Hi everyone this is my first post on this site, although i have been lurking for quite a while. I hate that the first post has to be asking for help. Ive found so much good information here i figure this is the best place to go. ill try to be as detailed as possible to avoid any confusion.

i just bought this camaro z28 about a 2-3 weeks ago. It is my daily driver and my only vehicle. Got it for a really good price now i kinda see why. It an 02 with 76k. its the automatic with 3.73s i believe based on the crusing rpms.

Ok so first off when crusing around 70 and up i hear kinda of a humming sound coming from the rear(maybe mid) sounds more like the rear though. the humming/ light howling noise gets louder i believe the faster i go. also i hear a bump sound thats rotational like it bump-bump-bump-bump as the the tire goes over. i say bump because thats the best way to describe the noise. its not an actual bump feel it just sounds kinda like a flat spot on the tire would sound. i felt my tires and they dont feel or look out of round. i plan to swap the fronts with the backs see what happens.

another thing is its started to bog. a couple days ago when i was leaving to go to work i pulled out of my apartments and it bogged bad like jerked several times before building any power to move. today when leaving work i bogged a little when giving it gas initially(like it start to bog and id let out then push the gas again and itd bog kinda its wasnt bad as the first time though itd go just bog on initial gas press but stop bogging with more peddle) it did quit when the air pump went off. also that morning when it initially bogged bad the car was still cold (maybe been running 1-2 minutes so the air pump was running then) im kinda thinking fuel problem. and also when trying to go fast the car feels like it has no power i feel it really struggles to get up in the upper mphs (ive had a 98z28 before and this car feels nothing like that car). sometimes when i punch it kinda goes then itll hit 3k rpm and boom the power hits. noticeable jump into power kinda like a turbo kicked in but not as drastic. and now it started to feel real weak. like trying to goose it and it doesnt really do anything. on my way in today i punched it for a roklng start around 5-8 mph and it didnt do jack just kinda revved up and didnt go. i let out immediately because i was worried.

also sometimes it wont start turn the key over and BOOM nothing at all. thankfully i saw a thread on here where a guy had to hold the key down for like 1-2 min and it starts thats what mine does. i think its the just the starter failing though. so thats currently at the top of my list to fix. unless there other problems are more important.


any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated. I know my grammar is terrible so forgive me if you misread anything i will do my best to clarify.

also if this is the wrong forum or if i should post each problem into its retrospective forum i will just let me know.

 

First thing that comes to my mind with what you explain about bogging and no power in lower RPM is perhaps a MAF sensor. The cheap thing to try first would be a new fuel filter, though.

As for the sound coming from the rear, it might be the gears/carrier if you've got 3.73's in there. I state this in the context that the install might not have been perfect or perhaps the rear is on the way out. This is assuming you actually have 3.73's; autos came with 2.73 or 3.23.

 

You're correct I meant to say 3.23s, I was looking at rear ends before I posted that so the wrong gears were on my mind. As far as I know and was informed by the original owner the car is bone stock.

Fuel filter is bought and getting replaced first thing Saturday morning. The loss of power isn't limited to happening at low rpms. This morning on the way to work. I goosed it a couple of times. Some times it would just act dead. Others it would launch hard and then drop off rapidly like hitting 3.5k and it'd lose it. Sometimes it would brake the tires loose then as soon at it hit second loose all power again. I'm praying its simple thing like the fuel filter.

 

Do you know anyone else with a LS1 car that you could swap MAF sensors to see if that might be the culprit?

 

No sir I do not. I was thinking about making a thread in the regional forum to see if anyone was in my area that maybe could help.

Do you thinking unplugging the maf and letting it run on speed density would be a good alternative?

 

You could give this a try. If it helps (and either way regardless), I would suggest cleaning the MAF. Many of these cars have had K&N air filters used over the years, which eventually causes oil build-up on the MAF wires. This can cause all kinds of driveability issues. You can try a spray cleaner, but if they are really gummed up then this won't be enough. You'll need to apply extremely light pressure with a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol to get them clean. I've done this many times, and so long as you don't use too much pressure (just let the Q-tip sort of glide along the surface) you won't hurt a thing.

