The winter repairs, troubleshooting, upgrades and projects

[IROCZman15]

The purpose of this whole thread initially was to ask for advice on a wiring problem I had (buzzing relay), but as I was looking into the relays in the car… I quickly located exactly what was causing the problem. I also had planned on writing up this thread to put my list of winter repairs, adjustments, modifications, and projects for the Camaro. Also, I’m still trying to diagnose an intermittent knock sensor issue, so perhaps someone can shed some light on that topic for me.


Here’s the general list of tasks:
- fix gap between hood and nose (done)
- fix passenger door gap adjust and shim accordingly (done)
- MAF burnoff relay wiring connector(done)
- remove charcoal canister and lines (not doing)
- minor adjustments to the sound system wiring and amplifier wires
- repair a damaged thread on the Optima red top battery with thread-maker epoxy (done. new bolts)
- fix center console screws that loosen up (done)
- figure out some design/fabric to have made and installed on front seats for seat-belt retainers
- cut ¼ coil off rear coil springs (or possibly just remove isolators and use heater hose) (done)
- flush power steering fluid and system (done)
- replace speedometer gears in transmission tail-shaft (done)
- New rubber isolators to better secure radiator in the grill mount (done)
- diagnose and fix the intermittent Knock Sensor problem (done)
- grease all joints, oil change, oil filter etc (done)
- untwist and remount the brake system T-fitting on the rear axle, bleed brake system again (done)
- pass NJ state inspection march 2015 (done, passed)
- new on-car adjustable panhard bar and upper mount (done)
- new adjustable rear Lower Control arms (done)
- new front and rear swaybars (done, reused existing but all new mounts)
- wet 125hp nitrous oxide kit and purge valve
- tighten header and y-pipe bolts (done)
- dial in rear suspension (done)
- wax wheels (done)
- redo spark plug wires using separators (done)
- new Hooker cat-back exhaust .. ordered, not yet arrived
- full blown wash, clay, polish, wax job


So, I was out in the garage last week making this list and decided that the two most important issues I had to get sorted out would be the buzzing relay and the knock sensor.

Buzzing relay:
I have had this problem for a while, and it’s been so infrequently, I would almost forget it existed. On the driver’s side of the car at the firewall, there is a cluster of three relays. The wiring and plastic wiring loom had been hiding the problem... which became immediately apparent as soon as I began to untangle the wire loom in the area. I have had a buzzing coming from the MAF burnoff relay (#11078907) the one with four wires (orange, orange, black, blue). I quickly discovered that where the wires connect to the male plastic connector, the sheathing had been damaged and the blue and black wires were completely exposed… This would cause them to sometimes make contact as the car was traveling down the road, causing the buzzing sound.

While diagnosing this I also noticed that it looks as if I had a similar issue years ago (probably 6/7 years ago when I had been painting the engine bay) where the wires had been exposed going into the MAF power relay (#7125) with orange, tan/white, black/white, blue, and red wires. Looks like I just temporarily doctored it up with some electrical tape... and then forgot to go back and take care of the wires properly. Now, since I know my problem and source of the buzzing I am going to fix it correctly. So, I will have to order some new wiring harness connectors then cut the existing wires out and solder everything in properly. The space that the wiring has to bee is a bit tight and hard to access, so I’ll have to do it all as neatly and efficiently as possible. I will be ordering two connectors... one for the MAF burnoff and one for the MAF power relay. I’ve found the connectors online here…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/3705917...lpid=82&chn=ps and http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/2008497...lpid=82&chn=ps and http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/3604393...lpid=82&chn=ps

but was wondering if anyone knows of any better ones that came from GM or a more reputable brand. I don’t want to wire this all up just to find it’s a cheaply made part and not working properly or causing other problems. The one for the Fuel pump appears to be holding up just fine and I won’t be replacing it since I don’t need to

remember, these were kinda buried and hidden by the plastic wire loom so it didn’t initially catch my eye until I started undoing the snakepit of wires in the area.. also I was embarrassed to see how FILTHY stuff in that area was:






.


