'95 Formula LT1 guidence
'95 Formula LT1 guidence Alright guys I need some guidence here. I am new to your site and done alot of reading before posting. I just need some clues on where to start and some opinions from all of you that have been in these situations before.
Ok so I am by no means a newbie to tech work. Just always a Jeep/Chrysler guy that has never had the chance to deal with an LT1. I have done tune ups on a few LS1's.
So here is what I have... The chance to get into a '95 Firebird Formula for nothing. Trading off a car for it and I would be even up. This car is by NO means clean. That does not worry me. What does worry me, heavy vibration that feels like a miss. You can find this in park or neutral, bring it up slowly to 2000rpm and you can feel the motor shake. In gear, driving you dont always have it. Or at least feel it as much. Now I could get it to chug in certain situations. Half throttle roll in, roll out of throttle, then rights back in to half and it fell on its face and acted as if she wanted to backfire. That was at a 15 to 20mph situation.
Next is what I call a rotational vibration. I am leaning to driveline. Possible unbalanced drive shaft, or bent, bent axle, bent or out of balance rim. Between 40 to 55mph you get it most. Imagine a 4x4 with oversize mud terrains. The rooomf rooooooomf rooooomf kinda deal. Its fine for my jeep but not this car.
What I know about it, 10,000 miles on a built trans. Shop with good rep. Not sure untill he shows me paper work but says it was built to handle over 600hp. Bigger clutch pack, higher stall converter, shift kit. Aftermarket hood and ram-air. I can see where the old was and they never removed the plumbing for intake coming up. But is full functional ram air. Newer tires. Again shop with good rep mounted and balanced. Some exhaust work including flowmaster muffler. Possiblly flashed pcm or chip. He says he thinks it has something. I did notice it will shift out beyond redline with heavy foot. 6500rpm.
Now the motor runs strong, very strong with a heavy foot. Smooth all through and pulls hard. But I did notice a difference in power between one drive to the next. I also heard a rattle a couple times which sounded dead on to the guts of the cat rattling around. Which yes would cause alot of issues. I just wanted to get advice from the guys that know these cars best. Hard deal for me to pass up, but if I have to..... I probably wont. Ha! I love the possibilites of this car. And I think I am getting into it right. I like spending time getting greasy anyways. So opti? O2's? Plugs? Rearend? THanks Guys! Show me the right direction please!!!!
Ok so I am by no means a newbie to tech work. Just always a Jeep/Chrysler guy that has never had the chance to deal with an LT1. I have done tune ups on a few LS1's.
So here is what I have... The chance to get into a '95 Firebird Formula for nothing. Trading off a car for it and I would be even up. This car is by NO means clean. That does not worry me. What does worry me, heavy vibration that feels like a miss. You can find this in park or neutral, bring it up slowly to 2000rpm and you can feel the motor shake. In gear, driving you dont always have it. Or at least feel it as much. Now I could get it to chug in certain situations. Half throttle roll in, roll out of throttle, then rights back in to half and it fell on its face and acted as if she wanted to backfire. That was at a 15 to 20mph situation.
Next is what I call a rotational vibration. I am leaning to driveline. Possible unbalanced drive shaft, or bent, bent axle, bent or out of balance rim. Between 40 to 55mph you get it most. Imagine a 4x4 with oversize mud terrains. The rooomf rooooooomf rooooomf kinda deal. Its fine for my jeep but not this car.
What I know about it, 10,000 miles on a built trans. Shop with good rep. Not sure untill he shows me paper work but says it was built to handle over 600hp. Bigger clutch pack, higher stall converter, shift kit. Aftermarket hood and ram-air. I can see where the old was and they never removed the plumbing for intake coming up. But is full functional ram air. Newer tires. Again shop with good rep mounted and balanced. Some exhaust work including flowmaster muffler. Possiblly flashed pcm or chip. He says he thinks it has something. I did notice it will shift out beyond redline with heavy foot. 6500rpm.
Now the motor runs strong, very strong with a heavy foot. Smooth all through and pulls hard. But I did notice a difference in power between one drive to the next. I also heard a rattle a couple times which sounded dead on to the guts of the cat rattling around. Which yes would cause alot of issues. I just wanted to get advice from the guys that know these cars best. Hard deal for me to pass up, but if I have to..... I probably wont. Ha! I love the possibilites of this car. And I think I am getting into it right. I like spending time getting greasy anyways. So opti? O2's? Plugs? Rearend? THanks Guys! Show me the right direction please!!!!
So here is what I have... The chance to get into a '95 Firebird Formula for nothing. Trading off a car for it and I would be even up. This car is by NO means clean. That does not worry me. What does worry me, heavy vibration that feels like a miss. You can find this in park or neutral, bring it up slowly to 2000rpm and you can feel the motor shake. In gear, driving you dont always have it. Or at least feel it as much. Now I could get it to chug in certain situations. Half throttle roll in, roll out of throttle, then rights back in to half and it fell on its face and acted as if she wanted to backfire. That was at a 15 to 20mph situation.
If you truly want the car then get it, if not do not get it. Some people dont mind fixing the car they truly want, but if you dont then dont get it. As for the vibration, it can be a misfire....does it have a check engine light on?
either way try to read the codes, it may have a bad or missing bulb!
It could be a bad tps too, from the other description but more possible to a bad opti,coil,icm.
Next is what I call a rotational vibration. I am leaning to driveline. Possible unbalanced drive shaft, or bent, bent axle, bent or out of balance rim. Between 40 to 55mph you get it most. Imagine a 4x4 with oversize mud terrains. The rooomf rooooooomf rooooomf kinda deal. Its fine for my jeep but not this car.
