bellow asap, no more turbulance from the stocker. 15min tops, just trim to fit.

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

I changed the oil last night, seafoamed the car, and cleaned the MAF sensor.

I plan on starting to do these 'free' mods either this weekend or next week. I looked under my air filter to see what you were talking about as far as cutting the air box for more air flow. I saw that the air box had been cut a little bit, but i'm wondering how much to cut out. The spaces where the air box is "cut" are still pretty small, probably if I had to guess, about 2 inches tall and 4-5 inches wide.

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

I actually finally found something that helps me out with these mods you guys are talking about... installuniversity.com

Guess it's free mod time for me!

Oh and any little tips/tricks for doing the spark plugs on these cars? Or is it something i'll just have to figure out myself? Probably going underneath for the back ones and what not

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Many of the tips/tricks you hear will pertain to '99+ cars, since they have a coil rail that can be removed from the valve cover for easier access to the back plugs. Also, the '00+ cars have a different exhaust manifold/cat configuration, so potential access points from underneath will be a bit different on those cars.

'98s are the only year that has no coil rail combined with the older style manifolds/cats. I guess you could remove each individual coil pack, but I think that would be more work than it's worth. On mine, I just removed the AIR tube and reach all the plugs from the top. For #8 plug, I just put my knee on the battery and lay across the engine bay, reaching my arm down and back to the final plug.

777Shock777

iTrader: (5)

SteveWS6, yes Installuniversity is awesome!

I'm actually doing my spark plugs n wires right now, I've had my car down for almost a week, I've been taking my time and cleaning the engine while I do it.

I think once you start doing it you get a hang of it.
I guess I have smaller hands, because I'm able to reach the back passenger side one with some effort from the top

I do exactly what RPM WS6 does, put your knee on the battery and lay in the engine bay haha xD

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the tips guys. I did plugs on my 88 Trans Am and they were the hardest i've ever done! I think these may almost be as hard but it seems like a doable job lol. Once my car is for sure staying in the garage for as long as I need, i'll definitely start conquering the job slowly but surely to make sure I stay motivated and don't get frustrated. My car has a very very very minor misfire on all the driver side cylinders. But this misfire gets REALLY bad when it rains. I am thinking that this will be resolved with the new plugs and wires especially sealed up real well with dielectric grease? Anyone else have this same issue with the same side? Just wondering

GSE3WS6

the misfire might just be a pin hole in one of the wires i had that happen on my wife's Sunfire i noticed i checked the wires to make sure that they were seated all the way and one ended up shocking me. if you put the new ones on and it still does it then would worry but if you gonna replace them any way....

garygnu

consider a mail order tune by Frost .

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

I definitely will be looking into that, especially when I get my tax refund. Right now cash is a little bit tight.

I changed my fuel filter last night which went really well. Now, as I look into the free mods, I want to address something. My air box is already a ram air box and it has been cut into.

http://i45.tinypic.com/24e3qfm.jpg (it's upside down sorry)
Is there any additional cutting I should do to it?

Also, here is a picture of my throttlebody. I just want to verify that it has not been already modded for the bump stop before I start going to town on it.

http://i50.tinypic.com/34p1084.jpg

I appreciate the input!

777Shock777

iTrader: (5)

From the upside down image, it looks like you already have the "Free Ram Air Mod".

I'm a little confused because I thought all 98-99 F-bodies had the brown springed Throttle Bodies. (I may be wrong, hopefully someone can chime in).

Good to hear the car is coming along

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

Thank you for the feedback Shock.

When I bought the car in July, it was said that the throttlebody was ported. That being said, i'm not sure if it's the original throttlebody on the car, or if that's the original spring on it. I really have no clue. I did look closely at the TB and it has "AC" on it in a circle, leading me to believe it's AC Delco lol. Maybe it's a TB off a different year and it was ported, I have no clue.

Doc Vater

"But this misfire gets REALLY bad when it rains"...and why do you have your car out in the rain?

SteveWs6

iTrader: (1)

It's my daily driver! I had to sell my 79 Camaro (summer car) and my 88 T/A (daily driver) in order to afford my dream car (my current 4th gen WS6) sooooo yeahhh. Sometimes I get caught in the rain and my car does not like it! lol