The second major issue I am troubleshooting is an issue with the knock sensor.
I’ve had this issue for years and years and have just learned to drive a certain way to avoid it. Before anyone mentions it… I am 99.99999% sure that I am not having any spark-knock, any detonation, or pinging coming from the engine. I have not heard the classic sounds that go along with those conditions. Several years ago I replaced the knock sensor too (one from NAPA)... where as I should have probably paid more $ for a reputable OEM GM sensor instead. The sensor seems to get tripped when I am under max load ... basically WOT for more than 5-8 seconds ... in usually 2,3,4 gear (performance rebuilt and upgraded 700r-4 transmission) Or sometimes it will click the knock sensor if I am holding the throttle at a stationary position while cruising on the highway. To avoid this, I have just developed a good smooth rhythm to keeping the throttle fluctuating while on the highway. I read the codes years ago when it would activate the knock sensor too. I know it is certainly the knock sensor because under load accelerating at WOT I can feel the engine backing off on power... pulling away timing to prevent it from “detonating” yet there are no internal engine noises that I can feel or hear. The timing will retard to what the manual says is about 20 deg off and the SES check engine dashboard light comes on. All I do then is coast to a stop, turn the car off for 10 seconds and then turn it back on. The SES check engine light will go off and normal engine attitude is restored. Since almost every time I park the car in the garage I disconnect the battery completely, it clears the codes. I also run 93 octane in the car religiously, so I don’t think it’s a fuel octane issue. I’d be very grateful if anyone here could shed a bit of light on this or is able to recommend some further diagnosis and treatment so that I don’t have to “float” the accelerator pedal and so that I can feel comfortable that I will be able to make a full pull at the local track without activating the knock sensor at the 1/8th mile mark. Thanks for any help/input on this. I have searched this forum many times but didn’t find an answer I needed really….. especially since I hear no signs of spark knock, run proper octane fuel, plugs read clean, etc.


The other little things I mentioned at the beginning of this post are all really not too complicated and are things I can handle on my own. The bottom couple items on the list are where things get a little more expensive and are upgrades instead of issues to repair.

I know for sure I will be doing the on-car adjustable panhard bar, upper mount, and poly bushings. Gotta decide between UMI, BMR, Spohn, global west, PST, and Hotchkis. The same goes for the adjustable rear lower control arms too. Might go with one poly bushing and a del-sphere roto joint type on the other side. Still researching this... and there are a TON of good write-ups in the suspension section which is great. I also think I'll need to get the LCA relocation brackets since my LCA's are NOT level wit the ground. I am getting that the bolt-hole is at 8" where the LCA mounts to the body, and its at 9.5" where it mounts to the axle. (center of bolt-hole to floor measurement)

Also, I was under the car super quick and decided to quickly get a measurement on my front and rear swaybars. I checked with a ruler and even wrapped a piece of string to get the circumference of each bar. Then doing the proper math to find diameter resulted in a very close reading to what I got with the straight edged ruler. Oddly my results were a bit shocking to me, as I got the Front bar to be 36.60mm and the Rear bar to be 23.88 mm Again, that’s a quick hasty measurement so it’s not precise.. but that got me thinking... did my car come with the big sway bar package? I went inside and pulled out my build sheet to locate RPO codes of “1SB” (Iroc Option package 2) and “B4Z” (Iroc-Z performance package). I searched around on this site and elsewhere and wasn’t able to find out exactly what was included in those packages. Specifically I was looking to find out what size swaybars the car came with and still wears. Does anybody know what size bars I have if I have the BZ4 package. For a proper measurement, I will be buying a length measurement caliper tomorrow to check their diameter properly. It would be totally awesome if I had the big bars already and jut needed to buy new bushings and endlinks instead. Anybody?

Lastly, after I pass NJ state inspection and if $ allows, I’d like to install a NOS 75-125 hp wet shot of nitrous oxide on the car. This is especially why I want to take care of the relay wiring, the knock sensor problem, the speedo gears, and the above list PRIOR to even considering nitrous.

Sorry for the long post. I have been searching this forum and others and reading my GM service manuals too and really wanted to put all this in one single post to avoid having 3-5 threads all over the site. Any help, advice, ideas etc would be very helpful. Thanks guys.

