Ok here's the story, I bought a 91 camaro RS 305TBI about 2 months ago. I am going to be doing all sorts of stuff to this car as I learn about all of it. I did a few things to it since I bought it and it seems to have a lot less power than it used to have. Since I got it the things I've done to it so far are:

Flowmaster exhaust from my friend he let me have for free (replaced stock exhaust that was uber silent)
Homemade open element (cut off most of the walls off the stock air intake, while leaving the tube in front for extra cold air)
New spark plugs and wires
Oil change
New PCV valve

Over just this few weeks i've noticed it slips really easily, I've been told it's either the rear end or the transmission, could fluids of either one of these be the cause? It didn't slip when I first got it and haven't really been harsh on the petal but just a few times. A friend told me there is a valve on the transmission that should be replaced that has an adjustment screw that can adjust shift points. It has also lost a lot of power, barely accelerates better than the 88 RS V6 I used to drive.

Now this car has over 125k miles, but like I said when I first got it it had tons of power (to me at least) and it never slipped gears. Does anyone have any ideas what could be the cause of either of these problems?

Thank for any help offered.

 

Check the trans fluid, and set your TV cable, refer to the main pager here and its under tech articles

 

Thanks for the reply, I have a few questions about that. Do you push in the tang then pull the cable shaft back away from the throttle lever? That guide might be a little TOO easy to follow, making me confused My trans fluid also seems really low. I ran it in park for about 10 minutes then checked the fluid and its way below the grid on the dipstick.

 

Push the button on the side in and grab the black cable and pull it towards the firewall until it stops and release the button. Next take the throttle lever and slowly push it to the wide open throttle position with your hand. You will hear a ratcheting sound as you do this, it is the TV cable resetting itself. Release the throttle lever and that is it. Note: do not operate the throttle lever using the gas pedal in the car when adjusting the TV cable.

And def get some fluid in her.

 

Might want to check the fuel pressure also. 9-13lbs. is the norm. anything less and it will rev up slowly and go nowhere even though it will go to 5 grand. eventually.

 

Ok I got the cable adjusted, it was just really really hard to push that tang so I used gloves and instantly it was easy

I changed the fluid as well, both made a huge difference it feels very different and shifts properly now (as compared to the much less mileage v6 car)

Thank you very much for your help dudes

How do I check the fuel pressure?

 

To test fuel pressure in a TBI car, you are either going to have to go to a shop that has the equipment, or you can get a fuel pressure testing kit from Autozone.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...7C%7EEA%7C%7EB

 

Test the fuel pressure, and I would also recommend a fuel system flush. It REALLY helps rejuvenate old motors with lots of miles. Contact a local automotive shop and ask them about it, it usually runs about $130, but it's completely worth it.

 

Is there any way to do this flush myself? I saw a thread where people were talking about a "water trick" where you spray water into the tbi, would that be the same thing or is that something different?

 

that water trick would sooner clean carbon off the valves than help the fuel system....if you put water directly into the barrels of the tbi while its running, its not going thru the fuel system at all.

you say loss of power, how does it idle? have you messed with the timing? Are your injecter plugs securly snugged into the injectors on the tbi? could the new muffler perhaps be clogged?

did it slowly lose power or was it all of a suddon?

does it bog? is it hard to start?

give specific symptoms, and ill try to help, im pretty good with tbi.

i cant make a good guesstimate on the problem without knowing all the symptoms,.

possibilities:
o2 sensor
fuel filter
fuel pump
vacuum leak somewhere
faulty ignition i.e. ignition module, cap, coil ,rotor ,wires.. plugs...
TPS (throttle position sensor)
list goes on...and on.....

 

Well, there really arent that many symptoms. I haven't messed with the timing. It doesn't bog down unless not immediately accelerating when I hit the gas is what you mean by bog down. It just sort of doesn't get up to speed as fast as it should, its like a delay. The engine is running and reving just fine but the car seems to be lagging. It starts right up on the 4th or so turnover when its cold then right up after that when its hot, it runs smoothly, doesnt shake or vibrate, it idles at 700 or so. It does make the noise described in https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=243880 this thread. It does burn oil, and I have some TPI heads coming soon that I'm going to put on. I've never taken anything off any farther than the air filter, but I'm just dying to start piecing apart the TBI unit to check it all out and learn about it. I was worried maybe the new muffler might be clogged as well, because that silent stock muffler seemed to be when it had more power. This came off an IROC my friend just bought to take parts off of to repair his stolen car with, he was just gonna throw it out. I think its a "40 series" or something. The iroc was just fine with it and it wasnt off that car more than a few weeks or so, and it didnt sit outside or anything. Now the way I installed it was kind of a hack job (a total of 7 clamps back there ), but it works. I will be installing the headers off that IROC as well when I put on the new heads. I have noticed today after I reset the computer it seems to be accelerating a lot faster than before because I never did reset the computer after doing some of the things to it like that homemade open element. I just thought maybe this exhaust was a little TOO free flowing because the stock muffler had one pipe, and this has two.

