I have caused a lot of the problems that I complain about in my car. I have taken so many wrong turns in building my car. Now I have to go back and correct the things I did wrong when I was younger. If only I could go back in the past and tell myself
I still can't figure out how I want to build my car. I have fixed a lot of the problems in my car, but I still have a long way to go.



sigh. . . . . . . . . one day.

 

My bouncing needle for the gas guage. It buges me soo much when I hit a bump and the fact that I need new shocks and some lowering springs doesnt help the dancing needle. Anyone know how to solve the bouncing needle problem so many others have too?

 

Squeaks and rattles of course, the rubber piece that runs the lenght of T-top gets caught in the window every time I close my doors and my gas gauge is possessed. I've seen it go from less than a 1/4 tank to more than half full after 20 minutes of driving.

 

My tachometer never reads below 5,000 rpms..usually it says, even at idle, that the car is doing over 7,000... My speedometer, half the time, reads 0...and when it does start working, it bounces around like crazy. My gas gauge takes several days to go from full to 1/2 tank, and about 30 mins to go from 1/2 tank to E. My alternator gauge has a slight bounce to it, and my oil pressure gauge jumps quite a bit after I've been driving for a while, but it only jumps between 18-20 up to like a max of 35 and back down again. Damn old Chevy gauge clusters...75,000 miles + and they fall apart.

 

well, im not even gonna post any bit(he$ of mine here because everyone has already covered it...

 

1. It's slow
2. Open 2.73 rear end
3. The infamous splitting console
4. Crappy factory spoiler construction
5. It's very slow
6. White trash image
7. Non functional hood scoop
8. Power hatch w/o interior hatch release
9. It makes the fourth gen feel like a race car, b/c it's slow
10. Worn out driver seat cushion

 

sounds liike you really hate it

 

i hate that if your not rich and you wanna go fast in an 82-92 f-body u have to go to carburation, i also hate the fact that u have to go to auto if u wunna make any power. oh yea and the fact that my car will barley beat the stangs in town and they have great gas milage and i have liek 5-6mpg and the fact that peopel say they have the exact same tranny its just different. because mine acts liek a peice and theres act just perfect and dine and they beat the crap outta there stuff. man make me wunna buy a damn civic. well i gotta sell this thing anyways caus ei don;lt hjave 2500 for a new tremec or to put a smaller cam and carb on for gas so i don;t have any idea wut ti buy, any suggestions? i wutn sumtin fuel injected and manual

 

buy a chevette.. drive it when you dont need to drive the camaro, i get about 35 mpg with mine. i could fill up on a sunday, drive 20- 30 minutes everyday.. well.. 20-30 there and 20-30 coming home.. so i could drive an hour a day, starting on sunday, and i would fill it back up on the next sunday. if i dont drive it on the weekend. if that makes any sense.

 

I should add that more than I hate some of GM's design flaws on these cars ( my 4th gen as well ), I hated not having an F-body for two years even more.

 

I keep hearing this white trash reputation brought up about thirdgens. Personally, I think you would have to do something to the car to achieve that look. I think that label is more representative of latter 2nd gen Camaros with primer patches on the body, carbed engine, small wheels with very wide tires and at least a broken headlight or taillight.


I don't think thirdgens really have that reputation, at least not where I live. No one has ever called my Firebird a hic mobile.

 

"10. That the struts and steering linkage need replaced every time you rotate your tires. "

Were you just exaggerating, or does this really need to be done? Cause Wheels/tires are next for me, and I don't have much $$$ for extra parts.

This whole thread really makes you think about you car in a critical light. But even for all the things that could have been better, I love my IROC.

 

That is true. My all time favorite car is the 72-88 Lamborghinnie Countache. Even though I love the car more than any other, I can still find things to complain about.


It doesn't matter what car I drive or own because there will always be something about it I don't like.


Most the complaints I had are more like suggestions to enhance the car's appeal even more to me. I just want to be able to look at every angle of my thirdgen and not have any more ideas to improve on upon it.

 

Well, I was exagerating, kinda. It's not a requirement to replace them that often, but they only seem to last anout 20k on my car. I have used Moog and Monroe so far. These pot filled Ohio roads and the stiff WS6 suspension w/super stiff 245/45/16 P7s arn't helping. I am thinking of converting to rack and pinion, looks like it would be fairly easy.

Erik-

 

It was 8 degrees out this morning, and I pulled the poor Camaro out of the garage, since my FORD truck is in the shop. So I climb in, bang my knee off the dash corner, and shatter it. Again.

I really hate that about my car.

 

jeez, you must have smacked it hard! Are you still walking?

 

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by PhilM
So I climb in, bang my knee off the dash corner, and shatter it. Again.

