93formulalt1's Projects Thread

[nascarnate326]

Good work. Im jelious of those LT's.

[93formulalt1]

the a/c thing makes no sense, a/c shuts off at WOT so it shouldn't have any affect on the engines performance.

Yeah, but even trying to slowly accelerate (i.e. 1/2 throttle or 3/4 throttle), the car would feel like it was falling on it's face. Hesitation and a ridiculous loss of power isn't normal.

nice updates! and dont know if you figured out whats going on with your oil pressure sending unit, but mine didnt work when i just put the new motor in, so i just ran a mechanical one right to a gauge so then i know exactly where it is. but if yours is by the oil filter that is WAY easier than mine, thats why i didnt mess with mine lol

Got a new one swapped in yesterday, they gave me the wrong part twice, had to get one for a '92 Caprice with a TBI 350, the part that actually threads into the engine was too short on the one it listed for my car. . . No more "Check Gauges" light, and the Oil Pressure Gauge works now, so I'm happy. I have a mechanical gauge installed that just isn't hooked up yet, I'm going to figure out how to hook it up and keep the stock one working as well.

Looks and sounds good.

Thanks!

Good work. Im jelious of those LT's.

Don't be, get a set. I got a great deal on mine, and the sad part is, if you look around, you can get them for a little more than half of what I paid for mine.

[OIF1VET]

Coming along nicely man!

[93formulalt1]

Coming along nicely man!

Thanks! Not too much left to do before I get started on body work. Going to Seafoam the engine tomorrow (full treatment, crankcase, gas tank, and brake booster hose), change the plug wires, install the 160* t-stat, and have the cooling system flushed. Hope to have it all done before 2:30pm, then I'm going to recharge the A/C later in the day. Probably won't need it this week, but I have a pretty long trip coming up (about 4 1/2 hour drive), and it'd be nice to have for the ride.

[93formulalt1]

Well, I just initiated the "Seafoam Treatment", poured a full bottle into a tank of gas, half into the oil, and half into the brake booster hose, stalling the car out with it at the end of the bottle. . . Going to go for a nice "spirited drive" at about 9pm, then I'll change the oil tomorrow, then finish burning through this tank of gas, then change the plug wires. Should save some time tomorrow by doing it this way, I can just wake up in the morning and change the oil then get started on the rest of it. Hopefully this makes a big difference in the car!

[93formulalt1]

Well, just got back from our little "spirited drive", we went about 70-80 miles. . . Car developed a pretty bad knock, sounds like it could be a lifter tick, car was about a quart low on oil about 20 miles before I parked the car, that's pretty nerve-wracking. I'll change the oil in the morning, and see how it sounds after that. If it's still bad after the oil change and wire install, I'll take a video of the noise to see if you guys can help diagnose it. I'm not too concerned about it, the car has almost 170k miles on the clock, stock engine and trans, if it breaks, I'll just do the work to make it better than before. Besides, what good is replacing a head when you can take them out, rebuild them, and have some machine work done on them while they're out?

I think the car is fine, I've looked into it, and seafoam tends to make cars that are otherwise fine make some weird noises, and they clear up shortly after. The car still idles fine, accelerates normally, and doesn't seem to have lost any power, so I don't think the problem is serious at all.

Just for anybody that may be interested, the sound is coming from the passenger side of the engine, and sounds like it is just something hitting on the outside of the engine (i.e. alternator making contact with the valve cover, loose bolt, etc.) and there's a loose spark plug at the back of the passenger side. I'll tighten it down when I swap the wires tomorrow, and start it up. Noise should be gone, if not, I'll start looking at possible causes. First check is going to be checking the old oil for metal shavings or chunks. I'm going to have a mechanic friend take a look at it tomorrow evening as well, maybe he's got some insight into what the possible cause could be.

Car was smoking like a mo-fo for a while, but after it cleared up, the car seemed to be running fine. Still smoked intermittently throughout our drive, so I like to think that the seafoam did some good.

[SoulTerror]

Man I'd get that fixed instead of just letting it blow up!!!

[93formulalt1]

Man I'd get that fixed instead of just letting it blow up!!!

Trust me, I'm working on it! I have no idea what it was, at first I was thinking it could be a plug wire arcing, but it wouldn't be that loud if that's what it was. Then I was thinking it was a loose bolt on the alternator, allowing it to bang into the valve cover, but that's not it either. I bet it was just something that got freed up by the seafoam, like a stuck lifter or something working itself free. I just drained the oil, no chunks or shavings in it, so I think I'm in the clear. It's black as sin though, so I'm sure some crud that was built up in there got broken loose.

I'll post an update after I refill the oil, still trying to find valve cover bolts long enough to use with these over-the-valve-cover wires I have, I can't seem to find any anywhere.

