BlackBandit
God loves Buicks!
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2003
vadersv6,
What part of SoCal are you in?
What part of SoCal are you in?
My mileage sucks!
- Thread starter VadersV6
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
heres something else to consider since you claim you cant afford the gas as its a daily driver.
lets assume you are infact only getting 8-10mpg (about 160mile for a full tank) and you have 411 gears ,
for a 3.42 rear ,brakeshoes , wheelcylinders , seals, bearings or any other incedentals you may find need to be redone you will put out about 800.00if you get a deal on a rear (not counting labor,parts only) . now with the 3.42s instead of 411s youll only see a 17% mpg gain which can only be seen at cruise speed and may be less due to added load so in the end youll only have 10-12 mpg , youll need to drive nearly 25,000 miles before you see any payback and thats if you get the work for free . hardly seems worth it unless you can get the gears(or rear) and work done for free or can sell the 4.11 rear to recoup some of your cash .
fix your speedo cable , check the tv cable (trans may be slipping??) and get a scantool and check your o2#s and blms , check your plugs and wires , clean the air filter , if you dont see much highway use and everything works as it should you might be lucky to see 15mpg , once these cars get into 4th and lockup they tend to show figures in the 21-23mpg
lets assume you are infact only getting 8-10mpg (about 160mile for a full tank) and you have 411 gears ,
for a 3.42 rear ,brakeshoes , wheelcylinders , seals, bearings or any other incedentals you may find need to be redone you will put out about 800.00if you get a deal on a rear (not counting labor,parts only) . now with the 3.42s instead of 411s youll only see a 17% mpg gain which can only be seen at cruise speed and may be less due to added load so in the end youll only have 10-12 mpg , youll need to drive nearly 25,000 miles before you see any payback and thats if you get the work for free . hardly seems worth it unless you can get the gears(or rear) and work done for free or can sell the 4.11 rear to recoup some of your cash .
fix your speedo cable , check the tv cable (trans may be slipping??) and get a scantool and check your o2#s and blms , check your plugs and wires , clean the air filter , if you dont see much highway use and everything works as it should you might be lucky to see 15mpg , once these cars get into 4th and lockup they tend to show figures in the 21-23mpg
Thanks for all the info. Ill be doing pcv, fuel filter, and plugs this weekend. What isthe tv cable all about? what does it stand for, and how could it cause tranny slip? Are you referring to slipping clutches as a result of this? I figure if the tranny does go into 4th gear, and my converter is locked up, it should be fine. And it does go into 4th gear. The shifter does not manually go into 1st gear, so I assume this tv cable may be out of whack. But like I said, if it goes into overdrive, how can the tv cable being out of adjustment cause slippage? Forgive my ignorance. Im still very new to this and Im overwhelmed by all the things Im learning, and have to learn quick to get the car fixed.
I know that the gears wont suck up a whole lot of gas. I had 4.56's in my cobra, and it had an even less aggresive overdrive gear than this car. And I still got 20-23mpg, even if I got on it a few times a day.
I know that the gears wont suck up a whole lot of gas. I had 4.56's in my cobra, and it had an even less aggresive overdrive gear than this car. And I still got 20-23mpg, even if I got on it a few times a day.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
the tv cable controls the trans from the throttle body, its thin wire cable attached to the throttle linkage and adjusts where its jacket is mounted to the bracket , check gnttype.org for proper setting .
if its set wrong you could experience low trans pressure and be slipping , lockup only locks the converter , not the trans and fouth if its pushed hard will have slip even if converter is locked and create a lot of heat , thats why you dont get computer controlled 4th gear lockup until car is rolling at a good speed (which why the speedo needs to be connected) and at low load ,
you may have slippige in 4th which is why the high rpms and low MPG
if its set wrong you could experience low trans pressure and be slipping , lockup only locks the converter , not the trans and fouth if its pushed hard will have slip even if converter is locked and create a lot of heat , thats why you dont get computer controlled 4th gear lockup until car is rolling at a good speed (which why the speedo needs to be connected) and at low load ,
you may have slippige in 4th which is why the high rpms and low MPG
Well, I did a ton of things, and my mileage has increased dramatically. I drove to work (24 miles), and the fuel gauge hardly moved. Before, I would have used a 1/4 tank.
New plugs (there was one with a bunch of cracks in the porcelain.)
New PCV valve, then put old one back on cause the new one is cheap and doesnt seal when you blow through it)
Threw fuel injector cleaner in the tank, then installed a new fuel filter after using up most of the gas.
