1996 Camaro Z28 LT1 Project

[alone_and_insane]

What is that tube that goes from the passenger side valve cover to the front of the engine? I'm considering just wrapping it up real tight with electrical tape and calling it good for now.

anybody???

[meissen]

It's part of the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system.

The LT1 has a "positive crankcase ventilation", and it is "fail safe", eliminating the possibility of building crankcase pressure.

Filtered, MAF metered air is supplied from a port in the throttle body, in front of the blades. The air travels down a hose from the throttle body to the passenger side valve cover. From there the air is pulled through the crankcase, up under the intake manifold/lifter valley, and pulled out by vacuum through the PCV valve, on the drivers side of the intake manifold. From there a vacuum line connects to the intake plenum, either using a u-bend hose into the side of the intake (93/94) or a line to the front of the intake, under the TB (95-97).

If your PCV valve becomes plugged (unusual) and pressure did start to build up, it would relieve by flowing backwards through the rubber hose between the valve cover and the TB. This will often put some oil droplets into the TB. If you have excessive blowby on the rings, you will see this condition, because the PCV valve can't handle it.

[alone_and_insane]

I finished putting the valve covers and stuff back together. Drove it around a little bit and everything seemed fine, except I think the oil pressure was a little high (around 60 when I was on the gas, 40 when I wasn't). Does that seem about right?

[MunsterZ28]

I finished putting the valve covers and stuff back together. Drove it around a little bit and everything seemed fine, except I think the oil pressure was a little high (around 60 when I was on the gas, 40 when I wasn't). Does that seem about right?

oil pressure seems ok to me, my gauge seems to read all over the place, from what i understand its common issue but thats not bad within that pressure range.

[meissen]

Yeah that seems about right.

[alone_and_insane]

just did my first bit of highway driving since getting the car back from the transmission shop. It still is rather reluctant to go into 4th gear, and when I got off the highway into city driving, 1-2 upshift seemed to arrive rather late and was accompanied by an audible thump--just like last time. I'm going to call the shop once I get back from work this afternoon.

[meissen]

Does your speedometer work OK? The 1-2 shift reminds me of when my VSS was messed up.

[alone_and_insane]

speedometer's fine.

[alone_and_insane]

Well the car's going back to the trans shop tomorrow morning, so hopefully they can get that all squared away before my 500-mile drive on Saturday. I'll have a few days home this week to do some work, including (hopefully) fixing that noise the engine's been making.

I also registered for the GM employee car show on July 28th. By that time, I hope to have the motor fixed, paint, and potentially tint.

[alone_and_insane]

Well it's been a long couple of days. I drove from Sterling Heights to Lansing on Friday night and once again the car just refused to go into 4th gear on the freeway. I figured I got about 15 miles per gallon on my previous tank. Also, when I opened the gas cap, fumes came hissing out much more than normal (as in, it took a few seconds for it to stop). The drive from Lansing to home was an absolute nightmare. After the first 100 miles or so, the car never once went into 4th. Traffic along the way was horrible (5 separate occasions when I was going less than 15 mph). One time after a long stretch of stop-and-go traffic, I noticed that my temperature gauge was as high as it could go. I pulled off the highway as soon as I could and parked at a gas station with the hood open. I added some coolant, and about an hour later got on the road again. I kept a pretty close eye on the temperature gauge after that. It seemed to go way up again whenever I was slowed down, then went back down when I sped up. Maybe my fans weren't working (?). Either way, I finally got home after 8.5 hours (should've taken 6.5). Today when I checked the car out, I found that both my coolant and engine oil were WAY low. I checked the oil before I left Lansing, so apparently I somehow misread it horribly. I'm kinda pissed at myself for it. We put in a bunch more coolant and started the car up again with the radiator cap off. My dad noticed a leak near the front of the water pump, and the coolant started gushing out of the top of the radiator.


I regret to say that the car will likely be put on hold for the rest of the summer. It keeps having more and more problems every day, and I don't have the time or the resources in Michigan to keep fixing it. I'm only going to be home for two and a half more days before I go back, and that's not nearly enough time to get everything sorted out. aAt this rate, I'm spending money fixing the car faster than I'm making it. Since I'm so far away from home, I need something a little more reliable. Believe me, this decision doesn't come easily. I just feel like my hand has been forced, and it's really my best option right now

[Gottork]

sorry to hear all of this, good luck in tracking everything down

[nascarnate326]

Hey man I understand. if I were you i would throw insurance on the V6 or drive your grand am. I think you would have much better luck with one of those.

[alone_and_insane]

Hey man I understand. if I were you i would throw insurance on the V6 or drive your grand am. I think you would have much better luck with one of those.

V6 is getting sold as soon as possible, so I'm already figuring on driving the Grand Am the rest of the summer.

Looks like we're going to have to replace the water pump. Also, is there some kind of temperature sensor that tells the fans to kick in?

[alone_and_insane]

So you guys know that noise the car made before? Well since the water pump has gone out on it, I'm wondering if that could have been the culprit. Thoughts?

[meissen]

Should've been keeping up on this thread, sorry about that. There's two sensors for coolant temp. One is on the driver's side head and the other is on the waterpump. The one on the water pump is what the PCM uses to turn the fans on and off. The temp sensor on the driver's side head goes directly to the gauge cluster for your temp gauge. Not sure if the water pump could be the cause of the noise.