I really hate that about my car.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SERIOUSLY!!!! what was GM thinking when they designed our dash pads?!!! theyre like tissue paper!!! its like if you spray it too hard with armor all it cracks!!!! recently my dad was helping me change my drivers side door and when we were bolting up the new one i warned him to try not to hit his head on the dash pad and he BARELY touched it and guess what???? now i have a shattered corner. kudos to the GM design team.......

 

wassall this carp about dashpads? mine is factory perfect, just because you like rubbing it in that your weather doesnt suck!

how the hell do you hit your knee on it????? you must be a lot taller than my 5' 6"

Add to that a 30" waste, slightly boyish looks, and yes, despite being 24, i got stopped a couple of months ago, coz a cop didn't think i was old enough to drive!

 

I don't like my the engine and transmission in my 82. LG4 with a 200C.

 

-when i go down a hill or dip i can hear my front end scraping, and sometimes exhaust over pot holes

-power windows(motors always breaking or not working)

-cramped engine comparment

-no rear window wiper

-carb. is really bad this time of year( i warm it up for 20 minutes and it still satlls when i first give it gas)

thats it but i still love the look and power

 

Philolds....I am 6'4", and the car has a rollbar to climb over. that is how my knee hit it. and since it is COLD up here, it didn't take much to shatter the brittle plastic. so us tall people living where winter exists have to deal with this problem. If no one else has cracked their dash in this matter, I am very happy for them...for those that have, I am right there crying next to you....

 

I wounder if replacing it with a fiberglass dash would work?

Erik-

 

wow you all pretty well covered everything that i hate about my camaro.....GM totally ruined the camaros when they put a V-4 & V-6 engines in them...what on *o*s green earth were they thinking?????????????

they also totally ruined them by putting in that D*M* computer & my all time favorite my best friend that ive replaced 100 times is that D*M* mass air-flow sensor

 

I've heard more MAF complaints than I can stomach. My Camaro doesn't have one..but my new Mustang does. Eek....

 

I wouldn't mind the MAF if it wasn't so large and almost impossible to relocate with out having some problems.

 

I don't like them for the shear reason that they're complicated. And they make intake re-working so much harder. I'm gonna just buy an intake setup for the Mustang and not even mess around with the MAF...I won't bother. Kinda funny that the Mustang has a 100% stock intake arm and assembly, even though it has a Cobra intake manifold, a cam, shortie equal length headers, an x pipe, dual Flowmasters, and a 4.11 rear end. Sounds like someone FORGOT SOMETHING, huh?? Lol...

 

Nixon1......what did the people do to correct thier MAF problems???? about every year i have to have a new MAF put on my car & that thing gets expensive($400.00 to be exact) i have asked EVERYONE what i can do to correct this problem but no one really seems to have an answer for me.....a guy on chevycamaro.com said to get a "speed density update" through the chevrolet garage & some people on here gave me like a list of things to do....havent done these (too cold) yet but i wonder if it would really take care of it....do you or anyone else have any suggestions??

 

To run speed density, you need a new computer I'm sure. But speed density uses an MAP sensor instead of an MAF. Instead of recording air flow directly by being in the stream, it picks up pressure inside the plenum and uses this pressure # to compare to a chart and judges airflow indirectly that way. Therefore, it eliminates the need for an MAF entirely. I'm not sure if MAF intake plenums have the opening to run an MAF to or not..you might need to steal a plenum off of a 3.1 car.

 

NIXON1.........so this "speed density update" will take care of this problem i keep having??????
i surely hope so cause i cant keep going through this every year...

 

Mmmhmm. Only problems with SD are like I said you gotta get the setup for it..the MAP sensor and everything and a new computer for it and probably the intake plenum too. But it eliminates the MAF all together...just disconnect it and yank it off...no need for it..it'd just confuse the computer..the new SD computer wouldnt even know what to do with it.

 

cool thats what i need to do.....thanks so much for your help!!

 

Any time. Just make sure you have a pro do the work...I've never done it and I don't know everything about it, I'm just giving you a rough idea.

 

Camarogirl,

I take it you are buying the Bosch unit? The MAF in my 305 was dead when I got my car (ran fine though) and I replaced it with a unit made by a company called Wells. They make an aftermarket MAF for V8 cars, not sure about the V6 though. World Products sells them. Call (800)288-6728 extension 115 ask for Tom Martin and ask him if they do one for your car. Tom knows what he's talking about.

These units use a film instead of the hot wire system the Bosch unit goes by.

Also, do you keep your MAF screens in and use an airfilter? They should be lasting much longer than a year.


Robert

 

I thought Wells specialized in OEM replacements?

 

RMK......i really dont know much about the MAF sensor just that it keeps going bad every year.....i ALWAYS take it to a mechanic when it comes to that....actually i had no idea that it used screens...yes i use air filters...the only thing i know about it is on the top of it, it says GM............also what is your opioion of this "speed density update"?

