Hello all,

First off I want to say what a great Site TGO is, I have been surfing around this site for a few months now and it has helped me tremendously with the repair work on my 89 Camaro. However now I am at an impass and I need the wise members of TGO's help!

In december I purchased a 89 Camaro RS w/ the 305 TBI in it. It need some work which I was aware of and badly needed a paint job.

It leaks oil pretty bad and did have a major cooling problem but I think I have resolved that.

This is what I have done to it so far:
- Tune Up (cap, rotor, timing, plugs, wires, etc)
- Installed a Edlebrock Open 3" Filter
- Replaced the water pump
- Installed a 160* Therm
- Replaced the shocks and struts on the Front and Rears
- Installed a aftermarket universal 16" Fan and ran a switch to the dash board.
- New tires (but thats not really relavent)

Here are the problems I am having
- "Jiggly" Steering wheel (I have the tech article for tightening the column but have yet to start on it)
- Oil Pressure gauge Jumps around between 30 and 60 while driving but not when idling
- Runs Rich
- Oil Leak (Smoke out the exhaust on start up and acceleration)
- Power problems to the rear hatch motor, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't
- Too much play in the steering wheel (this is caused by bad bushings on the center/drag link and the idler arms which is on my list of to do)
- Gas gauge just does not work properly (does not go all the way down to "E" and floats back and forth while driving expecially on hills. I know this is because the stock gas tank has no baffles.)
- Dented oil pan (I am assuming some one must have tryed to jack the engine off the oil pan before I got the car)

Here is what I would like to do with the car:
- Stop the oil leak (I am pretty sure it is the valve seals)
- Tighten the steering column (using the tech article)
- Install Headers back system


And now to my questions (now that I got all that background info out of the way):

1. From what I understand an oil leak into the cylinders (justified by the fact that my plugs are oily and i have blue smoke out of the exhaust) is primarily cause by either bad valve seals, blown head gasket, or bad piston rings, correct?

2. Is there a good way to replace the valve seals without removing the head? (can I use the tube off my compression tester and hook it up to my air compressor to hold my valves up?)

3. Is it better to just remove the head replace the gasket and do a "valve job" then the latter?

4. Would it pay to take the heads into a machine shop and have them do the valve job, clean up the heads, and check for cracks? (They are asking $300 for both heads)

5. Since I am using the stock TBI what causes it to run rich or idle high? (It is not throwing any codes)

6. If I do the valve job myself what size valve seals do I need or where can I find that information? (I have the Hayne's and my Chilton's is on order)

7. Should I relocate the battery to the trunk area?

Thanks guys (and gals) in advance and thank you TGO for having the most comprehensive and informative site on the 3rd Gen I have found so far!

 

Welcome aboard.

Running rich: Two possibilities (maybe more). O2 sensor should have been part of your tune up. 180 degree thermostat would have been better.

Okay, one other thought: Did you put the temp sensor back in when you installed the open element?

Oil use/heads: You can replace the valve seals with the heads on the car. Most parts stores will have an adapter to apply air through the spark plug holes.

Heads: If you take them off, don't put them back on. TBI heads are pretty poor for anything more than the factory did. See if the shop has a set of 081 casting heads laying around that they would freshen up, or find a set from the buzzard yard. Much better heads for the cam and headers you're going to put in/on when the heads go back on.

 

Five7kid,

Yes the temperature sensor is reinstalled on the open element (it would throw a code after about 5 minutes of driving when it was not)

I am looking into geting the 180* therm, I still have the stock 190* and I was debating reinstalling the 190* or not.

Eventually I was going to get a chip from TBIChips.com

I was thinking about just buying a set of felpro valve seals from Advanded. I want to at least cure this oil leak in the mean time until I can recieve more funds to buy some new heads.

Excuse my ignorance but can you explain to me what 081 casting heads is?

as for the cam I am thinking about switching to the LT1 cam if I can find it for a good price.

My goal here is not a drag machine but a well tuned (blow your tires off at the intersection) street / daily driver

 

081 castings were used on 87-up 305's with TPI (and carb in 1987 only). They are the more "traditional" SBC design without the swirl-port feature that TBI engines had. It's the swirl that kills off the flow in those heads. 081's would bolt right up to your engine.

You might also want to check out the TBI and DIY PROM forums rather than buying somebody else's guess at PROM tuning.

Those type of valve seals require machining the valve guide in order to fit. That requires removing the heads to accomplish. That's fine for your "final solution" heads, but for your current pieces, a more typical umbrella or even stock type o-rings would be in order.

 

I am watching an auction for 14101081 casting number heads on Ebay that were remanufactured to OEM specs. Then I guess I can "clean up" and resell the current swirl type heads if anyone wants them.

I think this weekend I shall install a 180* therm and a new 02 sensor.

Hopefully I can get those 081 heads. Will I need to get a new head bolt set? I have heard of some head bolts that require a new set of bolts on every removal because the old bolt are designed to expand or something like that. I know I will need to get a head gasket set (Head gaskets, Valve Cover Gaskets, intake, exhaust, etc etc.)

 

Nope, you do not need new head bolts. Ours (on the third gens) are not the torque to yield kind. Might be worthwhile, however, to make sure they aren't stretched or have any damaged threads or anything.