just got a 2002 ws6 trans am firebird
#1
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just got a 2002 ws6 trans am firebird
runs great, looks excellent, 62000 miles..but is there anything i need to know about it??? Good or bad? i have owned a 1998 z28 ls1 camaro before but i want to be safe cus i love this car....i have a slp lid to ported maf to smooth bellow and thinkin about loudmouth 2 exhaust..the sucky part is that my car has the infamous ls-1 tick on cold starts. i run 5w-30 castrol edge syntec in so cal...shud i run the 10w-30? anything i need to know about the car as far as maintenance and mods would be great. thanks!
#2
TECH Junkie
Congratulations on the purchase!
The first thing I would do personally is change out all the fluids and put them 'on your schedule'. If the prior owner has documented the fluid changes, then you can decide. Dexcool, tranny fluid, rear end fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and let's not forget the much forgotten about fuel filter. Change it!
The 'tick' is just something to live with. I've added many gas additives to the fuel system and it doesn't seem to matter, even though the Lucas gas product seems like the best. Maybe it is just my imagination but it seems quieter. My car had dino oil in it when purchased 'new' way back when and I switched over to synthetic at about the 20,000 miles mark. It made no difference at all and I've used both 5w-30 and 10w-30 and different brands, from Mobil 1 to Castrol.
One other thing to check is the tires. Look for that date code; 4 numbers after the DOT on the sidewall. I'm sure you know what they mean, but for the benefit of others, if you see 5008 that would indicate the tires were made in the 50th week of 2008. 1610 would be the 16th week of 2010. You get the idea. Right now most everyone agrees 'to be safe' and not let the tires get past the 6 year mark, especially if kept outside in tough climate conditions.
I'm not a mods person so others can chime in about that stuff. Enjoy your ride!
The first thing I would do personally is change out all the fluids and put them 'on your schedule'. If the prior owner has documented the fluid changes, then you can decide. Dexcool, tranny fluid, rear end fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and let's not forget the much forgotten about fuel filter. Change it!
The 'tick' is just something to live with. I've added many gas additives to the fuel system and it doesn't seem to matter, even though the Lucas gas product seems like the best. Maybe it is just my imagination but it seems quieter. My car had dino oil in it when purchased 'new' way back when and I switched over to synthetic at about the 20,000 miles mark. It made no difference at all and I've used both 5w-30 and 10w-30 and different brands, from Mobil 1 to Castrol.
One other thing to check is the tires. Look for that date code; 4 numbers after the DOT on the sidewall. I'm sure you know what they mean, but for the benefit of others, if you see 5008 that would indicate the tires were made in the 50th week of 2008. 1610 would be the 16th week of 2010. You get the idea. Right now most everyone agrees 'to be safe' and not let the tires get past the 6 year mark, especially if kept outside in tough climate conditions.
I'm not a mods person so others can chime in about that stuff. Enjoy your ride!
#3
One other thing to check is the tires. Look for that date code; 4 numbers after the DOT on the sidewall. I'm sure you know what they mean, but for the benefit of others, if you see 5008 that would indicate the tires were made in the 50th week of 2008. 1610 would be the 16th week of 2010. You get the idea. Right now most everyone agrees 'to be safe' and not let the tires get past the 6 year mark, especially if kept outside in tough climate conditions.
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congratz on the purchase. My car had the tick when i bought it and i put in royal purple 10w30 and a quart of lucas synthetic oil stabilizer and it is not completely gone but it has defiantly seamed to have helped (or maby i have just gotten used to it lol) but anyway enjoy it. I also second the no on the loud mouth, i had it on an lt1 car i had and it really had no tone it was just obnoxiously loud (and i like obnoxious). on my ls car i put gmmg chambered exhaust and i absolutely love it, has great tone, no drone, and isn't to loud unless you want it to be. well worth the $900 i spend on it.
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umm how do i post pics!!?? lol and on the exhaust...will others make as much power as the loudmouth?? i dont have the budget for gmmg but those things make cars sound damn sexy! anyways i was maybe thinkin the Hooker muffler and just getting the exhaust custom made and heard the hooker muffler had a nice rumble. im a big fan of loud exhaust but i would like a nice tone. any and every suggestion and point of view will help!!! ive experienced magnaflow exhaust on my 98 ls1 camaro and duel flowmaster 40s on my mustang gt i used to have... thanks!!
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I think the Loudmouth is an acquired taste...some like, some don't. I have the LM1 on my 98 and love how it sounds. Many say that if you go with longtube headers and an ORY with a LM, it gets crazy loud. Here is a cool site to listen to different exhausts, http://www.ls1sounds.com/
I had rear axle issues with mine right after I bought it. Luckily, there was still about a month left on the GM warranty, so GM repaired it for me. Other than that, no real problems other than both headlight motors. Running Mobil 1 synthetic oil and GM filters. I just recently changed my fuel filter. That was no fun as the nut was corroded and took lots of PB Blaster and time to finally get it loose.
I had rear axle issues with mine right after I bought it. Luckily, there was still about a month left on the GM warranty, so GM repaired it for me. Other than that, no real problems other than both headlight motors. Running Mobil 1 synthetic oil and GM filters. I just recently changed my fuel filter. That was no fun as the nut was corroded and took lots of PB Blaster and time to finally get it loose.
#13
TECH Junkie
It's tough to get rid of them but I went through the same thing. I pushed my original GS-C Goodyears to the 7 year mark and about 12,000 miles. Lots of tread left but I definitely liked to go on road trips and certainly test speeds above 60 mph. That 60+ mph speed seems to be the magic number for the belts to possibly have issues when they get old, from what I've learned. No way of knowing. When I bought my new GS-D3 Goodyear replacements I was stunned at the better, smoother ride, and the handling was incredible. The softer rubber really makes a difference. I also just did it again with my GT, replacing the 6 year old originals this past Xmas. The rubber was actually getting hard around the beads and causing air leaks. The new Goodyears haven't lost a pound. Maybe with performance tires it is more noticeable.