 

is the MAF the thing that opens to let air in?

also, yes im an idiot.

 

Nope.. The thing that opens to let air is the throttle body. The part that actually physically opens is the throttle butterfly. The MAF is a big cylindrical hunk between the throttle body and snorkel setup on 2.8 cars. Measures incoming airflow and tells the computer so the computer knows how much fuel to add for a proper air:fuel ratio.

 

yes & it is a pain in the @$$!!!!!!!!!

 

Also..please don't go to a mechanic for that! Get a friend to help you or something..it's TRULY a 5 minute job. Disconnect a wiring pack, take a few screws out, and yank the old one. Put the new one in and slip it together, tighten the screw clamps up, and reconnect it. So so simple and no doubt your mechanic is charging you up the butt for it.

 

well my luck id mess it up-lmao...just by looking at it it seems to be a simple thing....im assuming that it will come with instructions so i wouldnt & couldnt do anything wrong(dumb question i know)?????so all i do is go to the chevrolet garage & have them order the SD kit, they will know what im talking about right???-lol......

 

They SHOULD know what you mean..just tell them the year and model of your car, and your engine, and tell them what you want to do...convert your MAF car into a Speed Density system. They should know what to do.

 

ok well thank you....youve really been alot of help....:hail:

you going to thirdgen nationals??? if you are im sure ill see you there......

 

Sadly, I probably won't have my Camaro for much longer. Gotta sell it to pay off my new crazy fast 91 5.0 Mustang GT. I've gone to the darkside. The horsepower made me do it.....

 

You are probably going to hurt me for this, but:

A couple of years ago I raced a guy driving a '88 mustang 5.0. I had my '84 Firebird (the car before the one I have now) with a stock 2.8. actually both cars were 100% stock.

The race was measured - exactly 1/4 mile. I beat him by two car lengths and he had almost twice the engine that I had.

 

Camarogirl, are you taking the car to the same mechanic everytime? it is possible that there is something wrong elsewhere (like wiring) causing the problem. he may just be replacing it because of the code coming up. My neighbor went through this sort of this with his Mustang....harness was bad, kept throwing weird codes and the garage would just replace whatever sensor was showing up...

just my 2 pennies....

 

Nixon 1,
TRAITOR!!!!! just kidding. but seriously i dont know why you got an old body 'stang. i mean the new ones look halfway decent and actually they will get up and go. i drove my friends the other day (2003 cobra) and it gives a nice kick in the pants. its still a ford though.... oh well, dont mind my teasing. besides, did you really think you could post that on THIS board and get away with it? lol

Camarogirl18,
dont feel bad about not knowing how to do a MAF. at least you take care of your car. i had to teach my girlfriend how to open the hood!!! lol. seriously though, its not that hard. if you have 2 eyes and 10 fingers youll be fine. its really straight forward.

wait until you change a gas tank. i wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy.......

 

philm.....no each time ive taken it to a different mechanic & each replace the MAF sensor even though ive told them its a new one.....ive taken it to the chevrolet garage & theyve done the same thing.....this last time ive taken it to a mechanic that specializes in that electrical stuff.....

rockforone........i know alot of girls that know nothing about cars...i think i shouldve went into auto mechanics instead of the nursing field cause my second love is cars......:lala:


i called the chevrolet garage today to get a price on this kit & the first guy i talked to had no clue about what i was talking about...the second guy told me he knew what i was talking about but said that i would need to take it to them....i dont think so!
i know of a guy that is a mechanic that will help me & wont bs me

 

I found that rattling in the front of my CAR!!!!!! It was my ignition coil mounting bracket. Moved the coil somewhere else and the rattle is GONE!!!!!

 

Caraudio: The Mustang guy had a blown engine or is a retard then. Lol..seriously, your stock 2.8 must've run low 17's. Even a Fox-Body Mustang had more power than that. 225 hp, 300 ft lbs stock. Mine's more in the 275 neighborhood, possibly more. I'm estimating mid to high 13's, with the cam and 4.11 rear end. But don't get me wrong..GM will ALWAYS be better than Ford.

Rockfour: I have no money. This car is the most car I could get for the money. $3000 even. Got some kinks to work out, but the only major issue is Ford's enormous cost-cutting mistake. The AOD transmission. All of these should be destroyed in a large blaze and never be spoken of again. Although a heater core would be nice..I'm driving it tomorrow to work at 5:30 am with no heat. It'll probably be sub-30 degrees out, and the car has an electric fan that's ALWAYS on and what seems like a 160-165 degree t-stat. Wish me luck!!!

 

I havent read all these so sorry if a repeat. I dislike the camaro dash on the passenger side. So much space wasted and it looks like an instant passenger decapatator! (sp?)