First: I am not a mechanic but I can never leave well-enough alone lol

I have a 97 Fbody (Trans AM) and had the great idea to do some cheap mods to it.

I put a cold air intake on it, TB bypass and eventually had to do something with the muffler and tail pipe falling off so it has a flow master on it..

The car sounded good and ran good for quite some time then started coding.. With no other resource but AutoZone in my budget to scan I learned the O2 sensor was bad.. Replaced two on one side because the tech told me he couldn't tell which one of the two was bad. Car ran fine with no code. About a month later it coded again. Same deal, only on the other side. Now I have 4 new sensors, no codes and car runs fine.

The fuel pump quit. Replaced the fuel pump but my gauge show like 1/16th lol under F when completely topped off.. and dripping.. but on the plus side seems have an incredible reserve (sarcasam is difficult in text but believe me, it's in there).

Enter my brother who likes the sound of my car and who owns a mig welder and a saws-all. He comes up with the idea to take the cats off.. but being broke all we did was cut them off clean them out and weld it all together.

The car ran fine but half way home I get a code. I waited a couple of weeks and took it to AutoZone.. "Bank0 and Bank1 hydrocarbon something or other out of limits" and I bet I can guess why.. SOooo.. I'm screwed with this code..

I tried to find something to fool the sensors but couldn't, learned of a guy who built a resister thing but it looked like to much work so I lived with it..

Then the car started to act really really odd..

When I start and drive it from cold it ran like a true champ. As the car got warmer it started running really rough, gained heat like a mother and sometimes would run around 165f and sometimes hover around 180-190 and parked at a light she got to a hefty 210 or so a couple of times cooling back off after some driving. Idle was good, power was good but when it would get to about 30 mph it would sputter and spat and loose power and then like a switch it would suddeny be 'ok' with power and smooth ness.. noticibly.. I have to let off the gas pedal or I pick up 5-10mph easily..

Took it to AutoZone and got some kind of high pressure solenoid fuel vapor return failure code..

Took it to a tech shop who confirmend this (along with the previous 2 codes) and it cost me some bucks to fix it.. The carbon canistor must be lined with gold. Oh, and the new solenoid and switch on the manifold..

This cleared the code they test drove it said it ran great I picked it up and it still did the sputtering thing.. I called them. They think it's a heat problem they recommend changing the temp switch on the water pump, the one with 2 wires. So I do. It was cheap and after changing it, it looked terrible and it did seem to help the car some, honestly, so I'm not complaining.

Still the surging, sputtering thing continues.. like it's richening the mixture for 20 or so seconds then stops..

Called the tech.. he said buy 2 large spark plugs, remove the rear O2 sensors and screw the plugs in, in their place.. So I do.. Which looks really retarded..
I wire tied the O2 sensors to the bracket or the frame (depending on which side) and OMFG the codes went away!!!! THANK YOU GENIUS!!!

DOH! not so fast..

Car still surges, sputters, spats, acts like almost a miss.. but at the tech they crawled up that scope with a fine toothed comb.. I replaced a wire there too but they said my ignition was perfect on both sides whatever that truely means and my injectors appeard to operating correctly. Even had good fuel rail pressure (they checked because of the pump issue a couple months before).

Then I discovered the Internet and lt1tech.com
DOH!

I absoloutly hate the fact I put a flow master on it and will put headers on it whenever I can save enough or if it rains money.. DANG DANG DANG!!!

I realize now what an LT4 knock module is and as soon as I can figure out where to buy one for less than 50 bucks that sucker is mine baby, BELIEVE IT!

People are telling me I need a 160F thermostat but I can't find one.. Pontiac looked at me funny and said all they make is 180F so.. WTF.. can I buy one of these or what?

Man I would give my left nut for O2 simulators.. WHAT ARE O2 SIMULATORS AND DO I NEED THEM?!? stuff like this, SUPER valuable information on this web site and half of it makes NO SENSE to me..

