Lotta of questions....... No awnswers....

1618 Views 16 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Locruid, Mar 28, 2013

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · Mar 18, 2013

I just bought a 95 Formula and it has some work done to it.

Things I k ow of are....
1. Cam... It's big and lumpy at idle. Enough so it shakes the whole car.

2. Shift kit...... No clue on the brand. If you push the accelerator pedal too far down when taking off the rpms will climb to redline befor 1-2 or 2-3 shift. When doing this it is a garuntee that one of the rear tires will chirp upon shifting. If your easy on the pedal it shifts harder than what I thinks normal but not as if your necks going to break.

3. 373 gears..... Def not stock because the speedo has been verified as bring off by 4 mph......( car going slower than speedo reads).

4.posi rear..... Is it stock or aftermarket? I know with one tire off the ground I can't turn the lifted wheel at all. Yet as mentioned before...... She only chirps one tire on hard shifts.

5. Computer tune.... No clue what or who did it.

I bought this car from a freind who bought it from the original owner. My freind never thought to ask about the work because he was going to build it into a track day car and he had planed to re do it all.

Good thing is I only spent $2500 on the car and it only has 122k on it.
Gas mileage has only been 16-17 mixed on a full tank of premium.
I have no plans to take the car to the strip and I'm looking to get a lil mpg back. What would bet me a few mpg's more......

I've already considered yelling the cam and trying somthing mores stockish but have no clue what would be the best option.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what I could/ should remove to get the mpg's up and what parts i should use as the replacements........

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

ShowNoMercy

· #2 · Mar 18, 2013

16-17 is quite good honestly if thats mixed driving.

But, a stock cam, and a stock tune reflashed on the PCM would prob get better MPG. Ditch the 3.73s and toss in some 2.73s for even more MPG.

You do of course realize you are asking a gas guzzler for 1995 to perform better than it left factory? If it bothers you that much, I would get a better MPG performing car and leave this one alone for cruises etc.

lababy78ta

· #3 · Mar 18, 2013

One word HONDA

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Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 18, 2013

See I had no real word comparisons for mpg. If I'm close to actually factory mpg then I will just look into a more street friendly cam

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 18, 2013

lababy78ta said:
One word HONDA

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Nah....not a fan. I didn't buy the car for fuel economy. I bought it because it was a good deal and I just assumed that it probably got better fuel mileage because of all of the things that are done to it. It's not too often that Performance parts keep a car close to its factory miles per gallon.

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 18, 2013

Anyone running the lt4 hot cam?

Kick's96Z

· #7 · Mar 21, 2013

Show no mercy is right on the dot, only thing I can say is slap a CAI on there as well and change the spark plugs

PHXLT1

· #8 · Mar 22, 2013

If you decide to remove the cam for a smaller one and take the gears out then you're going to spend a bunch of money doing so not to mention you'll be going backwards from what everyone one here tries to do with their car. If you are looking for better mpg and this is gona be a dd the either sell it and buy a car that gets good mpg or get another car and, like said, and use this one on weekends. I have a slightly bigger cam along with a shift kit as well 373 gears and didn't notice a that big of a drop in mpg. But who cares about mpg when you are hauling ass?

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 22, 2013

Ok to clear things up......... Gears are staying and the shift kit is staying. Cam is all I'm concerned with. Damn thing dies half the time just trying to back out of parking spots. Idle in park is only 750-800 in reverse or drive it drops to 500-550 and starts to try dying when in parking lots. Reverse is what is killing me! I know its against the grain for most here but I don't care. I just want a more streetable cam. Sure the care sounds bad ass when it stays running, but you look like a dork when your having to restart your car after only getting half way outta a parking spot.

Please don't say " well park further out and just pull through the parking spots" because that will just make you look like a ass. I'm just looking for an honest awnswer as to what would be a good choice for a performance/street cam set up. I can deal with 17-18 mpg's mixed. Can't deal with a mobile margarita shaker that can't stay running long enough to get my drinks mixed.......

