When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have to be honest, it kinda sucked having an empty garage after selling the '98 SS two years ago...tried buying trucks and boats, but eventually found my way back into another F-body...i started the search earlier this month and soon found a killer deal on a 2001 SS from a guy in Lebanon, TN. 2001 SS #5740
It ran, but rough.....after a few tune up parts and a call to Mike at WS6store, i had a set of UMI lowering springs, Koni's and a few other suspension mods on the way.....threw in a set of plugs and wires, new Denso 02's and she was purring just like new....passed Murfreesboro emissions and tags came next, just before i was about to delete the 4x4 look, an issue popped up.
i put the key in one morning and it wouldnt start....cranks like normal but wont fire....all dash lights are normal, no blinking security light....rented a scanner and no codes....i tested the fuel pressure and it jumps to 58psi while priming, then drops and holds to around 50psi as soon as its done priming....i thought maybe the crankshaft position sensor was bad, but i put a new one in and still wont fire....at this point im wondering if its something to do with VATS or the ignition.....the previous owner said he had put a newer lock cylinder in it a while ago....seems i read somewhere that if VATS is triggered the radio and dome lights wont work, but they do.....im not sure where to start
It is not VATS related. When VATS prevents starting, it does three things... it disables the ground to the starter relay coil to prevent cranking (yours cranks), it disables the fuel enable signal to the PCM to keep it from running if it does crank somehow (yours has fuel pressure), and it turns on the SECURITY light in the instrument cluster - solid for unrecognized key resistance, flashing for no key resistance found (your light isn't on).
Awesome, thanks WhiteBird....im glad its not VATS, seems like its very troublesome for some people and im horrible with diagnosing wiring issues....i went ahead and picked up 2 new ignition relays
And this is why I love this site! Nice work to those who helped and sweet pic up JC!
thanks man....this site makes owning one of these cars so much more fun and interesting....lots of good and knowledgeable folks here ready to help out....I've got alot of plans for the car, definitely going to build this one from the back forward instead of going cam first like my last one....hopefully by spring she'll have a rear end, drag wheels and big stall.
thanks man....this site makes owning one of these cars so much more fun and interesting....lots of good and knowledgeable folks here ready to help out....I've got alot of plans for the car, definitely going to build this one from the back forward instead of going cam first like my last one....hopefully by spring she'll have a rear end, drag wheels and big stall.
In the interest of sharing even more knowledge, I noticed that your previous F-body was an M6 car. So it makes sense that you'd be worried about the rear end as an early upgrade. But, just to make you aware, the rear isn't such an issue with the A4 cars as long as you can keep wheel hop under control. Mine never even flinched at 1.6 60-foots for season after season, that was on DRs with a 3500 stall and bolt-ons plus a cam. It's actually quite shocking how much abuse the 7.5" can take behind an A4. Here's a great thread with lots of data on the longevity and durability difference of the stock 10-bolt in A4 vs. M6 applications, you may find this interesting:
That is interesting because coming from an M6, all i ever remember reading was how flimsy and brittle the 7.5" rear can be...ill read up on that thread tonight when i get a chance....you might have just saved me $3k, i owe you a beer sir ....i like the peace of mind of an S60 or 9", but its a big purchase.....will def swap in a set of 3:73 gears if i keep the 10 bolt, maybe a girdle as well
the UMI lowering springs and Koni Str.t shocks install starts tonight.....ill try to add as many pics as i can
Those new shocks will help control/eliminate the 'wheel hop' that is a 'destroyer' of rear ends.
How big of a stall ?
I'm leaning towards a Yank SS4000....i admit i haven't done a ton of research on converters yet, but this one seems to be a fan favorite.....car will only be driven on sunny days with the occasional night of fun on the 1/8 mile...until i have HP Tuners and the know-how to use it, i dont think im going to get into the motor....loved the cam in my last, but it drove a little better with bolt ons and a Frost tune
Yank SS4000, good choice !
Since it's an SS/A4, would have come with 3.23s'. The potential 3.73s' would still make it a 1/4 mile car with very little improvement over the 3.23s'. 4.10s' would be much better for a 1/8 miler.
The SS4000 is a good choice. I have the SS3600 and sometimes think I should have gone bigger.
I'd wait on the gears if I was you. I was going to go to 3.73 myself but now, after driving with the converter, I don't think it's worth it. Lots would say don't waste money on the ten bolt. I did put the girdle on though.
