Ok I have a 2002 Z28 Camaro with only about 16,000 miles on it, and the car is kept up very nicely, is not driven in snow or rain, now for the winter I had put her away with no problems and when i pulled her out this year I have had the worse troubles with her. When I take off normally right around 2000 rpm the engine will sputter, like it will hesitate and run like crap, and then when i give it some more gas it will do it worse and when i give her alot of gas it will come out of it and take off like a bat out of hell! Now I took ehr to the deralship a few times to have them put it on the Tech II computer and they caem up with the MAF was dirty because filter oil came from the K&N and made its way up to the MAF, so I had an Induction cleaning on the car, like cleaning the rails and the MAF was changed to a new one and they cleaned my throttle body and all that good stuff, but when i got it back maybe 2 miles away from the dealship it started to sputter and hesitate again! I have clanged the plugs on it, I have done almost everything I can think of to the car and it wont run right, always around 2000 rpm it will run like crap, on the highway it runs fine but on like the city streets it runs like complete crap and I have spent enough money TRYING to figure out what the problem could be. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do or what it might be....Here is a list of the mods I have done to it:

Engine:

Rocker Arms 1.85 Ratio
SLP Cold air Lid
SLP Ram Air Package
SLP 160º thermostat
SLP Smooth Bellows
SLP Hardened Pushrods
SLP Timing Chain
SLP Oil Pump
SLP Springs and Retainers

Suspension and DriveTrain:

Moser 12-Bolt rear end with 33-spline axels, eaton posi
SLP lower Control Arms
SLP Panhard Bar
SLP Subframe Connectors
Rebuilt Trans
Spec Stage 2 Clutch and Flywheel
SLP Manual Fan Switch
SLP Line Lock
B&M Ripper Shifter
SLP Strut Tower Brace


PLEASE HELP!! I HAVE NO MORE MONEY I CAN WASTE TO PAY PEOPLE TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHATS WRONG WITH IT!

 

Just a thought.... How long did your car sit? How much gas was/ is in it? Maybe the gas is bad? Don't trip until that tank is gone and you fill up with real good gas. That is what it sounds like to me. I would definitely take a look. My two cents. ---John

 

I agree. Probably bad gas. It happens to me as well. I have a 2002 SS with 2200 miles on it. Every spring the same thing...

 

nah i already ran about 5-6 tanks through the car and changed plugs and had induction cleaning done on the car as well!

 

i would also look for some un-metered air. maybe some "mice damage" something chewed.
a bad hose to the throttle body, a lose coupler on the air cleaner/maf/thbdy

 

Any chance you live near Philly?

 

No I live in the Detroit area...

 

Well good thing we have this site. Some food for thought.

What gap did you use for the plugs?

When you changed the plugs, did any particular wire seem difficult to pull off? Maybe a little oxidized on the terminal?

Be more specific about the sputter, because it kinda sounds like a bad coil or wire. Does it sputter like one cylinder is out or more than one? Total lack of power would normally make me think low fuel pressure, but if it does sputter, like I think you're saying, then it might be ignition related. I have come across this so many times. Put your foot into it and it magically disappears. Take a visual on the wires look for cracks or signs of deterioration. Get under the hood while it's running and look to see if a wire is arcing on the valve cover or something.

It idles bad as well? or just around 2000rpm under part load?

Such low mileage would make me believe that the various sensors involved are OK.
They most likely would have thrown a code when the dealer looked at it...but anything is possible.

 

back to the dealer. they didnt fix it

 

I used a 0.045 Gap on all the plugs....the wires seemed fine but I have a new set im picking up later on today... and also im picking up a new fuel filter too and changing it out tom as well....and if all this doesnt do the trick then its off to the dealership for a new MAP sensor....I'll keep you guy's posted on this

 

Sounds like a bad wire to me... but, that seems weird, because your car is not that old. hmmm. Let us know what happens when your replace the wires.

The dealership is SO bogus. I used a K&N and NEVER had a problem with it. SO quick to blame it on something the customer has done.

 

I had the same problem on my 01z28 i changed plugs,wires coil pack,fuel filterand nothing changed till i reset the programmer problem fixed.till last night it started misfiring again it ran fine for about month maybe i should change the maf.

 

ok, so i chaged the fuel filter today and drove it, it seemed good for about 5 minutes and then it started to sputter again... The only thing to do now is hope that changing the MAP sensor and putting on the new wires... if that dont work then im gonna have to get a new TPS sensor and reset the computer, hopefully that will fix my problem and if not then im just gonna fork over $500 to get a dyno tune to take out the rear o2 sensors and the cats and have them do some timing and such other things...THAT HAS TO WORK!

 

Wait a tick...2002 with 16k this car is still covered, no?
Don't be so willing to fork over $500 for a tune. I'm betting that won't do it. I wouldn't suspect the map or tps either. The K&N is no warranty breaker either.

>about 5 minutes and then it started to sputter again
Really sounds like wires since a bad wire will create more resistance once it's hot. If it were an injector, it wouldn't clear out when you put your foot into it.

Change those wires, I'll cross my fingers now.

 

ok i'll give it a try...

 

get it put on a tech 2, or other scanner, and do atest of the TPS go from idle, and slowly increase to wot, and make sure there are no dead spots in the sensor. you can do the test with the car off, but in the run position.

thats my only idea.

Ryan

 

Sure sounds like a fuel delivery problem, that only gets
better when PE kicks in (or you go open loop). It would
be good to distinguish the two. It wants logging for starts,
check for normal O2 behavior (proper bouncing at cruise).
Then an injector drop test (dealer or EFILive) to see if the
sitting has left one of them abnormal. TPS and MAP sensors
seem very unlikely failures to me, and blindly replacing things
in order of accessibility is not a success strategy. A fuel
pressure check too, while you're at it. Agree that the dealer
ought to be taking this as a warranty thing until fixed.

 

FINALLY!!!!!!! The car is FIXED! The problem was the front o2 sensors, both of them, i dont know why they didnt throw a code but when i replaced both of them, the car ran GREAT!