I have two things wrong with my car and i can't seem to figure it out. First, the breaks squeek like no other when i am driving and it stops as soon as i get on the break. I looked at the pads and i still have about 45-50% of the pad so i don't know why it's squeeking.
Second, it has a really bad engine bog. (i'll explain the best i can) For instance, when i am at a stop sign with a line of cars, when i give just a little bit of gas to go foward then let off, the car will bog down and almost kill. The same thing happens when i give it a little gas to go in a drive way, driving slow over bumps so i don't bottom out, and backing it. It always happend when you give it just a little bit of gas (to hold at about 1200-1500rpm)
I can't figure it out but it makes daily driving a pain. sorry for the long post but i hope you guys can help me out. thanks

 

Your idle could be too low. There's many other possible causes to the engine problem as well though. How's the car power-wise? Is it lacking bottom end? How's your gas mileage?

Far as the brakes squeaking...hard to say why if the pads have wear left on them. Sure they're worn evenly across? They do make some de-squeaking spray you can buy at auto parts stores....

 

The power of the car still seems to be there. If i really get on it and go WOT it's fine, it only seems to have the bog at slow speeds while giving it just a little bit of gas. It's been like this for a while and i've been unable to locate the problem. I brought it to my mechanic once and the problem was only gone for about a day so whatever he fixed, it wasn't the right thing.

 

Nobody has any idea what so ever about this?

 

Well, the squealing brakes is pretty common, but it sucks when they get too loud. The cause is the makeup of the brake pads themselves. Semi-metallic brake pads have a tendency to squeal. Put on some non-metallic brake pads and see if that helps.

It only bogs down at slow speeds? Sounds like is running a tad on the rich side. Once it gets up in the RPMs, it can better handle the excess fuel. If it was on a carbeurator I would be adjusting the fuel mixture, but I don't know how to do that stuff on a TPI. Could be a faulty MAF (or SD, I dunno what you use) sensor, or the O2 sensor... but something is causing you to get more fuel than you need.

 

My car has the exact same bogging problem at low RPMs. In my case it is definitely because it is too rich -- the previous owner installed injectors that flow more fuel, but did not adjust the EPROM. Now the car runs rich, with bogging effects at slow speeds, but over 1500 RPMs it runs great.

Like Bandit5, I too would suspect the O2 sensor first. The MAF sensor could also have something to do with it. Or, you might have an injector stuck open (or intermittently sticking).

Depending on how long your car has been like this, you might want to check your oil and see if it has been contaminated at all by gasoline.

 

Somebody a while back told me i might be running rich but they said i was at WOT because i have 24# injectors with a stock 350 chip. I really wish my car would just run and not have these little things wrong ALL THE TIME. it almost makes me want to get a newer car but i really don't wanna see the maro go.

 

Aha, that's exactly what I'm running. 24# injectors on a stock 350 chip. And mine's definitely rich. Not enough to blow black smoke, but enough to cause a gasoline odor and that low-RPM bogging.

It would probably be advisable to upgrade your EPROM to handle the new injector constant. That is, if you want to keep the 24# injectors.

Don't get rid of the Camaro! These cars need attention but they can be a lot of fun to tinker with. I bought mine exactly one month ago with its share of gremlins, but half the fun for me is solving problems. It's a project car, not a daily driver, so if something goes wrong, I just park it 'till I can get to it. It's a great hobby.

 

How do i go about changin my EPROM?? I have a little blueish smoke on start-up and you can smell a little oil at WOT. TOO many things to fix and no money.

Trust me, I love having my car but I am in college for my first year and have no money what so ever. It really sucks cuz i am to the point where my parents have to make my payments cuz i have no money. I don't have money to keep fixin it. And theres alot i wanna do to the outside to make the car how i want it.

 

I'm sorry man, I didn't realize you were in a tough financial spot. In that case, a third gen can be a burden. Customizing your EPROM is theoretically simple but, like anything else, it requires a bit of money and research. You'd need about $200 worth of tools and parts up-front, then, if you have access to a computer, you can make changes pretty easily. The DIY PROM board here on TGO is a great resource on this, but when you first start reading, it looks complicated. There's also a fantastic tech article on this out on the home page of this site. I'm looking to get into this arena myself but have not had the time yet.

In your case, since you're short on money, you might be able to solve a rich mixture issue by installing an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and throttling back on the fuel supply enough to bring the mixture back into normal tolerances. That might be your cheapest solution, assuming it would work. Since I'm a complete wrenching n00b, however, hopefully some of the more learned members of the board can chime in on this issue. I'd hate to steer you wrong on such a tight budget.

 

Well i had planned on getting an AFRP anyways along with a few other mods. I didn't want to burn a chip yet though untill i have all my mods or else i'd have to pay to get a chip burned more than once. I'll see how the funds are going after i start working more again. hopfully some guys with more knowledge on this topic will give me some more info about my problem. Thanks for your help so far.

 

Yeah, I think an AFPR should solve that problem. Just gotta be careful the car doesn't run lean at WOT with the fuel pressure kicked back. I assume you're running stock now...try knocking it back about 2 or 3 psi. Go very mild with it. You'd be amazed what only a few psi can do.

 

Alright, so if i get an AFRP, what is the best one for it's money? I heard there was one that was really easy to change the psi because it didn't require a a screw, it just had a **** to twist or something. I'll do and search and see what i come up with.

 

squeaking brakes really dont have anything to do with how much wear is on the pad (except when it gets down to the wear sensor). Nor is it fair to say that all semi-metallic pads squeak.

Squakes are actually related more to poorly done brake jobs than anything else.

Some areas that a lot of amatuer mechanics never pay any attention to on a brake job that can cause squeaks are...

Slide pin bushings. The bolts that hold the caliper to the spindle; they ride on these bushings, and in fact the caliper itself moves quite a bit. During a brake job you should remove these bushings, lightly sand them smooth and grease them with silicone or synthetic grease.

Unturned rotors. It isnt "necessary" to turn the rotor from a wear standpoint, as the pad will wear to its surface....but it is necessary to turn them to reduce noise.

Caliper surface. Theres a little tapered part of the caliper where the pads actually ride on, hard to explain exactly where it is, if you look at it, it's pretty obvious. If this surface isnt fairly smooth, it can cause squeaks. Running a file over it a few times every brake job cures this.

No Brake pad retainer. Some people just throw away the retaining clip for the brake pad. Not only can this cause you major wear problems, but it almost definatly will cause squeaks.

No anti-squeak material on the back of the pad. This is pretty much a must. It comes in bottles you can apply to the pad, or spray cans.

Poor quality pads. A lot of people just buy the cheapest pad out there, and wonder why it squeaks so much. Get some good pads man.

If you do all these things, it wont squeak, even with semi-metalic pads.

 

Well i bought new pads but i didn't put them on because of how much pad was still there. I'll make sure to look back at this thread when i am doing my breaks. Does anyone else know anything about the bog problem? Does it sound like it's running rich and the EPROM isn't compensating for the extra fuel from the 24# injectors? Or could it be something more than this? My car isn't being driven due to recent snow but i still have access to it. So hopfully i can figure out what is wrong so i can fix it.

 

are you getting error codes? If so which ones?

My flat out guess would be one of your accesories is causing too much drag.

 

I haven't hooked it up but the check engine light has never been on so i'm not sure.