[93formulalt1]

Well, I changed the oil, still haven't found valve cover bolts though (probably going to have to order them online). I will say this though, I'm glad I seafoamed it when I did, that made a HUGE difference in oil pressure. . . It used to read 40psi all the time, sometimes it would drop to 38-ish, sometimes it would rise to 42-ish, but it was always in that general range. After the seafoam and oil change, while I was taking it for a quick drive around the block, the oil pressure was around 70 under load, and 45-50psi at idle. Much more responsive now too. I'm going to use some Deep Creep on the throttle body, then I'm just going to keep driving it until the valve cover bolts get here. It's making a noise under load at around 2000 RPM's, but it isn't NEARLY as noticeable as the noise I mentioned last night. Probably one of the spark plug wires arcing on the headers, the driver's side header melted part of the insulation on the #5 wire, which is why I really want to get these new plug wires installed. . .

[93formulalt1]

It's making the noise again. Sounds like something knocking against the valve cover. Probably something broken loose and bouncing around inside the passenger valve cover, or maybe it's just the alternator bracket making a noise. Anyone have any problems after installing Canton Racing fabricated aluminum valve covers? I'm going to use a mirror and a flashlight to take a look inside the valve cover later today, maybe there's something in there. If I don't find anything, I'm going to have a mechanic friend take a look at it. I'm still driving it, it doesn't change the performance of the engine at all, so I'm thinking it's just the alternator bracket is loose.

[meissen]

If it was my car I wouldn't be driving it with it knocking...

Your best bet would be to take the valve cover off completely and see what you find. If you don't find anything, bolt it all back together and maybe the sound will be gone.

[93formulalt1]

If it was my car I wouldn't be driving it with it knocking...

Your best bet would be to take the valve cover off completely and see what you find. If you don't find anything, bolt it all back together and maybe the sound will be gone.

These valve covers were a PITA to get put on, if I pull them off, I'm going to put the stock ones back on. I'm not going to drive it until I figure out what's wrong with it, I'll just start driving the truck again. If there is something wrong with it, I'm probably going to pull the motor so I can replace gaskets, check out the bottom end, and see what condition the rest of the motor is in.

I'm going to tighten down the headers bolts as well, if they need it. Hopefully I'll know more by tonight about what's wrong with it, a friend is going to take a look at it and see if he can figure it out. I used a long screwdriver to listen for noises, and I wasn't able to find anything. Personally, I think it's the idler pulley, I think something fell out of it when I turned it to remove the serpentine belt for the header install.

More about the noise: It is most apparent when the car is at operating temp, and is loudest when stationary at 1300-1400 RPMs. Under load, it's obvious at around 1300RPMs, but is covered by the sound of the exhaust by about 1600RPMs. I think I found an exhaust leak at the driver's side primary, the clamp probably came loose. That's probably unrelated. If it's useful to know, there is still almost a full tank of Premium fuel with a can of Seafoam in it in the tank. I drove almost 100 miles last night, and the gas gauge barely moved from the Full mark. The sound really sounds like something is rattling against the valve cover, but it's hard to tell what exactly it is. It could be inside one of the cylinders, but honestly, it's too loud to consider that right now. I'll try to grab a vid of it tonight and post it up.

Does anyone have any suggestions based on the information I've posted so far?

Cliff's Notes:
-Seafoamed engine through brake booster hose, crankcase, and fuel tank.
-Drove 70 miles.
-Parked car overnight, was making noise when parked.
-Changed oil, started car, noise was not apparent until engine warmed up to op. temp.
-Oil pressure was GREATLY improved, runs at about 45psi at idle, up to 70 under load.
-Tightened spark plugs, a few were loose.
-Noise still there.
-Exhaust leak at left primary.
-Noise sounds like metal-on-metal rattling, apparent at 1400RPMs.
-Engine was not losing power, until exhaust leak started. Feel slight loss of power.
-Car is parked, not driving until noise is gone.
-Having ASE Certified Mechanic take a look tonight. Will post findings.

[93formulalt1]

Well, took the valve cover off, nothing out of the ordinary. I'm going to put the alternator back on and fire it up just to see if anything is moving in ways that they shouldn't. I need some suggestions here guys, I'm about to lose my mind. Don't get me wrong, it would be a great learning opportunity to pull the motor and start taking things apart, but I'm not really in a financial situation to rebuild the motor in this car, so I'd like to avoid that avenue of approach if at all possible. Give me some ideas here!

[DETROITMUSCLE]

start with posting a video, hard to diagnose over the internet.

[93formulalt1]

Fixed it. It was just a couple of loose bolts on the passenger side header. . . I felt like a complete idiot, I took off the valve cover, poked around a little bit, and all it took was tightening up 2 bolts. . .