New GN owner, very happy but need help
- Thread starter Brad Anderson
- Start date
That's my problem, I wouldn't be able to look at the engine bay and be able to tell you which lines are the vacuum linesI can point out the basics and have installed intercoolers and wastegates and cold air intakes on cars and understand how cars work but when it comes to knowing all the little things I wouldn't be able to do it without directions showing a pic of the engine bay and which ones are the vacuum lines.
Been doing some research on the timing chain stuff this morning and a lot of posts I have been reading say to go with the stock oem replacement cause they are quieter and last a long time but I can't seem to find them online, I'm looking for everything I would need that I could take to someone and have them install it.
You actually have a vacuum line diagram on the heater box of your car as well.
Brad Anderson
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2012
In response to Patrick's post (quoting it made my post too long):
Thank you for this awesome and very thorough post I will try and answer the questions below to the best of my ability and this post actually helps me get to my point and reasoning behind wanting to find a semi-local turbo buick "expert" that can help me find the answers to these questions. I can say the previous owner owned it for 5 years and barely put 2.5k miles on it and didn't do anything to the car other than change the oil so I wouldn't get much from him. I did get the names of the owners before him so I might try and contact them for some more information.
ECM - Thanks for the guide on this and I will try and find out or at least get a pic of it and post it.
Fuel related questions (pump, injectors, etc.) - I don't know This again is my issue, i have read a lot of the info on these sites and have heard the stock fuel setup isn't compatible with today's 93 octane and also can't handle any increase in boost either and have though about upgrading to that Walbro that you posted from GBodyParts. I would need to have someone who knows what they are looking at take a look at this stuff in the car and tell me.
Spring cleaning - I have read about the spring cleaning and was thinking about starting with some of that, at least replacing the fluids, cleaning the intercooler maybe. I know the guy changed the oil but according to him he never touched any of the other fluids in the car. Again I wouldn't be able to tell what thermostat is in the car and I am pretty sure it's the stock turbo, I guess I could take the turbo cover off and get a pic or read on the turbo what model it is.
It does have the factory air box in the car and the factory MAF Sensor and MAF pipe. My "plan" was to replace those first and I was going to get the Tinman intake with their MAF pipe and stick with the stock MAF Sensor, i read somewhere online that there are some really fast GN's still using stock MAF sensor and since I don't plan to modify this too much I figure it should work fine. I'm also pretty sure there are no valve cover breathers on the engine but I will have to take another look when i get home.
I guess i will have to buy some of that ZDPlus stuff, I highly doubt the guy i bought it from was using that but at least now I know how important it is and can do that. Maybe a dumb question but I'm assuming full synthetic is the way to go for oil on this car? Any good recommendations or should i stick with what is listed on gnttype?
The timing chain info is great, I would actually like to just go ahead and replace all those parts and getting a specific list of the parts I should get is helpful. I actually searched for timing chain info an a lot of places just said to replace it with the stock one and not go with double roller but it seems at least from you double roller is the way to go. I was having trouble with the URL's but I know the sites so I can dig around and find the pieces.
I will look into the scanmaster and boost gauge, I know the stock boost gauge is crap and I have seen how valuable the scanmaster is on these sites....however, I thought that since my plan was not to increase the boost and pretty much stay close to stock at this point I didn't think I really needed the scanmaster and boost gauge but it seems it's probably worth it Another post talked about exactly which boost gauge to get so I will look into that and the scanmaster - I'm hoping there are good install directions with the scanmaster
I believe the exhaust is 100% stock but again I don't know for sure. I can see the exhaust tips look like crap and looking under the car the exhaust looks pretty old and doesn't look like stainless or aluminized steel but the previous owner told me the guy he bought it from removed the cat to increase performance and sound and I have the cat. My plan was to replace the exhaust with the Maganflow exhaust and I'm looking for a good downpipe as well - the Terry Houston one seems to be best but it's not easy to find, there is also one on GBodyParts that they say is supposed to be pretty good as well but again i'm trying to stick with direct bolt ons with the intake and exhaust setup and staying with stock turbo and wastegate unless they need replaced.
I will take a closer look at the headers and see what I can find, if it was cracked at this time should i be able to hear it or notice it when driving in some way?
Again all your questions are great and totally make sense, the simple truth and problem is while I understand how an engine works and for the most part can point out the parts of an engine I really wouldn't be able to look at something and tell you if it's stock or needs to be replaced and am hoping I will be able to find someone who lives within 100 miles of Columbus Ohio that I could take the car too and they could tell me what condition it's in, what looks bad and should be replaced asap and so on.