The other thing to check would be fuel pressure. And if you can get access to a scanner, I'd want to look at misfire data, long term fuel trims, and front O2 values....all while the conditions are occuring.

 

I did unplug it on the way home and it didn't run any better. After 2500rpm it just doesn't build power at all. I can use the scanner at oriellys. I don't know if it'll log those things. Although if it can I think I can get them to let me run down the road with it. I definitely will clean the maf Saturday. Would y'all happen to know if the factory jack can lift the whole side of the Camaro? If not i do have two jack stands and a set of ramps im sure i can fenagle it around and get it .I want to rotate my tires to see it moves the sounds coming from the rear.

 

It would probably be a good idea to check fuel pressure then.

You can look for lean values for front O2s, and/or elevated LTFTs if it's a decent OBD scanner. LTFTs should generally always stay within +/- 10% at idle and cruise (0% or slightly negative is ideal, but with a stock tune it'll usually hover somewhere between +0-10% depending on conditions.) O2 values will move around and stock sensors aren't super accurate, but below .800 @WOT is lean.

 

Please forgive my ignorance. What is LTFT? what value should it be within -/+ 10% of?

 

Sorry now I see long term fuel trim. What values should it be within 10% of. I'm sure you can tell I haven't read the abbreviation sticky yet.

 

Ok I changed the fuel filter and it helped a ton the old one I could barely blow air through. Car runs a lot better but it still hesitates. I cleaned the maf and attached pictures of it after.cleaning it wasn't dirty to the eye there was a small bug stuck to the screen and a couple pieces of debris stuck to the screen though. I also bought some seafoam deepcreep and regular seafoam and ran it through brake booster vacuum hose.

I didn't get access to a scanner oriellys wouldnt even let me hold theirs. All it showed was a too lean code which is to be expected. I do not have access to a scanner that can log fuel trims and such. Everyone I know only have the basic one that shows codes.


Also when I was under my car I saw where some fluid from the rear end was leaking from right behind the u joint. Is that a seal? Is it possible to replace it and how do I check the fluid level in my rear end? I would like to drain it completely and run some royal purple in that baby. After fixing the leak first.

Also thanks demonspeed and rpmws6 I really appreciate your input.

 

I would not worry too much about a slight leak from the front seal on the rear end, it is pretty common. Replace it when you can. To check the fluid level in the rear end, there should be a plug on the side of the differential, might look like a big hex key plug, take that off and stick your finger in there, if you touch oil you are fine. If you can't feel oil it is low. There is another plug on the bottom. You can just remove it, drain the oil, put the plug back in and fill the fluid back up through the side plug with new oil until it runs out the side hole. It is pretty simple, do a search here for full instructions, but that is about it. When you buy gear lube oil for the rear end be sure to get one that comes with a pump to pump it in, or buy a pump. Also get rear end fluid that already contains the limited slip additive.

Since you cleaned the MAF sensor I assume that you also have put a new air filter in or cleaned the one you have.

The plugged fuel filter indicates, to me, that the previous owner did not maintain the car well.

The noise you hear from tires and rear end may just be normal, these cars are not insulated well and can have a lot of road noise.

Keep approaching the problem as you are currently doing, by eliminating one possible source at a time. You have addressed the fuel filter and MAF cleaning. Don't assume you have a major problem until all the possible minor issues have been looked at.

Pull a spark plug and see what it looks like, run another couple cans of fuel treatment through the gas tank. You may just have a poorly maintained car.

 

The man I bought it from was the second owner. He purchased the car is 03 with 15k on the odometer. He told he its been sitting in the garage for the past 4-5 years ever since he got married and had children. He said he drove it occasionally to keep the fluid circulated and battery charged. So its totally possible as things poped up he just put it off and put it off. I got the car for an absolute great price, at least I think so it was thousands under bluebook and Nada. Aside from the maintenance issues now. The car is immaculate inside and out, except the sport appearance package spoiler cover paint is faded aside from that nothing cosmetic. I'm guessing he knew it needed work so that's why he wasn't trying to rip someone off. I also got the feeling his wife was a big part in him selling the car.


