dannyjkray

This is my first time on this forum so hopefully this is in the right section. I've been shopping around for a ls1 trans am and one that I might be interested in has some problems. I want to get some of your input. It started hard and had a very rough idle, so much that you could see the engine shaking back and forth pretty aggressively. It had a check engine light so we plugged in our scanner and the coolant temp was showing zero at the pcm and the gauge was also showing zero. From my understanding there are two different sensors, one for the gauge and and one for the pcm. What are the odds of both of them being bad and would it cause that rough of an idle. He said it needed a tune-up and that he didn't change the plugs and doesn't know if the previous owner had it done. It has 113000 on it. The server rough idle is the only thing really making me hesitant on buying it. Thanks for any help.

NineZeroFive

I can't imagine a coolant temp sensor causing the rough idle. I'd take it to a mechanic before buying.

dannyjkray

Yeah thats what thought. If the plugs need to be changed could that do it. With the sensor broken it will probably flood the engine with gas right?

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Yes, the plugs can cause rough idle. However, it could also be several other things too, some of which are very expensive to fix. Take NineZeroFive's advice and let a mechanic look it over before you buy it. Call around and find a shop and let them know you are looking to buy a car and want them to look it over before you do. Most shops have no problem doing this and they should let you know exactly what they are going to check and give you a price right over the phone.
The added expense to do this should either give you peace of mind that you're making a safe purchase, or save you from buying a clunker.