Currently the car seems to drive just fine at this time, I have put a few hundred miles on it and it starts up find everytime, seems to pull hard when i get on the throttle and I guess I'm happy I'm not currently having any major problems that need addressed. That being said I want to replace the stuff that I need to so that I can keep this car running strong and get the most of out it so thanks again for putting all the time into this post, I will come back to this often as i go.
I will try and get some pics together soon of the engine and underneath of the car and maybe that will allows others here to help me answer some of these questions. Thanks again
Thank you for this awesome and very thorough post
I will try and answer the questions below to the best of my ability and this post actually helps me get to my point and reasoning behind wanting to find a semi-local turbo buick "expert" that can help me find the answers to these questions. I can say the previous owner owned it for 5 years and barely put 2.5k miles on it and didn't do anything to the car other than change the oil so I wouldn't get much from him. I did get the names of the owners before him so I might try and contact them for some more information.ECM - Thanks for the guide on this and I will try and find out or at least get a pic of it and post it.
Fuel related questions (pump, injectors, etc.) - I don't know
This again is my issue, i have read a lot of the info on these sites and have heard the stock fuel setup isn't compatible with today's 93 octane and also can't handle any increase in boost either and have though about upgrading to that Walbro that you posted from GBodyParts. I would need to have someone who knows what they are looking at take a look at this stuff in the car and tell me.Spring cleaning - I have read about the spring cleaning and was thinking about starting with some of that, at least replacing the fluids, cleaning the intercooler maybe. I know the guy changed the oil but according to him he never touched any of the other fluids in the car. Again I wouldn't be able to tell what thermostat is in the car and I am pretty sure it's the stock turbo, I guess I could take the turbo cover off and get a pic or read on the turbo what model it is.
It does have the factory air box in the car and the factory MAF Sensor and MAF pipe. My "plan" was to replace those first and I was going to get the Tinman intake with their MAF pipe and stick with the stock MAF Sensor, i read somewhere online that there are some really fast GN's still using stock MAF sensor and since I don't plan to modify this too much I figure it should work fine. I'm also pretty sure there are no valve cover breathers on the engine but I will have to take another look when i get home.
I guess i will have to buy some of that ZDPlus stuff, I highly doubt the guy i bought it from was using that but at least now I know how important it is and can do that. Maybe a dumb question but I'm assuming full synthetic is the way to go for oil on this car? Any good recommendations or should i stick with what is listed on gnttype?
The timing chain info is great, I would actually like to just go ahead and replace all those parts and getting a specific list of the parts I should get is helpful. I actually searched for timing chain info an a lot of places just said to replace it with the stock one and not go with double roller but it seems at least from you double roller is the way to go. I was having trouble with the URL's but I know the sites so I can dig around and find the pieces.
I will look into the scanmaster and boost gauge, I know the stock boost gauge is crap and I have seen how valuable the scanmaster is on these sites....however, I thought that since my plan was not to increase the boost and pretty much stay close to stock at this point I didn't think I really needed the scanmaster and boost gauge but it seems it's probably worth it
Another post talked about exactly which boost gauge to get so I will look into that and the scanmaster - I'm hoping there are good install directions with the scanmaster I believe the exhaust is 100% stock but again I don't know for sure. I can see the exhaust tips look like crap and looking under the car the exhaust looks pretty old and doesn't look like stainless or aluminized steel but the previous owner told me the guy he bought it from removed the cat to increase performance and sound and I have the cat. My plan was to replace the exhaust with the Maganflow exhaust and I'm looking for a good downpipe as well - the Terry Houston one seems to be best but it's not easy to find, there is also one on GBodyParts that they say is supposed to be pretty good as well but again i'm trying to stick with direct bolt ons with the intake and exhaust setup and staying with stock turbo and wastegate unless they need replaced.
I will take a closer look at the headers and see what I can find, if it was cracked at this time should i be able to hear it or notice it when driving in some way?
Again all your questions are great and totally make sense, the simple truth and problem is while I understand how an engine works and for the most part can point out the parts of an engine I really wouldn't be able to look at something and tell you if it's stock or needs to be replaced and am hoping I will be able to find someone who lives within 100 miles of Columbus Ohio that I could take the car too and they could tell me what condition it's in, what looks bad and should be replaced asap and so on.
Currently the car seems to drive just fine at this time, I have put a few hundred miles on it and it starts up find everytime, seems to pull hard when i get on the throttle and I guess I'm happy I'm not currently having any major problems that need addressed. That being said I want to replace the stuff that I need to so that I can keep this car running strong and get the most of out it so thanks again for putting all the time into this post, I will come back to this often as i go.
I will try and get some pics together soon of the engine and underneath of the car and maybe that will allows others here to help me answer some of these questions. Thanks again