I'll pull a couple plugs tomorrow.I really wanna change them. I need to order that wire+ free plugs that a sponsor is selling. I didn't change the air filter. Its fram and it looks brand new I'm pretty sure he got an oil change before he sold it cause the oil looked brand new when I checked it before I bought it.

I'm really trying to find a fuel pressure gauge. I'd really wanna make sure it isn't the fuel pump. Because I'm really unsure how to drop The tank with no good floor jacks/ lift access and by yourself at that. I really hate apt living.

 

If the fuel filter change made this much difference all by itself, and was clogged to that degree, then the fuel pump may have been weakened by having to push through all that resistance for this period of time. It would be a good idea to check fuel pressure, IMO.

The "code reader only" scanners that don't have a comprehensive display won't be of much help for this problem, at this point.

Not sure I would attempt to do it this way without a lift, just too much hassle IMO. I'd probably go with the "trap door" method.

 

I agree with those guys and their comments about how to approach these issues going forward. There have got to be other LS1 people in Mobile, AL to help you out, though, so don't feel defeated because you're in an apartment complex!

 

Thanks for the encouragement!! I'm still plugging along at it. I never pulled any plugs I will soon though because I ordered that wire+plug combo from sdparts.com.

My previous post can most likely be disregarded because that next morning it seemed even worse I could barely make it out the drive way it just wouldn't go period. Earlier today it was still running like crap, No power, no take off. I went and rented a fuel pressure gauge from oriellys and man did it seem like a peice of crap. It took some fiddling but I got it to start reading. It read 30 psi but the needle was extremely bouncy like jumping between 28-35 psi really fast. When I driving and giving it gas trying to go at least it'd dip down to to around 25 psi. Still constantly bouncing. I'm gonna rent one or 2 more and test it again. Just to be sure the reading is accurate. I've used fuel gauges before and none have acted like this one so I'm somewhat hesitate(might be partial denial) that its reading right.

When I was returning the fuel gauge to get my rental deposit back i used there code reader it read code p0131 the low voltage on the 02 sensor I stupidly didn't take pics of the code description but I googled it and it said low voltage on bank 1 sensor 1 so I went ahead and bought an o2 sensor I know its better to do pairs but I could only afford 1 and they only had 1 I got the Bosch 13444. Gonna change it this weekend if bank one is the drivers side. I deleted the code.( in case I didn't mention or elaborate when I got the fuel filter they checked the ses code then the guy wouldn't let me touch the scanner and he couldn't figure out how to erase since he refused to listen to me but I can't remember the code but it was a running lean code on bank 2 sensor 2 after I changed the fuel filter the lean code went away.)

Ok after I did all that on my way home something amazing happened! I punched it and it WENT!! Oh it gloriously went!! Right to 130 ( I let out) no problem the acceleratin didn't really feel like its 100% but that's to be expected. After that I hit it again and it down shifted and fell on its face then after that it went again and ran great all they way home!!
I made me feel better but I'm still going to continue to check things. I'm going to find a different fuel gauge tomorrow and test the pressure again and hopefully get a better reading or get a similar reading to confirm my fears.


I attached pics of the freeze frame data from the p0131 code. And im sorry for taking so long to get back I've been busy and sleepy.

I found a couple selling ls1 camaros on craigslist I emailed them asking for help I was gonna make a thread in the regional forums and see if there is anyone from here in my area.


Also I'm posting from my phone I can only view so much of what I write at a time so if anything is off or doesn't make sense I'll be sure and clarify

 

Just wanted to add some closure to this thread in case anyone runs across it. The problem was my fuel pump. When I pulled it out of the tank it was in absolute horrible condition. The interior filter sock was stuffed with rusted material. Since it was inside the sock I'm.guessing that the material had to come out of the pump itself. I know its been quite a while since I started the thread. But I've been working so Much I haven't had time to get to it. Then finding a rack was very difficult I did find someone, well two people with a lift but they kept bullcrapping me about actually using it. So I went to my brothers and put the car on jack stands. Removing the tank wasn't as bad as expected though. After reading stuff on here I was dreading dropping it. It really wasn't Bad at all though

 

Yes, those fuel pumps will getcha EVERY time!
(Ask me how I know. )