[Paul Huryk]

Dave,

I will suggest the Global West RCAs and Control arms - have them on both of my 3rd gens. I do have an unused set of LCA lowering brackets if you want them - not going to use them on the GTA.

Front bar should be 34mm, rear 23mm on an IROC. Some have been known to have different bars - not counting if anyone did a swap prior in it's life too.

If you are absolutely sure the knock sensor is not getting set off by detonation - you can desensitize it a bit by putting some teflon tape (2 or 3 layers) on the sensor threads and put it back in.

Nitrous kit is easy on those cars - have done about 10 systems over the years. Do get a trans cooler if you don't have one... Nitrous is rough on transmissions.

[maroman88]

skip inspection and get QQ plates

[ar0ck]

That is one clean engine bay!

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by maroman88

skip inspection and get QQ plates

I was thinking the same thing.

[NJSPEEDER]

Sway bars for thirdgens are cheap enough second hand that you can experiment to get the feel you want. With a reasonably good tire you can move up in bars a lot. When i had my 91 RS I used Eibach Pro Kit Springs, Strano valved Bilsteins, Suspension Techniques solid front (I forget if it was 34 or 35mm) and WS6 rear. With 275/40-17 Yokohamas the car turned in like a monster, on the same size Kuhmo Victoracers it felt like it was gonna throw me out the door.

[IROCZman15]

thanks guys for the replies and advice. I really do appreciate feedback on this stuff both good and bad feedback. I didn't reply to this for a while until I had a good enough amount of an update to write about. I did get some measuring calipers and confirmed that front sway bar is 34mm and the rear one is 23mm which is awesome. Also, not going to go the route of QQ license plates just yet; maybe in the future. Depends on how NJ inspection goes this spring.

here is the progress:

- Fixed the large-ish gap between the front bumper cover and the Glasstek hood by lowering the hood latch mechanism on the front nose framework and also bending the metal latch bar mounted to the underside of the hood i'm way happy with the gap now

- Bought new MAF burnoff relay wiring connector and the MAF power relay wiring connectors (the ones I mentioned above) and cut out the old broken ones out. Wired up the new connectors, soldered them in, shrink wrapped, and ran the plastic wire loom over them. both connectors and relays are working great and no more frayed connectors causing any buzzing or problems.

- Decided to NOT remove the charcoal canister after reading some info about those who have done so having issues afterwards. I may build a mount hidden behind the fender/bumper and hide it under there, but I will probably do that after I pass inspection, just to avoid any issues

- Took out the rear coil springs and took out the stock isolators. Bought a three feet of 5/8" diameter heater hose and slipped that over the top coil to make new isolators. This provided exactly 1/2" drop in the rear body which is EXACTLY what I was looking for. This took the measurement at the floor to the fender lip from 28.5" to 28" at center.

- Flushed the power steering fluid out of the system. New fluid is Valvoline Power steering fluid.

- Untwisted the kink in the braided flex line that was between the main line and the rear axle T fitting. Just gotta bleed the brake system and that task is done (waiting on the wife to help me bleed it)

- Oil and oil filter change Now running 10W-30 Mobil 1 Premium with a Bosch 3322 filter



- Did a LOT of research on swaybars, rear lower control arms, panhard bars, bushings and rear suspension setup. Even though I am still reading posts on various forums I think I am going to do the following:

- For now I will keep the current swaybars since they are 34mm (front) and 23mm (rear). The best ones most companies are selling only go a few MM bigger so for now I will put the $ I save on not buying some new ones into other aspects of the car. I am, however going to be replacing ALL the endlinks and the other mounts. I have found plenty of polyurethane ones for sale on their own but none of these have grease fittings already installed in them. I know I can drill in my own Zerk fittings, but if I can buy some already setup, why wouldn't I. I did find a polygraphite set at TDS which I might do http://www.top-downsolutions.com/cha...amaro-or-fireb but I still need end-links. Not sure if I should go poly or rubber or other.. because I know poly will need greasing and I dread squeaking down the road. Regardless, I will be pulling the swaybars off the car, cleaning them up and painting them, then installing all NEW hardware and bushings.