Some people have said I may be experiencing a problem with my water pump, the engine is heating and 'richening' the mix to compensate.. which is why my temp is acting weird sometimes and the rough driving.. um.. isn't the water pump a direct drive impellar? Is that kind of intermittent behavier possible? A little advice on this if you please.

And still others say an Ignition Module or Crank trigger could be at play.. Well the tech said my ignition system was good so does that rule out the module and trigger? The tech said my coil was in good shap. He showed me some spikes and indicated to me it meant my coil was firing fine and didn't have allot of work to get that high mark on the screen.. great that sounds good but does this also mean I should watch out because my coil could be lazy? lol j/k on that one..

My uncle said he has a truck that acted like this and the dealership changed an "IAT" sensor and cleared it righ up.. ok.. What's an IAT sensor and why cant the tech tell me this is bad?

SO.. here is what I'm thinking..

New Water Pump and gasket Kit
New Timing cover gasket Kit (someone told me I need a gasket from it that doesn't come with the pump kit which I have no idea either way but once again seems retarded..)
New LT4 knock module
New Crank Trigger
New IAT Sensor
New Igniton Module
New 160F thermostat
Oil change. (Well it is time..)

All that should get me fixed up and going? I hope so because I bet that's about 500 in parts or more..

I really need a guru to help me out here if anyone has an opinion.

Thanks

Edited because believe it or not it was tooo long.. sry..

 

Ok lets see if i can help out at all.

1) o2 simms only fool the computer into not throwing a code. It will not affect the way the car runs. (waste of money)(code can be turned off with lt1 edit)

2) Yes you can buy a 160 degress stat. Look at some of the sponsors to the right------------>>>>>>>>>>>

3) The IAT is the intake air temp. Mounts in your elbow before the throtal body. If this was bad you would know it. I would say its fine.(would have thrown a code)

4) ok ignition modual. This may be a problem. First what i would do is find out where it is mounted. (its been so long since my car was stock i forgot) I think it was monted by the coil on the driver side. If it is mounted to the head like mine was from the factory...move it. the heat from the motor will mess it up.

5) Next what I would do is check for any types of leaks around your cold air intake and mass air sensor. You dont want any extra air getting in pass the sensor casue it will mess it up. Make the car run funny.

Now i got a question for you. What type of o2 sensors did you put in there. Are they stock replacments or somthing else. Also did you take the headers off the car or do you have any exhaust leaks before the o2 sensors. This will also casue a problem.

The temps that you are seeing are normal for a stock car.

Last but not least , And i hate to say it. Is that your opti spark may be starting to go out. .. I really hope im wrong on this one but dont worrie cause if this is the case the car will just die somtime soon and then you will know)

Well i hope some of this helps you out. If you need any more help you can email me at Micah_Fuoco@mksinst.com

I know how it is when you first start out and your so lost that you just want to smack your self in the face for not know more. I wast there last year.

 

Im no guru but Ill help ya where I can. First off for the temperature thing, its not irregular that the LT1 run in the 210* range while sitting in traffic. There are a couple fixes, #1-getting a 160* t-stat(from www.thunderracing.com or another sponcer) but you wont see a big change unless you have your fans reprogrammed to turn on at a lower temp. #2 stick with the stock t-stat and wire a fan switch(there are a couple of writeups on how to do this, just search the board and you'll find it) and turn the fans on when the temps starts creeping up(thats the setup Im using at the moment). As for the 02 Simulators, they can also be bought through some of the sponcers and what they do is trick the computer into thinking that the car is running with a cat. The IAT(Intake Air Temerature) Sensor is located on your car inbetween the MAF and the tb. As for the gasket kit, the waterpump gaskets are included in the timing cover set so you only need to buy it. I think its about $16 at Advanced Auto Parts if you have those in your neck of the woods.

DAMN, he beat me to it

 

My idea on the O2 sims was to keep the code off or maybe see if the car ran better. I now understand it has nothing to do with it and the sparkplug/wire tie thing has me setup on that so I don't think I'll be getting any.

