95'FiReChIcKeN

iTrader: (1)

So here I am, trying to be smart and maintain my car (95 Trans Am ). My car needed some new tires so i decided to upgrade wheels while i was at it. I got 17" aftermarket Zr1 wheels, they are 9.5 +56mm offset. For tires I got 265/40 zr17 Falken FK-452. Now the problem is that ever since I put them on my abs light, air bag light and sometimes my brake light turn on. Usually after driving for a couple min. they turn off with the exception of the abs light. Why do they turn on? What can I do to fix this? The other problem is that I recently changed the Opti-spark, spark plugs, spark plug wires, oil and filter. Now everytime I start my car smoke comes out the exhaust but only for the couple seconds its starting up, the exhaust has a bad smell but dont know how to describe it. My friend told me that maybe since the car had always used regular oil and and this time I used synthetic oil (Royal purple) that could be the culprit. Anybody know what is going on? Can anything happen to my car? Im a little worried and dont want anything bad happen to my car. PLEASE HELP GUYS! (sorry about the long post)

monster81

smoke at start-up is probably an indication of bad valve stem seals, it gets worse with the use of fully synthetic oil,,,

95'FiReChIcKeN

iTrader: (1)

...guess I have a big problem in my hands... Can I still drive my car around for a while before something bad happens or should I get it to my mechanic ASAP? Anybody have an idea how much this is going to run me($)?

monster81

im not sure but if its ur valve stem seals then dont worry bout it, u can still drive ur car around...i had the same problem i just switched to a thicker oil (non synthetic) and the smoke was gone.
valve stem seals are cheap and shouldnt take more than 2 hours to change them with the right tool in hand.

95'FiReChIcKeN

iTrader: (1)

Thanks allot man, thats good news (well, technically still bad) since ima be a little tight on cash for a while. Do you have any idea with my other problem though?

monster81

sorry bro i have no idea,, but i suggest u check ur fuse box, u might have a burned ABS or Airbag fuse

95'FiReChIcKeN

iTrader: (1)

Guess i'll have to check them out... BTW: Don't want to sound ignorant but where is Bahrain located? Just curious as to see where our f-body brothers are spreading to in this world.

fleetmgr

Bahrain is an island country in the Persian Gulf.

You've got a case of bad valve stem seals. The real fix is to replace them, and possible have your valve guides repaired as well.

H2O's

I would check the wheel sensors for the abs. I had one come undone after I swapped rims. I must have pulled it out or it was loose and just putting the tires on was enough to jar it loose. I also read that a good cleaning of the sensor helps get rid of this.

Link to Shoebox's site for location of sensor
http://shbox.com/1/front_hub.jpg

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

95'FiReChIcKeN,

Your ABS and Brake Light......perfectly normal that they come on. You have different sized tires now. The profile hieght is different and the sensors pick that up.

Everyone gets different reactions to this. My TCS light comes in addition to your lights. But all 3 lights on my car will come on ONLY after I've been driving over 70mph for about 5 minutes or so. If I never go above 70mph for that ~5min they will never come on and everything works perfectly. I also have 17" tires, but they are 315/35....so the profile hieght is different.

As soon as I turn the engine off, just for a second, and turn it back on, they all reset and are fine forever...unless I go over about 70mph again for 5 minutes or so.

Its no big deal. But in your case it sounds like they come on after a few mijnutes no matter what kind of driving you're doing...RIGHT??? Thats just more annoying than what I have....its no big deal to drive it that way.


The smoking at start-up issue....how many miles do you have?
I personally am not a big fan of synthetic oil, I think its a waste of money and does nothing more for the engine than regular oil.....as long as you change it every 3,000. If you have alot of miles that sythetic oil might be getting past the rings and/or valve seals easier than the regular oil will.


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H2O's

^??????

I never had heard that before. Plus the difference is 25.4 for stock and 25.34 for his set up. Can imagine it is that sensitive.

nik1703

Yeah man lose the synthetic oil. Doesnt make a damn difference.

Unless you could having a lighter wallet as a difference.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

why didn't you go with the stock WS6 tire size 275/40/17? thats what i did when i changed out my 16's for 17x9.5 ZR1's 4 years ago. i'm now on my second set of 275's. I think my first set was falkens. i had no trouble with the ABS/Brake lights after the swap. i did have issues with my original 16's but that was because the pads were warn and needed changed. once i changed the pads and rotors i never had another problem with the abs inop light. a 275 40 17 tire also gives you an almost identical tire height to the stock 245 50 16. i think i read somewhere that the tire height is close enough that the speedometer is less than 1mph off at 150mph or something like that. i know i've gone through some of those "you are going XX mph" signs and it was dead on at 45mph.

according to a tire size calculator i found, the tire heights are as follows

245 50 16 (stock)
25.6 in

275/40/17
25.7 in

265/40/17
25.3 in

says i'm 0.1% too slow on my speedo so at 60mph i'm going 60mph, lol. i think i'd have to get up to 1000mph to see a 1mph difference actually since its 0.1% and not 1% like i thought

yours on the other hand is 1.2% too slow so if you're speedo says 60mph you're actually going 59.3 mph

95'FiReChIcKeN

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I guess I could have gotten 275's but I didnt have the extra $100 on me at the time... got the tires on special real cheap. As for the oil...I guess im switching back to conventional oil then...

creepingdeath94

iTrader: (1)

If the ABS lights were not coming on before the wheel swap, I would say that it IS that sensitive. I can't say for certain on his car, but many of the OBDII cars are sensitive enough to pick it up. I would say if you still have the old wheel/tires laying around, just swap them on...after clearing the computer...and see if it goes away. I have a feeling it is just related to the new wheel size. You can also try and program the computer for the new wheel sizes...if there is a programing option for wheel size or an equation within the data logging somewhere in the computer you can change to accommodate the new wheel size. I know I have to swap out my speedo gear inside the tailshaft of my tranny for the 3.73 gear ratio I have now. Also could be affecting my ABS as when I bought the car the ABS light was on...I will be looking into it eventually.

As far as the smoking, I agree with what the others have said about valve seals. It is not the end of the world to keep driving it, but I would try and go to an oil that makes it less or eliminates it if I could. Eventually the valve seals leaking will cause the plugs to foul on whatever cylinders are the worst. May take a while, but it eventually it will be a problem and you'll either be removing plugs and cleaning them frequently when that day comes or running on 6 or 7 cylinders. Plus everyone knows how much fun taking the spark plugs out on these cars is.

I would try and budget for time and money to get the valve seals replaced. You can get the seals cheap...it's mostly labor and having the right tools so you don't have to take the heads off. If you can get the tool to hold air pressure on the cylinders through the spark plug hole while you do each set, that would make life a lot easier.

Formula96

why would the wheel sensors pick up on it, the wheel hub is still spinning at the same speed it always was....

97badass

iTrader: (8)

yeah they are going the same speed, however the larger/smaller tires are not. you cover more distance at the same speed on the speedo with larger tires than you do with smaller tires. for instance... i went from 195 tires on my cobalt to a 245 speedo is off about 5 mph at 65 so instead of running 65 im really running 70. make sense? and the hub still moves the same speed.