Good tune-up places?

[pvt num 11]

The TTA runs good when being driven (save for the boost gage that doesn't work, DOH!) but the idle is pretty rough - I was letting the turbo cool down and it idled around 500 rpm, and the car was shaking from the roughness. As I watched, the SES lamp came on. DOH! I'm gong to pull the codes the same time I stick my normal plates on the car (25 bucks a year for the custom SPD-DMN plates, no thanks, maybe Judy wants them back...), maybe tonight.

Anyway, where's a good place to go for these cars? I'm assuming that the Quicki-Mart places wouldn't be very good, but where do you guys take your cars to?

 

[Hawaiian Turbo]

Most of the guys do it and learn on their own. We have a pretty smart bunch here, and I'm sure they'll be willing to help out. There is days on end of information on this board also.

 

[pvt num 11]

A'ight, looks like I'm gonna get my hands dirty on this beast. Probably the best way to figure out how everything works, too.

 

[quicker6]

Just take it one step at a time and look here for more info Ian.
http://www.gnttype.org
Look for the spring cleaning info on these cars there. Should be under the technical resources section under maintenance or performance recipes. As far as working on these cars go most here do it themselves (saves $$$) and BTW that idle is quite low. A helpful tool to have is the Scanmaster V 2.1 shown here http://www.fullthrottlespeed.com/Dy...50688-EVEREST-9ZPBDM62&Cc=&ic=050SCAN2GN&tpc= It will help in getting the TPS sensor adjusted correctly as well as the IAC valve. Not to mention shows a lot of helpful information for tuning these cars.
Dont be afraid to ask me something at work either and good luck!!
Derek

 

[Robbie-87plz]

<--Can help you put air in the tires... I'm in the same boat as you, learning about the mighty LC2... Congrats on the car again...

 

[pvt num 11]

UPDATE: Drove it some more, cruising, mostly, getting a feel for the car and trying to get used to it's distinct personality. When cold, the car seems to hate idling. If I give it a tiny amount of throttle, it stumbles a bit, as if it's going to stall, but it recovers. No SES light anymore, though. Drives good, sounds healthy (to me).

It doesn't bog down from a stop if I give it some gas, it's just when in neutral or park when it seems to hate idling. Idling in gear is okay. I can hear the wastegate activating if I give it a lot of throttle quickly, but if I ease into it, it seems to haul butt okay. Gotta love instant power below three thousand RPM...

 

[Geoff87]

What are the current mods on the TTA?

 

[pvt num 11]

Not much... An alarm that isn't getting power as it was draining the battery... Oh wait, the power antenna is stuck up all the time. No really, the car was sold to me bone-stock. They had a chip in it once, but they took it out awhile ago. Oh, almost forgot the turbo timer, but that's not getting power either as it runs off the aforementioned power antenna, which had the fuse pulled - the antenna motor would run constantly in order to retract the antenna, and that also would drain the battery.

Like I've alluded to, the car needs some work.

 

[KENNE-BILL]

If the car idles crappy when cold, try removing the IAC motor and spraying the valve clean with O2 sensor safe carb cleaner as it probably is sticking from soot/carbon buildup. Spray the passage where the IAC sits in the throttle body also, I use Q-tips to help wipe up the dirty carb cleaner left over in the passage after spraying. HTH.

 

[TurboJohn]

If you get the SES light, try changing the oxygen sensor.

 

[pvt num 11]

What does banging on the MAF do? Derek said it was to determine if the MAF was bad - it would stumble or something. I haven't tried this yet, I'll go play around tonight. If it is, great! I'll get to upgrade to a newer MAF and be done with it.

 

[quicker6]

It will cause the idle to stumble when banged upon. However, it may not always happen even though you really do have a bad MAF sensor. I know that I had one that worked fine at idle but, on HARD acceleration it (the engine) would pop really LOUD just once and than it wouldn't want to run much at all unless the computer got reset. When I changed the MAF out than it stopped doing that. Maybe I could be of more help when you bring your car to work (maybe next week like you said). For now I wish you the best of luck!!
Derek