Rear Control arms: 99% going to go with UMI on this one. On-car Adjustable Control Arms with Poly/Roto-Joint. Poly on the body side mount, and Roto-Joint on the axle side http://umiperformance.com/catalog/in...roducts_id=393 Also, I will be getting relocation brackets from UMI for these bars

Panhard bar and new mount: Also UMI here An on Car Adjustable Panhard- w/ Poly/Roto-Joint setup Roto Joint to axle, poly to new bracket http://umiperformance.com/catalog/in...roducts_id=355 I need adjustable because I've lowered the rear several times over the years by cutting 3/4 a coil and also doing the heater hose mod (above). aAlso going to get a new relocation mount http://umiperformance.com/catalog/in...roducts_id=289

Also, going to order new hardware from UMI and a tube of grease. All gloss black powdercoated pieces instead of red. I have read an incredible amount of good things about UMI, especially their revised version of the front LCA's which might be good as next years project.

couple quick photos to offset all this typing:






---- and don't worry, I didn't leave that hose clamp in that position, I reinstalled it completely so there was NO chance it could interfere with any hardcore spring compression














still coming: pull the knock sensor out and wrap some Teflon tape around it (thanks Paul), fix passenger door to make it hang level again, fix negative battery terminal with thread-former epoxy, seat belt retainers to be sewn onto the seats, grease job, replace speedometer gears in tailshaft (grey and light blue?), bleed brake system, relocate charcoal canister, pass NJ inspection, and a kit for a wet 125 shot of No2 and purge system


feel free to chime in on any of this guys

[Paul Huryk]

Dave,

Make sure your knock sensor is working properly and that you are not having any light detonation before you put some dope tape on the sensor - it desensitizes it enough to (in extreme cases) not pick up detonation it should.

NJ inspection is not visual, so if you pass the tailpipe and plug-in test, no worries.

I want to say that you should reconsider the poly RCA choice - poly on the body side will bind under side to side movement and will make noise and "jerk" the car a bit when you are in turns. I suggested the Global West RCA to you previously due to their HD rubber/spherical joint bushings that work great, have no bind, and ride quite well - have them on both the GTA and Camaro.

In case you need them, I have a brand new pair of Global West RCA relocation brackets (weld-on for 3rd and 4th gens) as your car is lowered.

Sway bars - really a tuning device on the 3rd gens, your 34/23mm combo (stock IROC) will work fine. You can always put a smaller bar on the rear if you feel it is over steering too much (21mm is the next OEM size smaller).

[IROCZman15]

thanks Paul. good info to know. I always value your advice and feedback on these topics. I spoke to UMI and a few people who run the poly/roto-joint setup and hears very good things. I know poly binding is possible and can occur in hardcore cornering but I don't plan on making this car ultra extreme in the handling department. I passed on your offer of the Relocation brackets because i was looking for a bolt in configuration which I can additionally weld in later should I need to. I have a feeling the knock sensor will be gone now that a new one has been installed properly (below).



just an update with photos

I bought a new knock sensor and installed it along with a new wire connector. I had a hell of a time getting the old one out as it was previously really tightened in to the block (my fault 10 years ago) and no teflon tape was used then so it was really hard to get out. The new one is in with teflon tape on the threads and torqued to the specs given in the shop manual (only 14 ish ft/lbs if I remember correctly.. my old one was frozen in the block big-time, and was probably tightened around 30+ ft/lbs by hand, by me, long time ago, like an idiot)

Spoke with the guys at PATC and bought the new speedometer gears, the housing, o-rings, and tailshaft seal. Had a bit of trouble getting the old red drive gear off the output shaft, but once it was off, this project only took about and hour. Cleaned everything up, new seal on the tailhousing, and then put everything back together with the new speedometer gears and the correct (metal not plastic) driven gear housing.











