i have a mostly bone stock RS 305 L03 and i was wondering if 2,500 rpm is normal at 65 MPH. is my trans going into lockup? how can you tell? i was working on my car and i noticed i 2 wire connector that was just "hanging around" near my trans. it was tucked around the trans mount so it wouldnt drag on the ground. this is not something that i disconnected, was like that when i bought the car. can not figure out where it connects. if my car is not going into lockup i am wasting gas.

 

that plug mostlikely is the lockup connection. it connects of the driver side near the front of the trans

 

With 2.73 gears, I think my LO3 was like 2000 rpms at 80 mph with lockup - it's been awhile and I don't remember well - but I know it was alot better than yours. My 350 with 3.42 gears gets 2500 rpms at 65mph.

 

2.73 gears should be 2000 rpm at 80mph, at least it was in my ex's car

 

why would this be disconnected? any ideas, maybe there is a reason for it. or did a prevous owner replace trans and forget to plug it back in?

 

well i had a second look. there is a white sqaure connector which is attached, i assume that is for lockup. the connector in question is black, rectangular and looks like the plug for the map sensor as a refernce. its exactly 2 wires and i cant find any place to attach it. it appears to go no where, there appears to be absolutely no place to attach this connector. i dont like things that i dont know where they go. why does my car have a much higher cruising speed? i thought it was normal but now i have my doubts. could somebody changed out the rear end gears and i dont know about it? if thats the case they probaby did me a favor, but i doubt it. and if thats true i still have this strange connector. option code in glove box indicates 2.73s. any ideas. i love my car but i does have 150K on it and it is often very diffucult to determine what was done to it in the past. i dont know how many miles are on the engine trans or the rear end. i know it runs decent and shifts properly with the exception of this little problem,

 

kinda late on this one, but here's a spreadsheet I made to give you your speed/RPM on a nifty chart.

Put in your rear gears, rear tire size, gear ratios in the trans, and it'll graph your speed at each gear. So in top gear, my max speed is ~230km/hr or so....

https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~jmknopp...eed%20calc.xls

 

how do i fix this issue of no lockup? i cannot find anywhere to plug in that connector and i dont even know if thats related to lockup or not.

 

are you totally sure that it isn't locking up?

look on the tach as you accelerate, you should see the rpms drop as it shifts into 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th, and then a final drop in rpms as the converter locks up.

so you should see a total of 4 drops in rpm
try that and see if it does it

i'm leaving for boot camp as we speak, so i'll let someone else help you out on the rest of this topic

 

Yeah! That's what it was with mine! That's what I thought, but when I typed it, it looked too good to be true! No wonder I was getting over 30 mpg! Oh well, can't have mileage AND fun - that's like having a rich gorgeous wife that likes sex - it's next to impossible!

 

I thought some past owner installed steeper gears beacuse my tach reads 2500-2700 at 80mph. Turns out I have the stock 2.73s the Auto LO3 came with. I ordered an ALDL cable and hooked up my laptop to the ecm, and found out the tach is WAY off. At 4000 rpms on tach, engine is only doing 3000 rpms according to ecm.
The ALDL cable also sends data about the torque converter lockup, so that is another way to check for TCL, that is if you have an ALDL cable.

 

where do i get a ALDL cable and what software do you use? how much does that setup cost. i own a laptop so that wouldnt be a problem. my tach reads 2,200-2,500 @65-70 mph, so it sounds like yours does. my car can also read up to 5900-6000 rpm when i get on it which sounds way too high for a stock L03. why is the stock tach so bad? i have had tachs in other vechiles, my s10 blazer has a digital dash with tach and it reads properly. why is the camaro tach such a joke? why did GM even bother to equip these vechiles with a tach if they are so poor. or is the tach simply worn out? where they more acurate when new?

 

The tach sensor has a resistor that goes bad. I do not know the details.

Do a search for ALDL cables on google or yahoo and you should find some. I bought an ALDL cable for USB for $85 from HERE. It was a lot for a cable, but I use it all the time and it told me definite answers to things I have constantly been questioning, such as the tach readings.

You can download WinALDL, the scanner software, for free. Make sure you log your data so you can look back at the entire drive. Also, you can post your log in the TBI board, and it helps people help you solve your problem.

 

On the earlier('82 to '85)if the convertor's power supply for lockup was disconnected it would overheat the convertor at highway speed.The convertor clutch switch wire colors are purple and tan w/black stripe.You also have a fourth clutch switch but you would have to drop the trans pan to see that one.The plug on the trans for the solenoid is on the driver's side of the rear of the main body of the transmission.Just FYI my '83 has 3:23 gears and 60 mph is 1900 rpm.And you can feel when the convertor locks because it's a similar feeling to the trans shifting under light load.

Chevrolet had a problem with the tachs in Camaros,expecially from '82 to '88, because of the aforementioned resistor on the tachs circuit board going bad.The tach in my '83 would show 4000 rpm at 60 mph(the funny thing was the 7000 rpm upshifts).I swapped out my dual needle cluster assembly for a 145 mph one and now i have a more accurate tach.

 

As with any factory car, the tach is a $20 add on that brings an extra $300 to the sale - people like to see things moving when they are driving - a reference to their driving abilities so to speak. I doubt that very many factory tachs made after the muscle car era were ever intended to be as accurate as pretty - with the exception of actual "performance" cars, which the factory Camaro hasn't been produced as such since 1969. I mean lets face it, with computer control of engine function, and built in limits (both mechanical and electrical), there's no need (in a stock factory car) to require accuracy, since in stock form there's little to no chance of actually driving a factory car too hard. In stock form, our cams, heads, and exhaust keep us from really doing much damage.

Most of today's drivers are damned lucky to rember what a redlight means, let alone understand what an RPM is! They just like eye candy, and like it enough to pay the dealer extra for it.