Thought maybe I should put this another way. Before it blew the intake gasket it idled fine and never surged. Now it idles very rough (hunts) and surges bad. Two questions.

What if anything could have been affected by the intake gasket springing a leak that would cause this problem?

Of all the steps involved in reparing an intake gasket leak are there any that could affect something that would cause this problem?

PLEASE help if you can. See my other post "chugging\surging" for more info.

 

Did you torque the bolts in the proper order to the correct spec?

 

It sounds like you created a vacuum leak somewhere. Could be as simple as a vacuum hose or worse, the gasket didn't seal the head to the manifold.

 

Thanks for the replies,

I didn't do the job, a "real" mechanic did Normally I would question the bolt torque etc as well but this guy is well known for specializing in camaros and is looked up to as kind of a *** around some of the forums here so I trust that he would torque the bolts correctly

We tried spraying starter fluid all around to check for leaks and didn't find any, the job he did on the intake gaskets appears solid. We checked all the hoses too, though I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to spend even more time looking to make sure. anything else?

 

lol don't want that to look like I was calling him something bad. He's kind of a g o d around some of the forums

 

Does it run better cold than warm? If so, change your o2 sensor. If your gasket was bad it probably died from burning oil and coolant coating it.

 

Check your timing

 

no it actually runs better when "really" warmed up, I went for about a 20 min drive yesterday and by the time I pulled up into my parking spot it was idling almost smoothly and not surging, I shut it down and restarted and the problem was back again, exactly as before. The 02 sensor was replaced about 6 months ago.

It was explained to me that it blew the gasket because of too much pressure due to overheating. The radiator was cruddy and obstructed. It stays very cool now since he cleaned up the radiator and replaced the intake gasket.


Timing has been checked, it's right at spec.

Also, my oil pressure seems to be lower than it used to be. I used to hover around 30 at idle and got 60 when accelerating/under load. Now it's about 10 lower in both. Related?


He says it's strange because when temporarily removing the maf it's supposed to run rich and it stays lean, also when you first start the car the 02 transitions are normal and shortly afterwards the transitions stop going from 0 to 256 (or whatever it is) and back again, and freeze. The other thing he said was weird was that the "air grams" (not sure on exact name) are only at 6, and are supposed to be at least 11 I think he said. I'm trying to reach him to get the exact info to post here, sorry. I may be a little off on the numbers\exact descriptions, but wanted to post what I think I know in case it helps.

More info:


It was sending code 36 before and after the overheating problem\repair but cleared that by replacing both maf relays.

When you hold a steady acceleration it leans out, extremely lean according to the mechanic, which is another thing that seemed strange to him.

Fuel pressure is right on, 42 psi

As part of the repair I had him re-wire the fans to be stock, instead of manually by switch

The car is 100% stock other than K&N air filters

I had a fuel delivery problem when hot starting like 4 months ago, replaced the ecm and a few other small parts. Turned out to be the fuel pump relay and connector (wires were shorting out). that's been fine.

Replaced the starter myself about a month ago, I knocked around the knock sensor connector quite a bit taking out the old starter (before I realized I could remove the solinoid to make it easier lol) but it doesn't exhibit any problems that would point to that. A few days after replacing the starter it wouldn't start, took it to another mech and he fixed it by cleaning\tightening the battery connections, said starter install was fine. Not had a problem starting since.







Thanks for the help, I know there's gonna be an answer eventually

 

Well im not really sure what to tell you, but I know the fuel pressure is suppose to be around 46 psi for stock. Sometimes the idle problem can be related to the EGR. Did he replace the gaskets for the runners and plenium and all that. Im sure he did but that could cause a leak also. I had a surging problem also and it was due to the IAC. I did what the tech article said about setting the idle back and then it ran fine for 3 months until I pulled the tpi and am in the process of a lt1 intake swap. One more thing try what the tech article says and or disconnect your better for a lil while to reset the computer.

 

Are you getting any codes right now? You should try unplugging the MAF and seeing if the car runs better, those sensors can be tricky sometimes when they die. Have you replaced the CTS in the front of the intake?

A leak on an o2 sensor can kill it in a week. Since you're getting odd MAF and o2 sensor readings, you might as well check those out.

 

89irocz: thanks for the tips, i'll pass it on when I talk to the mechanic tomorrow

Not getting any codes since replacing the maf relays.
When we unplugged the maf it ran the same.
I don;t know what a cts is but I'll ask him

I drove the car for a couple hours today and noticed a few other things.

I didn't notice any drastic surges today like it was doing (maybe has to do with putting a full tank of premium and some fuel cleaner, dunno), but the idle is still "hunting" and it drops suddenly occasionaly and feels like it wants to stall for a second then recovers, has not stalled completely once yet.

The problem seems totally random now, it was fine when it was cold for about 10 mins then started again, then after a couple stops and restarts was fine again (totally smooth idle) for a while then later problem came back again. Doesn't seem to be related to heat as I had originally thought.



Thanks for the help guys. I know this post along with my search results on the forum is going to help a lot. Any more ideas appreciated.

 

missed a couple questions.
we tried a known good MAF and it stayed the same.
The o2 sensor is fairly new but we were just about to try another one when the relays came and once we got the check engine light cleared I gave the poor guy a break and said we should just finish up another day Hopefully he'll have some time to spend on it tomorrow in which case I'm sure we'll try another o2 sensor

thanks