I also realigned the passenger door which had dropped about 1/8 of an inch at the rear. I didn't need a new door-pin kit as mine are not worn out, just simply needed to loosen the hinge bolts, lift the door, and then tighten everything back up. so that's done now


Then the big project of the winter was the rear suspension:

I removed the stock swaybar, stock swaybar mounts, stock endlinks, stock panhard bar, stock panhard bar upper bar, and associated hardware. My bushings were all shot (dry-rotted, worn out, deteriorating). I spoke to UMI on the phone and to Phil (86TA) and a few other people, as well as doing a lot of reading on the forums and decided on the following setup:
- UMI on-car adjustable panhard bar with roto-joint mounts
- Founders performance upper panhard bar, with relocation brackets also.
- Reuse my stock front 34mm swaybar, sand down, painted gloss black
- Reuse my stock rear 23mm swaybar for now, just sanded it down and painted it gloss black
- New greasable swaybar axle mounts from Top Down Solutions and new hardware
- New polyurethane endlinks
- UMI on-car adjustable lower control arms with roto joints and poly bushings
- Founders performance bolt-in lower control arm relocation brackets
- all new hardware
- big tube of polyurethane rase









also sanded down and degreased the driveshaft and then painted it too, along with the front (stock)34mm swaybar

[IROCZman15]

parts getting ready to be installed:








old vs new panhard bar setup:



old vs new swaybar mounts:



old vs new lower control arms:




finished install. just gotta triple check the torque on everything, grease all the fittings, and make sure I don't need to shorten my swaybar endlinks onec the car is flat on the ground















the old stuff. prob going to the junkyard unless anybody here wants/needs it


overall I was pleased with the install, the parts, and everything so far. I'l know better and have to do some adjustments once I get the car on the road. I've never had to dial in a rear suspension setup, so I'll have to learn. Anyone have any advice on this? Still gotta reinstall the front 34mm swaybar with the new hardware too.

Man, .. I wish I had some money for a new cat-back exhaust too. that Hooker setup is 13 years old and looks awful under there

That's all for now. Just wanted to post an update

[redsoxsstink]

nice you will be happy with those suspension mods, the lower control arms and relo brackets really make things stick launching and make the car feel more stable over bumps.

the bigger sways are nice as well.

[IROCZman15]

Perhaps my last post on this thread, since it is getting really long and the only major things remaining are installing the replacement Hooker cat-back exhaust when it arrives and then the NOS wet nitrous kit in a few weeks.

Pulled off all the old spark plug wires, some had a few cracks in the insulation, one had a heat burn, and they had become a little too loose and sloppy for me. Decided to make my own spark plug wires using a Moroso build-your-own kit I had lying around. (similar to this, but just the Moroso 8mm version: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vulcan-Extre...-/371191981870) I also got two packs of Spectre wire separators and ran all the wires neatly UNDER the headers instead of dropping down from the valve cover areas. Just makes for a cleaner look in my opinion. these are all measured to length so there is very minimal slop and they don't contact the block or headers



Last weekend I topped off the trans fluid and oil and took the car out for a basic test ride to make sure the rear suspension was working correctly, nothing felt awkward, that the transmission speedometer gears were working, and general shakedown. Everything was working absolutely great and my 30 min drive turned into a 3.5 hour tri-state drive.


I still wanted to get a full alignment after all the recent work, so I brought the car to a mechanic shop I trust and we both checked everything and then made a few adjustments to the panhard bar, lower control arms, minor front end adjustments, set pinion/driveshaft angle a bit better. All went well. During this, I noticed that my 13 year old hooker cat back exhaust had blew out a chunk (just at the lowest part by where the main pipe starts to go upwards to go over the axle). If you look in my earlier posts/photos ..it is all intact. I guess during the long drive I took the rusty spot finally gave out. Oh well, I needed an excuse to buy a new cat-back anyways!




Here you can see a sideview of the current stance, If you remember, earlier in the winter work I removed the rear rubber coil-spring isolators in favor of the heater-hose lowering mod... it gave me 1/2" body drop which I am glad I did. It looks way better from a side view



Last Thursday I took it over to the NJ Inspection station in Randolph, only had to wait about 6 minutes, drove it in and passed inspection.

This will probably be the last time I take it to inspection, as I am either going to go "historic" with QQ plates, or I'll have a beastly engine by that time and won't bother with inspection anyways.


So basically, all that is left is install the Hooker cat-back when it arrives, a full detail session, wet nitrous kit setup, and enjoy the car as much as possible.

[ar0ck]

Looks great! I plan to do the same thing to my suspension later this year!

[greenformula92]

Looks good man. Nice work