I have possibly the crappiest third gen v-6 Camaro out there...next to my friend's, who has ram air, a flowmaster, and I can still whoop him when I'm practically all stock. Ok, here's the deal(s).. Whenever I apply a little pressure to my brakes, I hear a noise from the driver's side..sounds really close, like maybe it's coming from the wheel well. Whenever I turn the steering wheel, it does the same noise. It's a sheet-metal type of noise, a pop. It's annoying the **** out of me and just started a few days ago. Let me fill you in on the car.. My outer ball joints and idler arm need to be replaced, and I'm leaking oil from the following places: intake manifold and valve covers, oil pan gasket, and my rear main seal. I leak about a quart a week, maybe every week and a half. It's horrible. And my oil pressure is low because of all the leaks in the system. Also, my idling speed is too slow.. When I give it a little gas, it lurches forward sometimes and then revs real hard, like it was about to choke. I can't adjust the freaking thing myself though because there's a little metal cap over the adjustment screw and I can't get it off! Wel, back to the original problem...where do you think the popping is coming from? One of the steering parts I'm replacing tomorrow? Thanks all.

91 RS v-6 --Good body, good interior..bone stock except hi-temp $25 7mm wires and a K&N
FOR SALE! $3200 or best offer, negotiable.
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It sounds like you have a few problems that you need to fix before you can be sure. It could be the ball joint or it might also be the strut. When one part of the supension is tost and you continue to drive it around you start to take others with it.

i found out the hard way. I had blown struts for a while and just never got around to replacing them. Well now that they have been replaced I found that I also have to do a complete front end rebuild. I smashed every bushing and tore few of them.

 

As to the idle speed, I wouldn't worry about increasing it. A major tuneup would solve that; including the part about "cleaning out the TB", and "setting timing". I believe that your intake gasket's oil leak might also be causing a vacuum leak, which would upset your car- someone verify this for me (just guessing?)?

Until you replace the steering components, it could just be guessing at the noise. One possibility is that the lower main frame rail has cracked where the steering box attaches. This is a common problem; fixed by the "Wonderbar" steering box brace that the IROC's got. The fix is to have the crack welded shut, and an extra piece of metal welded behind the rail (for more strength).

Another possibility is the upper frame rail, where it attaches to the cowl. These like to stress, and crack. That might be your noise... the metal rubbing. Pop the hood, and look around where the upper frame rail meets the firewall by the windsheld.

Finally, it could be that your fender's slipped out of alignment. The rear edge fender might be very close to the front edge of the door. Check the clearance. Maybe it's so close that when the car flexes (sp?), the fender rubs the door. Look also for paint missing from those edges.

Are you sure your rear main seal is leaking, and it's not the distributor o-ring? We've all thought the rear main was leaking, including me. Turns out the distributor o-ring leaks, and drips oil down the back of the engine, and around the back of the crank.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)