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 22, 2013

Also did a tune up today.... Msd street fire coil, Taylor 8.5 wires, NGK platinum plugs, 5-30 oil change. Car starts easier and idles smoother but still try's to die in reverse.

Pulled the drivers valve cover to check a noisy rocker and discovered stock stamped rockers and valve train. Am I correct to be concerned with having such a large cam and stock lt1 valve train? I feel like its a ticking time bomb.....

PHXLT1

· #11 · Mar 22, 2013

Yes if that's the case then you should be concerned. I don't think your car dies because of the cam. I think you may have another issue that's causing the car to die. You said the car was tuned correct? Ok let's assume they did the tune right.....for now. I would begin to look into your fuel system since you did a tune up that may be why your car is dying. Also do you know when or if the opti was changed? That could be an issue as well although we all know opti's are indestuctable. You may try, if possible, to get all of the info on the mods or you may be going through a lot of headaches. Good luck.

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 22, 2013

Finding out about the previous mods will be impossible. I didn't buy it from the person who did them. A thought of mine was i have a cast iron head lt1 sitting in my shop. I beleave it to be stock ad I've never had it running since I bought it and rebuilt it. I would still ned a stock ecm, but it would still get me back to a safe spot, IF the cam is usable.

History of the motor is it was pulled from a 94 Roadmaster with 102000 miles. Pulled it apart and it looked new as in a reman. Wet compression test showed 220psi per cyl across the board. Pistons were not dish top normally found in the B body lt1. They were flat tops with valve reliefs. This is all i know of it. It was to be carb'd and installed in a 58 Apache but never made it.

PHXLT1

· #13 · Mar 22, 2013

Hmp.....that is a pickel (now I'm hungry). If it were my car I would start by checking the fuel system to see if its working properly. Does it run rich? Prolly not since you didn't mention it. Still id start with that. Fuel filter, pressure test, frp check. That's the easy part. Next I would look to the opti. No check engine light? A cam, even a large one, should not make the car die if it was tuned correctly and all of the supporting mods are correct. Not knowing what was fully done tho really makes it more of a guessing game. Damn now you got me thinking. Ima be up all night thinking bout this haha!

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 22, 2013

Car does smell a bit rich and the plugs I pulled said just a tad. Not black but a few were on the dark side of tan. Plugs were all improperly gapped at 60-64 thou. Car starts every time the key is turned with no hesitation.....EXCEPT..... 1st start in the morning. That one requires a bit longer crank time somewhere around 6-8 sec. In my mind if the person that did the cam knew what he was doing he would have done the valve train also..... This makes me wonder about the rest of the work.

I have no plans to put the car on the strip but would like to at least hit up a track day or 2.

PHXLT1

· #15 · Mar 22, 2013

Yes he would have. I'm assuming you know how to check your fuel pressure regulator. That may easily be the cause of your car dying and the rich fuel smell. Not saying it is but it only takes a minjte to check it. Couldn't hurt. If you don't know then here's how. Just turn your key to prime the system wait a couple of seconds then pull the vacumm line from your fpr. If gas comes out its bad. If not then the mystery continues.

Freak2180

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 22, 2013

Will check that 1st thing in the morning. I'm new to the Lt1 platform so I'm learning everyday. I'm a quick learner and have a bad habit of wanting to know as much as possable about my cars. I do all my own work outside of machine work, trans, and third members.

Locruid

· #17 · Mar 28, 2013

Freak2180 said:
Anyone running the lt4 hot cam?

:thumbsup:

I like it. I haven't done any MPG runs since all my upgrades but I do notice I'm getting slightly worse MPG than I did stock. More so when I hammer it

.

The Tuber I go through has my in gear idle set to about 750-800ish (tac COULD be off and I just havent gotten around to checking the tune itself)

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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