Now another possibility I thought might be psychological, like I got used to the new V8 and now it isnt as fast as when I first got it, in my mind. Because when I went back to drive the V6 it was damned slow
I'll try looking at the TBI unit asap and see if anything looks out of place. But it is a really really smooth running engine (and car for that matter)

 

well if its running smooth but lack power it prolly in the fuel system to be honest....fuel filter first...its like 5 bucks total....easy to change.....gives you a chance to put the car on jack stands and learn how to not drop a car on your face.

if its gurgling or whatever....ive never heard a car gurgle ...lol.

where is the gurgling comming from? front / back? be specific

is it a whine? whistle? a click? knock?

you might want to just consider changing the timing to 6 degrees advance just to be on the safe side along with a general over all tune up....plugs wires, cap coil rotor.....

check all your hoses and stuff......but definatly change the fuel filter! and pray its not the pump

p.s. i put a fuel pressure gauge on my tbi system...drove around for two hours with the sucker taped to my windsheild from the outside....pressure never dropped...a year later i get a hole in my tank, drop the tank out the car, and for a laugh check the fuel pump....sucker was CLOGGED with plastic and just...Crap all in it....old pump musta blown an impeller...and shot it in the strainer...and the morons who replaced the pump must not of replaced the strainer and the new pump sucked it all up in the opening and got clogged in the fuel pump screen.

the entire time i showed correct fuel pressure.....so dont count on fuel pressure showing problems.....mine didnt...and it was 98% clogged.

 

haha silliness

Well the noise is sort of a rapid clicking when I give it gas as I'm driving. When it's idling it makes the gurgly noise, its sort of like a metallic noise, like a can full of staples. It comes from the front of the car inside the engine. I have already changed all the plugs and wires and the oil when I got the car. Where is the fuel filter located at?

Also do you know about the differential fluid in the rear end and if that is something that can be changed? I wouldnt know how you would fill that the way its so tight under there.

I have no idea how to change timing lol
I've read up on it a bit but haven't tried doing it myself out of fear of messing something up. I heard if it gets too far you need to run higher octane or something?

 

rapid clicking is either spark knock/detonation. timing needs to be retarded a bit. OR its a rocker arm flopping around a lil.

also, you said you changed the wires, recheck them and make SURE the wires are going to the right location, correct firing order.

the distributor may be lose and messing with the wires may have moved it.

then again my friends idler was ticking and it took him a month to figure out it was the idler and not spark knock.


yes differential fluid can be changed....you have to pull the differential cover, let it drain, clean the magnent on the cover, replace the gasket, put the cover back on...... tighten the nuts in a criss cross pattern as you would a tire......refill with whatever brand you wish, refill with specified weight oil....

they make a nice lil pump you put on the top of the differential lube bottle and pump the fluid in instead of having to jam the bottle up in there....im poor, i jam the bottle up in there....its messy but ...cheaper lol.

timing .....get a distributor wrench from autozone....use the 9/16 S shaped one....loosen distributor til it barely turns freely...unplug the esc wire...located near the heater box, pass side closer to the fire wall...itll have a noticable one wire connector....get a timing light....hook it up accordingly.....point it at the hatmonic balancer between the water pump and timing chain cover....itll have a lil tab down there (or at least it should have one) pull the trigger on the timing light......as the bar sweeps make sure its in between the first two larger lines....itll look like /4\/2\/0\/2\/4\/6\ get it between /4\/2\/0\/2\-->|here|<---/4\/6\

i suggest maybe you get a haynes manual or something of the sort, most of this stuff is explained...cept with pictures.

 

haha yes that is extremely confusing
I saw a timing light at a garage sale it was brand new I think it was like $10 I should go back to that house and check it out.

I have a haynes and chilton I got off ebay and a huge chevy manual I got with the car, I really should start reading those cover to cover lol

As far as the spark plug wires, I dont know if they were messed up to begin with but because of my lack of knowing the correct wire positions I changed the wires and plugs one at a time.

So the rear axle uses motor oil AND differential fluid? I'll probably have to jam the bottle up in there too because I have $2 in my wallet right now

Thanks for your help so far, I really appreciate it :hail: , I have almost the whole week off work I will be busy with this car like crazy

 

no no ...no motor oil goes in the differntial....it uses weighted oil LIKE motor oil....

 

ah, i kinda figured that

 

wow, I was such a n00b two years ago