Hi to everyone. I recently purchased an '88 iroc 350 TPI with 69k original mi. From what I understand the car hasn't had a tune up in a very LONG time. The car seems to run great with the exception of three things. 1, when I brake the car pulls to the drivers side. 2, the steering wheel has quite a bit of play in it. 3, the fans don't turn on by themselves, I have to manually turn them on with a switch.
So, my question to you all is this:
What kind of rotors and break pads, fuel filter, spark plug wires, spark plugs, and air filter do y'all recommend? I'm looking for something a little better than stock oem.

Is there anything else that you guys recommend I get to round out this long overdue tune up? sensors maybe?

 

you can get all that stuff at your local autozone or similar store, but i have had problems with their plug wires and brake rotors. get those 2 items from summit. steel rotors would be best or some high quality iron alloy rotors. if its pulling you may need calipers too. autozone has a great warranty.

 

I would check your brake lines for the pulling. My car had the same problem, but it wobbled back and forth.

 

Primary fan is computer comtrolled.
Temp has to reach 235+ for secondary fan to turn on. It's turn on by a preset temp/switch so it's independent of the ECM & temp gauge.

 

my new baby!!
Does anyone know what is supposed to be connected in that plug by the Mass Airflow? It looks like there's supposed to be something connected there but i don't know what.

 

That's a MAT like the one underneath the plenum at the rear.

I found an air filter housing like that one on a V6 swapped it in and extended the plenum MAT connector to it, put a switch in to use one or the other but, I'm not going to use it until I determine what the ECM does with the MAT sensor. On the V6 it's called an IAT which is why it located in the intake air stream.

BTW that's what my 88' looked like before the air wore the paint off.

 

MAT = Manifold Air Temperature
IAT = Incoming Air Temperature

A MAT will read a higher temperature, since it's located in the hot intake manifold. An IAT is usually located somewhere in the intake ducting, like the V6 one. It won't be affected as much by engine heat, and should read cooler than a MAT. There is a tech article about relocating it here:

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=24

 

I saw the tech article, thanks by the way. But where does the other end of that plug go into? I don't see any loose, unconnected wires anywhere.

 

On a TPI it doesn't connect anywhere because The TPI already has one, the question you have to ask yourself is which one do you want to use.
Here's a picture of mine underneath the Plenum.

 

Relocating the MAT to the aircleaner was one of the old school tricks. Since the computer is calibrated to read the temp in the plenum, which is hotter then the aircleaner, relocating the sensor causes the computer to dump more fuel in the engine. The problem is that obviously GM had the idea because that's where they put the sensor on the V6. They could have just as easily put the sensor in the air cleaner to begin with.

In practice it's just going to throw the computer off, and not really increase performance.

Just from looking at it, I'd bet that's a 2.8L air cleaner that someone swapped in. From the factory that clamp at the front of the MAF sensor is a steel band that clips in place. It's obviously been apart before. You could extend the harness from under the plenum and plug it in, but it'll just hurt your gas mileage.

 

That's good to know. Phew, I feel relieved now. I was looking all over for a loose connection.

Thanks for the info. everyone. I love these forums.

P.s Another thing I noticed was that the fluid in the master cylinder was Dark as coffee. Anyone have pics of what color the fluid should look like?

 

The brake fluid should look like honey. Brake fluid is supposed to be flushed on a regular basis, as it absorbs water out of the air. Over time, it'll cause problems. Most people never flush the old fluid. The darkness of your fluid is from rust and contamination in your brake system.

I'd start by visually inspecting the rubber hoses in the brake system. If any of them are cracked or rotting, it'd be a good idea to buy new rubber hoses or upgrade to stainless steel brake hoses. It'd also be a good time to inspect the rest of the brake system, since if you're going to bleed the brakes, you might as well fix any problems first. If everything looks ok, suck almost all of the old coffee colored fluid out of the master cylinder reservoir and top it off with clean fluid, then bleed the brakes starting at the passengers rear corner of the car, then the drivers rear, passengers front, and finally the drivers front. Keep bleeding until the fluid comes out fresh and clean before moving to the next wheel. Periodically check the master cylinder level. When the system has been completely flushed, make sure the reservoir is full and it should be good to go for a long time.

Be sure to keep any brake fluid off of painted surfaces, if left exposed it'll remove the paint.

 

Hello Drew!!

There is a relatively "new" one man brake bleeding kit that I seen on "GearzTV" that forces the brake fluid up to the master cylinder from the caliper bleeder screw. There apparently is no need to pump the brake pedal as before in the past, and gives you a real good pedal feel, no spongy pedal, due to trapped air!!

Have you seen such a beast?

 

I've got the relatively old school Mity-Vac with the brake bleeder kit in my tool box, and honestly it's done nothing more then driven me to frustration. It always just sucks air past the bleeder threads. Works great for testing EGR valves, waste gate actuators, and so forth.

I also tried the home made pressure bleeder... Basically a garden sprayer plumbed to an extra master cylinder cap. The idea being to fill the garden sprayer tank with brake fluid, pump it up and then just crack the bleeders and let clean fluid flow through. It didn't work too snappy for me. In my case I couldn't get the cap to seal tight enough to get the job done.

I've also never had any luck gravity bleeding our cars. In theory it should work, but it's never worked for me for some reason.

I haven't tried any of the other gadgets, but a roll of clear poly-vinyl tube from the hardware store, a rinsed out pickle jar, and a helper always works, even if it does take a bit to train the helper, communicate open/close, brake and release. It's a PITA but it's usually dependable.

There probably is a specific tool solution that'd make the job easier, I just can't honestly say that I've found one that works.

 

Hello Drew!!

I hear ya on the "trained helper"!! My dad and I were a good team on this procedure, my kids on the other hand, forget it!!! It's not hi-tech enough for them!!

I've got the Mity-Vac also, pretty good for a vacuum source!!

This gizmo that I seen looked like the real deal, same basic layout as the Mity-Vac, but it pushes the fluid, rather than pulling it!! It worked on TV, therefore it's gotta work once you get one at home..........doesn't it???

 

Here's a picture of the front brakes after removing the brake line.






And here is one of the front brake lines,





here's the rear:




One thing that confused me was that the driver's rear disk brake did not have a rubber hose connecting directly to the caliper like in the front. Someone correct me if i'm wrong but is this the rubber hose that control's the drivers rear brakes:




I'm waiting to receive a call from Baker Bearings in Signal Hill California telling me when my new lines will be ready. I'll update as soon as I get them.