Adjusted TV cable (was way out of whack)
TCC lockup switch
Fixed a vacuum leak around the o-rings of 2 injectors (did that last week and it really didnt make a difference)
Installed a fuel pressure gauge and set FP (was at 50 with the line off before...set it to 42)
Set TPS (for some reason, it doesnt have enough range to hit WOT voltage. Wont go over 4.38 volts. There are no dead spots in the voltage curve)
Reset IAC
Tightened crossover pipe on the drivers side (was loose).
The idle is still a little rough, but alot better than it was. At this point, Im dealing with the 18 year old injectors. Good thing I have msd 50's waiting to go on.
New plugs (there was one with a bunch of cracks in the porcelain.)
New PCV valve, then put old one back on cause the new one is cheap and doesnt seal when you blow through it)
Threw fuel injector cleaner in the tank, then installed a new fuel filter after using up most of the gas.
Adjusted TV cable (was way out of whack)
TCC lockup switch
Fixed a vacuum leak around the o-rings of 2 injectors (did that last week and it really didnt make a difference)
Installed a fuel pressure gauge and set FP (was at 50 with the line off before...set it to 42)
Set TPS (for some reason, it doesnt have enough range to hit WOT voltage. Wont go over 4.38 volts. There are no dead spots in the voltage curve)
Reset IAC
Tightened crossover pipe on the drivers side (was loose).
The idle is still a little rough, but alot better than it was. At this point, Im dealing with the 18 year old injectors. Good thing I have msd 50's waiting to go on.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
glad to hear you made some progress
the tps reading of 4.38 is fine and well above what is needed for WOT as long as your throttle arm is making full travel and goes to around .44 - .46 at idle
these cars need perfect plugs and wires to perform ,reds has good wires at a good price ,
what temp is your engine running at you might want to check on what thermostat you have , it may be a 160 and running on the cold side for good mileage , a step up to a 180 while it may cut some performance it would help mileage and its cheap , 5 bucks
your chip may have a lot to do with your mileage as well do you know what you have in there .
the tps reading of 4.38 is fine and well above what is needed for WOT as long as your throttle arm is making full travel and goes to around .44 - .46 at idle
these cars need perfect plugs and wires to perform ,reds has good wires at a good price ,
what temp is your engine running at you might want to check on what thermostat you have , it may be a 160 and running on the cold side for good mileage , a step up to a 180 while it may cut some performance it would help mileage and its cheap , 5 bucks
your chip may have a lot to do with your mileage as well do you know what you have in there .
Yeah, its got a 160 thermostat in there, which I dont feel is very good for the motor. It was ok for the factory pistons which didnt require thermal expansion to meet tolerances, but not for the aftermarket pistons which this motor likely has. It will greatly accelerate ring and cylinder wall wear, so i do think Im going to throw the 180 back in. I know it doesnt have the stock chip in it, but I really dont know much about it. All I Know, is that is has 22 degrees total timing in top gear. The engine has new plug wires, btw.
Too much timing!
Get ahold of Eric at TurboTweek, Neal Steward, Red Armstrong or get the extender chip(Bob Baily)
That has too much timing for our 91. you will probably be able to turn the boost back up from 10 with a new chip.
Its probably a race chip, if it has 22 degrees, and maybe it doesn't have TC lockup burned into it... anyone?
Get ahold of Eric at TurboTweek, Neal Steward, Red Armstrong or get the extender chip(Bob Baily)
That has too much timing for our 91. you will probably be able to turn the boost back up from 10 with a new chip.
Its probably a race chip, if it has 22 degrees, and maybe it doesn't have TC lockup burned into it... anyone?
Thanks....Along with the car, the seller also gave me msd 50 pound injectors, an LS1 MAf, and an extender chip thats already set up for 50's. He said it has 21-23 degrees of timing. I figure this will be fine with the alky kit I have coming. Do you think it would be wise to throw the stock chip back in, in the meantime?
ok ok do you have the 50's in now?
if not then get the chip out of there pronto.
I have a stock chip if you want it/need it for 28 lbers.
Did you order the scanmaster yet?
I'll ask around about the gear swap.
PM with anymore questions. I am not the smartest on the board but I can offer some good advice or send you in the right direction.
Phil
Thanks for the offer on the chip. I also have someone in mind to do the gear swap. Im in the process of buying all the parts I need to throw the 50's in there. I have the injectors, maf and chip. Im buying the translator, the maf pipe, a pump and hotwire kit, then I also have an alky kit on the way. I have the stock chip, but its not installed. The extender is not installed. Just some aftermarket chip, and i have no idea where it came from.
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