You will have too look at the rims and see if they are bent at all, or even the tires to feel them and see if you can FEEL any belts in the tire broken to cause the vibe or sound. It could possibly be a bad u joint or even a bent driveshaft like you said, but more possible to be a bad u joint or out of balance.
What I know about it, 10,000 miles on a built trans. Shop with good rep. Not sure untill he shows me paper work but says it was built to handle over 600hp. Bigger clutch pack, higher stall converter, shift kit. Aftermarket hood and ram-air. I can see where the old was and they never removed the plumbing for intake coming up. But is full functional ram air. Newer tires. Again shop with good rep mounted and balanced. Some exhaust work including flowmaster muffler. Possiblly flashed pcm or chip. He says he thinks it has something. I did notice it will shift out beyond redline with heavy foot. 6500rpm.
Well I didnt read this part yet but if they balanced the tires and put on new tires, there goes your idea about bad tires and bad balancing. But it can be still a bent rim or even bad balance job. I have seen it way to many times.
The car sounds nice for what it is and the trans to have 10k only on it, dont really believe it unless you have paper work to prove it is what it is! As for the converter, you can go under the car and pull the inspection cover to see if there really is one. As for the 6500 rpm shift, stock will not do that at all, so there is something going on there for sure. Either way do what your heart says and go from there. As always you have this website to HELP you with whatever you need. This is the best site for details on anything.
Now the motor runs strong, very strong with a heavy foot. Smooth all through and pulls hard. But I did notice a difference in power between one drive to the next. I also heard a rattle a couple times which sounded dead on to the guts of the cat rattling around. Which yes would cause alot of issues. I just wanted to get advice from the guys that know these cars best. Hard deal for me to pass up, but if I have to..... I probably wont. Ha! I love the possibilites of this car. And I think I am getting into it right. I like spending time getting greasy anyways. So opti? O2's? Plugs? Rearend? THanks Guys! Show me the right direction please!!!![/QUOTE]
If you truly want the car then get it, if not do not get it. Some people dont mind fixing the car they truly want, but if you dont then dont get it. As for the vibration, it can be a misfire....does it have a check engine light on?
either way try to read the codes, it may have a bad or missing bulb!
It could be a bad tps too, from the other description but more possible to a bad opti,coil,icm.
Next is what I call a rotational vibration. I am leaning to driveline. Possible unbalanced drive shaft, or bent, bent axle, bent or out of balance rim. Between 40 to 55mph you get it most. Imagine a 4x4 with oversize mud terrains. The rooomf rooooooomf rooooomf kinda deal. Its fine for my jeep but not this car.
You will have too look at the rims and see if they are bent at all, or even the tires to feel them and see if you can FEEL any belts in the tire broken to cause the vibe or sound. It could possibly be a bad u joint or even a bent driveshaft like you said, but more possible to be a bad u joint or out of balance.
What I know about it, 10,000 miles on a built trans. Shop with good rep. Not sure untill he shows me paper work but says it was built to handle over 600hp. Bigger clutch pack, higher stall converter, shift kit. Aftermarket hood and ram-air. I can see where the old was and they never removed the plumbing for intake coming up. But is full functional ram air. Newer tires. Again shop with good rep mounted and balanced. Some exhaust work including flowmaster muffler. Possiblly flashed pcm or chip. He says he thinks it has something. I did notice it will shift out beyond redline with heavy foot. 6500rpm.
Well I didnt read this part yet but if they balanced the tires and put on new tires, there goes your idea about bad tires and bad balancing. But it can be still a bent rim or even bad balance job. I have seen it way to many times.
The car sounds nice for what it is and the trans to have 10k only on it, dont really believe it unless you have paper work to prove it is what it is! As for the converter, you can go under the car and pull the inspection cover to see if there really is one. As for the 6500 rpm shift, stock will not do that at all, so there is something going on there for sure. Either way do what your heart says and go from there. As always you have this website to HELP you with whatever you need. This is the best site for details on anything.
Now the motor runs strong, very strong with a heavy foot. Smooth all through and pulls hard. But I did notice a difference in power between one drive to the next. I also heard a rattle a couple times which sounded dead on to the guts of the cat rattling around. Which yes would cause alot of issues. I just wanted to get advice from the guys that know these cars best. Hard deal for me to pass up, but if I have to..... I probably wont. Ha! I love the possibilites of this car. And I think I am getting into it right. I like spending time getting greasy anyways. So opti? O2's? Plugs? Rearend? THanks Guys! Show me the right direction please!!!![/QUOTE]
I did forget to mention that. Yes it did throw the ses light on. I shut the car down, and then restarted it to see if it would come back and it didnt. I grabbed my scanner but it was the wrong one. Have to get the right one and try to pull it again. I do like these cars. Always have. I just want to get some ideas on where it may all stand. I know all situations are different but I like to research and try to get a feel on what I'm getting into. This car will 100% need paint, red oxidized and paint has flexed off of the bumper, and obviously mechanical work. I am about 90% sure I will go through with the deal but I need to try to get a foot on where to start on mechanical issues. And the miss more so than anything at that. The 2000rpm shake is what worries me most.
Well the misfire if thats what it is will need to be addressed quickly. You will need to get your scanner and find the issue. Did you happen to drive it while the check engine light was on and did it flash while you were idling or driving? Or did the light just stay on?
The light came on during regular driving. It came on solid and stayed on solid. I slowed to a stop within one or two miles of it coming on, shut it off and it never came back on. The car belongs to a guy I work with and he let me take it home over night and i took it back the next day. He knows it has problems but he is not one to find them or fix them himself. The light came on during my first drive of around 30 miles. At the end of that drive is when it happened. I drove it another 40 or so the following day and never had it come on again. Although he said it had flashed on him before, he never had it checked nor attempted to fix the issue. Thanks for your response.