That is interesting because coming from an M6, all i ever remember reading was how flimsy and brittle the 7.5" rear can be...ill read up on that thread tonight when i get a chance....you might have just saved me $3k, i owe you a beer sir ....i like the peace of mind of an S60 or 9", but its a big purchase.....will def swap in a set of 3:73 gears if i keep the 10 bolt, maybe a girdle as well
the UMI lowering springs and Koni Str.t shocks install starts tonight.....ill try to add as many pics as i can
The shock upgrade should definitely help with wheel hop, but lowering the car sometimes increases this problem. LCA relocation brackets help for some folks. Just keep an eye on wheel hop; if you can avoid that, you might be shocked at how long the stock rear can hold up in an A4 application. Definitely check out the thread above, lots of great real-world durability data on a variety of setups.
Honestly, as mentioned above, I would skip the 3.73s. The 3.23 to 3.73 swap is usually worth less than one tenth of ET reduction in an LS1 + 4L60E combo with an optimized stall speed. Since you're planning an SS4000, you would see almost zero measurable improvement from the gear swap, the only significant benefit would be to tighten the "feel" of the converter at part throttle (but I wouldn't worry about this until after you've driven the setup, lots of folks get completely used to it within about a week of driving). As mentioned by FirstYrLS1Z, you'd have to go much more aggressive on the gear swap to see any real change in ET (and then be able to attain the traction necessary to realize those gains).
Lots of good info here....i almost feel like it will be fun to see how long i can make the 10 bolt last now.....lol, challenge accepted.....the UMI springs and Koni's went in like a breeze, they were easy to assemble and look to be well built.....i ran into some pretty heavy rust with the old strut mounts....for people doing this job in the future, its probably a good idea to go ahead and buy both mounts and isolators from the store of your choice to have them on hand in case they are too deteriorated to reuse....there was no way the nut on top of the old Decarbon shock bolt was coming out.....after compressing the factory spring, i cut the old strut mounts off with a sawzall in order to get the lower spring isolator (in hindsight i should've bought this too)
reassembly was simple but I'm starting to wonder if this car spent some time up north on salty roads....several of the front components had a good deal of surface rust on them, much more than my '98 and i bought it in Lexington, KY....one of the slider pins on the passenger side brake caliper bracket was seized.....i tried everything i could to get it out but it won't budge.....luckily i think the big 3 auto parts stores stock the brackets, so I'll be grabbing that and a slider pin kit this afternoon
In the interest of sharing even more knowledge, I noticed that your previous F-body was an M6 car. So it makes sense that you'd be worried about the rear end as an early upgrade. But, just to make you aware, the rear isn't such an issue with the A4 cars as long as you can keep wheel hop under control. Mine never even flinched at 1.6 60-foots for season after season, that was on DRs with a 3500 stall and bolt-ons plus a cam. It's actually quite shocking how much abuse the 7.5" can take behind an A4. Here's a great thread with lots of data on the longevity and durability difference of the stock 10-bolt in A4 vs. M6 applications, you may find this interesting:
At risk of hijacking this thread, how did your transmission itself hold with the bolt-ons and cam? Did you ever have to rebuild it or reinforce anything? I haven't taken any of our cars to the strip, but I do like to open them up on the highway pretty hard.
At risk of hijacking this thread, how did your transmission itself hold with the bolt-ons and cam? Did you ever have to rebuild it or reinforce anything? I haven't taken any of our cars to the strip, but I do like to open them up on the highway pretty hard.
This is sort of a hard question for me to answer because the situation was complicated. The stock/original 4L60E was fine with bolt-ons and a 3500 stall speed. I drove and raced it that way for a couple years, the car ran mid/low 12s in that configuration. When I did the cam, I traded my perfectly fine working original core for credit on a "built" unit (thought I was doing a good thing by upgrading before it broke, and getting some credit for the good unit). This was a mistake, I'm sure I would've been better off just having kept the stock unit, as that first "built" trans turned out to be a total POS; it had some minor problems pretty soon after install (they could never get it right) and had bigger issues right after the warranty was over. So then I dumped that piece of garbage and picked up a terrific Level IV 4L60E from FLT. HUGE improvement, FLT builds an awesome 4L60E, I never had another issue for the remaining years I owned it.
02-23-2020, 08:12 PM
Back in the game, bought a 2001 SS A4 
....i like the peace of mind of an S60 or 9", but its a big purchase.....will def swap in a set of 3:73 gears if i keep the 10 bolt, maybe a girdle as well