I just got back from the parts store and it was an ordeal. I can't believe I didn't realize those were sponser links (sound of palm smacking forhead) to the side BUT I printed some of the Hyptertech pages and went on down to muh' buddies' place (AutoZone) and I'm proud to say I can expect delivery of 2 160 degree stats within a week. They were cheap and I was excited.. what can I say..

I also found a fan switch from Hypertech that replaces your 2-wire temp transmitter and automatically starts the fans for you no programming. They have a couple flavors but come monday morning my Visa will show the Tuner Cat purchase I'm about to make. I really really looked at LT1 edit but WOW are they proud of that software! so cheapie for me lol

I remember the car running around 210 before from the odd time to time but there was never any of the sputtering low end stuff.. It just seems so odd you can almost hear the switch turn on and off that makes it do it..

I listened to it real close earlier at idle at the tail pipes and its doing it at idle too. smoooth as silk the rough for 10-20 seconds then smoooth as silk.. when you apply power it's great until you get rollin' a little then suptter spat.. gravely sounding note, surging the *magically* it's good.. lol..

The Cold Air Intake and air sensor look good, no leaks from what I can tell. Everything it tight and solid, well as best it can be for rubber tubes..

Will put it up on a rack today in about 20 minutes and check the exhaust for leaks but seemed good to go when I replace the O2 sensors with, if I remember right, were Baush & Lomb or sometime? not sure but CarQuest had a couple types and I bought the expensive ones he said had the 'best rating' which I'm sure translates to 'mo$t comi$$ion'.

Thanks for the tip on the gasket kit.

As soon as I get the stat in and the fans reprogrammed I'm hoping I'll be good because it should alwasy run cool then but it still seems like a problem is going on becasuse it use to run fine warm except now the converters are empty..

 

Oops, I forgot to mention that about the t-stat. Make sure you are using the right style. Mine ran extremely hot when I put an AutoZone 160* t-stat in my car and as soon as I went back to the good ole 180*, it was cool again, Check this out before you put in that t-stat.

 

I have confirmed by my sales receipt Hypertech part number 1008 so I should be good.

Riddle me this though.. Why do people need the 160degree stats and fan switches? If the car will still run around 210 what exactly is this doing?

Also, do you distinguished LT1 owners think the 160 stat and the tuner cat fan re-program will get rid of this surging, pulsing growling problem?

So how exactly does emptying the converters cause it to do that?

If I put headers on it with the rear O2 bungs it will code again, so do I need to use the O2 sims or leave the O2 sensors hanging in free air?

If none of this cures my problem how can I figure out what it is?

Seriously though thanks for the info.

 

i know what your problem is, it just happens to be your car. get rid of your LTslow and by either a ls1 or a 99+ GT or better yet step up to a new cobra

 

Is this guys serious?

With the 160* t-stat and reprograming the fans, your car should run a good bit cooler than 210. It shouldnt see anything over 180* if everything else is ok. Its not going to fix your surging problem though.

 

If you have nothing to say that will help him out, don't post at all. You're a moron if you think all LT1s are slow.

 

What a douche....that's pretty shitty to come into this thread and start bashing the LT1...like enisguy said, you're a moron if you think all LT1s are slow.

 

What do you expect, he's a Ford Service Tech.

He said buy a GT

 

hahaha

 

a douche who gets paid more than you. plus the stang makes em wanna bang

 

Good, I'm glad you get paid more than me, I'm 17. Oh, and no one gives a ****. And what the **** are you talking about, stang makes them want to bang. :

 

i hope your happy w/ 12 seconds when my high 10 second ss on spray gives your lt slow a wippen

 

High 10s on spray...I don't give a ****.

 

I wonder if you realize that there still quite a few LT1s that would ruin your car down a track?

 

man chill i'm just messin wit u and j/k about the ltslow, as long as its american car i'm cool wit it

 

troll

 

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167333

Its a Mustang guy posting on his friends name