Forgive me if this is just a really basic/rudimentary question, but I'm still a relatively new driver and this is the only car I know...

In my '88 Camaro (2.8L MPFI V6, 4spd auto), when I'm getting onto the highway, let's say I'm going 55MPH and I want to get to 70MPH--just to keep up with the other drivers. The tranny is in OD, and I'm going 55MPH @ ~2000 RPM (just a guess at the RPM), and I'm barely having to give it any gas to sustain that speed. Now, I want to accelerate to 70MPH: I put the gas in to nearly 85% throttle--a lot of gas, but not quite enough to downshift to third. I've done this many times before, and I can just stare both my speedo/tach, and nothing will move. I can sit there for like fifteen seconds, giving it that much gas, and I might gain ~5MPH if I'm on level ground. So, I go ahead and give it more gas so that the tranny will downshift to third--this means I pretty much have to floor it, especially at higher speeds. Now I'm in third and at a higher RPM (mabye ~3300, guessing). Still, I can sit and stare a the speedo/tach, and I can only barely see it accelerate. So, in this hypothetical situation (which I've been in before), to accelerate from 55MPH to 70MPH, I had to floor the gas for like ~30 seconds just to gain 15MPH.

Now, I guesstimated most of those numbers, but they should still give you an idea of the kind of "acceleration" I have in my car. Doesn't that seem kind of rediculous? And I'm not even talking about racing--this is just trying to get me to work. I feel like I'm having to drive my car unneccessarily hard just to get it to do a simple thing. I hate having people still passing me on the highway a minute after I get on because I'm still trying to accelerate--and I hate having to slow down because I had to go WOT for half-a-minute just to catch up with everyone else.

I've heard from pretty much everybody that these cars are "slow", but then again that's comming from a lot of people who spend a great deal of time, money, and effort just to spend 11 seconds and beat somebody at the track. That's cool and all, but where I am right now, I really don't care about quarter-mile times--I spend most of my time, money, and effort just trying to keep the car running at all! I'm more than happy with my Camaro once it "gets going"--but "getting there", to me, leaves a lot to be desired.

So, I guess my question to those of you who are familiar with these V6 third-gens, from a *driving* (not racing) perspective, is: are these engines really just that bad, or do I mabye have a larger problem that I need to investigate?

The only problem that I know I have is with the transmission: I can't shift directly into OD when the car is cold--I have to go into 1, 2, or D, drive around for a minute to warm the thing up, and then I can shift into OD. Might that have something to do with the poor acceleration?

Just curious to find out if there's a problem here, or if that's about right for a 2.8, or if it's just me...

Thanks

 

No , they really aren't that bad of an engine . Chevy has made better V6's . It's a V6 , so its not ganna be "fast as in V8 fast " But it can be a nice little quick daily driver .

I BET , you need a real good tune-up . Wires , plugs , the whole 9 yards . Throw some K&N air filters while your at it . After all this , dont expect to drive the car and think "Wow its really fast now " ...But you will get in and say " its quick " YES , you can make these 2.8 V6s fast ( as in mid 14 sec cars ) But , you have to dig deep into your pocket for this . But for a daily driver , and what your looking for , I think you will be real satisfied after a big tune-up .....Scroll up the page and go to the search section and click on it and search in the V6 section for TomP's tune-up . Or just type Tune-up and Im sure it will bring up TomP .....It's a nice big tune-up that I know you will be satisfied with . Now get to work !

 

I know this is going to sound far off, but take your car to an exhaust shop to have a backpressure test done on the catalytic converter. Haven't had this actually happen to any of my Firebirds , but a work van I use to drive did the same thing your describing and the convertor was clogged severely. Didn't make sense though because 1st through 3rd(auto) pulled hard it seemed.

 

tv cable adjustment

 

That's not far off at all. In fact it's very possible. I'd look into getting that checked along with any tune-up needs and check fuel pressure.

 

Does your catalytic converter rattle at all? Try hitting it (not too hard) with a rubber mallet or even your fist (wait till it's cold to do this!) It it rattles or sounds hollow then you know the cat is shot. What happened to me (and one of my shop teachers) was that the catalysts in the cat broke apart and clogged up the muffler. I noticed a good improvement after I replaced the cat and muffler, so that's worth checking out.

 

why not just down shift??? Stick it in 2 and take off???

 

Thanks for the replies!

Well, as far as the recommendation for a general tune-up goes... I've done a search and looked at Tom's post. As I was reading through it, I realized that I've already done most of these things within the past year--most of them because I was forced to, else I'd be walking to get across town. Here's a checklist of what I've done and not done (referencing Tom's guide):

- Distributor cap/rotor: yes to both
- Spark plug wires: yes
- Spark plugs: yes (came out with "normal" wear)
- Air filter: no
- PCV valve: no
- Fuel filter: yes
- Engine oil & filter: yes to both
- Automatic transmission fluid and filter: yes to both
- Rear axle gear lube: no
- TV cable: no
- Lube job: yes
- Front-end alignment: yes (actually rebuilt the whole front end with new all new bushings, joints, tie-rod ends, struts, etc....)
- Clean out the throttle-plate with TB cleaner: yes
- Injector cleaner: no, but I've had the injectors pulled and flow-tested; purchased two new Bosch injectors
- Brakes: yes; new pads, rotors, and calipers in the front; haven't touched the back
- Brake fluid, steering fluid: yes, no
- Coolant: yes; I have to keep up with this because the water-pump has a leak around the gasket (I try for a 50-50 mixture)
(- New tires: yes)

So it's probably safe to rule a lot of that stuff out.

I'll check the cat with a mallet and see how that sounds.

The TV cable thing is new to me, though... I've never really known what it does. Where is it and how can I adjust it?

 

Look on the drivers side of the throttle body, thats where it is. The way I was told to adjust it is take the air intake assembly off infront of the tb, rock throttle bracket and see if it goes WOT. If it does, thats good. Get a second person now, have them sit in the car and make it WOT so that you have both hands free and press a "d" shaped tab thats hard to get to under the plenium and push/pull the cable so that its tight at wot, let off the tab, and should be done. Also if you dont understand this one, do a search on my name, and someone told me how to do it in this forum about a month ago. Hope this helps.

 

here is my acceleration, i was shifting/steering with one hand so my shifts were slow as hell


Slightly speeding: hesitated/couldnt find 5th gear

i uploaded the 110 to a friends old angelfire account... hope it works
right click/ save as
http://www.angelfire.com/games3/Mar...eed_limiter.mpg