new to site, need help rough idle

[Dan Thompson]

I like to do the cheap tests first. What happens in the moring when you disconnect the MAF and start it for the first time?

The car will start, I did this by mistake once. I idled just fine. If yours idles better your MAF might be on the way out.

Has the drivers side header ever been TIG welded? All of them get a crack between #3 and #5 sooner or later. Makes tuning nearly impossible.

Xylene can be purchased at Sherwin Willams paint stores. DON'T GET IT ON THE PAINT. Also add about 4oz of Marvel Mystry Oil for each gallon of Xylene. You can go 3gals of gas to 1gal Xylene, but don't go over.

HTH

 

[14mins]

update to the helpful people on this thread-

1.I took the boush 02 back and bought a purple wire 02
2.ran a gallon of xlene thru it
3.ordered a service manual from Helm Inc.
4.ordered a scanmaster and mass air pipe from Cotton's
5.picked up all the spring cleaning parts

I need to replace the factory chip. Any ideas? I only plan to run super unleaded for a while. Later on, i plan to get a little agressive. I need to upgrade the fuel pump and wiring. That was adressed eariler in this thread.

I am having a new headliner put in next week, along with new tires. Kind of bites having to wait on parts. It is hard to find any local parts. I have a few catalogs on the way.

Any help with Do's and Don'ts is appreciated!! Thanks guys. I can't wait to see this baby purr after owning it for 12 years suffering with rough idle.

 

[dconnor]

Dan, 4oz of MMO per gallon of Xylene is WAY too much!!! That is beyond even what a 2 stroke engine running a gas/oil mix would call for! If you are only adding a gallon or two to a 1/2 tank of gas or more for cleaning purposes, the MMO isn't even needed. It's when you start running a homebrew race gas mix on a regular basis that it's important to replace the lubes in gasoline that are getting diluted by the xylene. My formula is 2~3 ounces of MMO per 12 gallon batch of homebrew ( 3 gallons xylene + 9 gallons super unleaded. )

14mins, any luck getting in touch with the D/FW Buick club? www.lspbc.org

I wouldn't mess with the chip until upgrading the fuel system, as the stock pump was marginal back in 1987 on bone stock cars. Check out Racetronix for a good deal on a fuel pump & hot wire kit package and Conley's Performance Plus would be sorta local to ya as far as TR vendors go (they are down here in the Houston area check out their website at www.conleyracing.com They'll have a fuel pressure guage and adj fuel pressure regulator that your car needs before jumping into go-fast goodies / chips.

Once the fuel system is taken care of, a Thrasher chip would be a good choice, they work great in near stock applications and have excellent street manners. The price is hard to beat at $20 as well.

Doug C.

 

[14mins]

dconnor- ordered the hot wire and fuel pump from racetronixs last night off this site. Ordered a thrasher chip while i was at it. Picked up the top engine cleaner from dealership today along with a radiator resovoir, and windshield res. (just wanted to clean up alittle) ordered a set of plug wires. The next to last piece of the puzzle will be ordered tonight. (fuel regulator) I can't wait to put all the pieces together!!!!

Looks like a trip to the dealership may be in the near future. The car has some bad oil leakes, probably front and rear main seals, oil pan gasket. Sitting in the garage was not to friendly. After running the xlene thru the car the idle has really settled down. As the case with everything, driving around this afternoon with the t-tops out, the headliner took a dive. My friend with a body shop said he could get it completly redone for 45 dollars. Told him to put me on the books. I hope to have all these parts installed in the next 2 weeks. Then add a set of tires (dry rotted) and it will look almost as good as the day it left the showroom. It takes 5 minutes to get from the parking lot to the store due to the onlookers and questions.

I am going to start looking at the local clubs, i would like to meet up with some fellow GN owners in july.

 

[dconnor]

I'm going to suggest that you stay away from the area dealerships, the techs are just not savvy with TR's & these cars take a mechanic who is familiar with their quirky nature. Richardson Imports should be within reasonable decent driving distance for ya. They are VERY knowledgeable about Turbo Regals and the owner, Adi, happens to be the director of the d/fw area Buick club.

Sounds like you are on the right track, maybe you'll be able to head down to H-town fror one of our little Buick "to-do's" sometime.

Doug C.

 

[14mins]

dconnor- Thanks for the heads up. I will put richardson imports on the top of the list. I will give them a call monday. Good way to kill two birds with one stone. The so called garages around here sux. They would be more interested in test driving than repairing. tHERE certification came on the same isle at k-mart that they bought there tools. Since you have been of great help so far- What fuel regulator? And where do i get/order it? I have a hard time on this site so far trying to locate order stuff. I could not locate a fuel regulator at racetronix last night when i ordered the fuel pump and wiring kit.

How often do you guys/gals get together? I need to complete a few items on the car before i show up. I am sure that a couple hours spent with the group will cure a few ills with the car. Look foreward to joining up.

 

[salvageV6]

Accufab makes an all billet regulator.

Ramchargers should have them along with a good 93 street chip my recommendation.

160 thermostat in yet?

I'm very happy you are spending your $$$ wisely and getting a service manual.

I wish I could get my headliner done for $45.

 

[14mins]

Salvage- sunday afternoon the fun starts, In goes the gm top engine cleaner, then the intercooler comes out, a t-stat goes in along with a top radiator hose. I wish my parts were here!!! Guess that it takes more than 20 minutes to get all that stuff shipped. lol Picked up a fuel pressure guage this afternoon when i was ordering the plug wires. It was showing 30 psi at 1000 rpm. It never hit 40psi reving up the rpm range.

 

[tim87tr]

Run that fp guage under the wiper and check it at WOT. See my previous post on fp rising with boost in this thread. Just get out of the throttle as soon as you see the fp not climb above 50 lb. When you get your scan tool hooked up, you will see why. The knock retard, kr, in 3rd gear will climb when the engine leans out (Very BAD). The new fuel pump is a great choice. I just got one from Racetronix and liked their hot wire kit.

Here is the fp reg I have from Accufab, like SalvageV6 mentioned: http://www.accufabracing.com/fuel_regulators.htm
Works good, looks good.

If your car is leaking oil down onto the crossover pipe, and oil is coming back under the underside of the car, it's the rear main seal. It's worth repeating, take it to the shop familiar with the TR's, especially if the owner is the Buick club director.

Email me when you are ready to do the fuel pump. A friend showed me an easier way to do it than what's listed on gnttype.org and I can pass that along.

 

[salvageV6]

And after you get all that stuff installed next weekend you can do the timing chain and front seal.

Oh, and the valve springs too!!!

 

[14mins]

salvage- the valve springs have been weighing heavy on my mind.

dconnor- I hope all the goodies start ariving this week!

I have never run sythetic oil in the car. I have always changed at approx 3000 miles. My wife was the main driver of the car from 40,000 to 114,000. It has not had a hard life. Anything wrong with changing to sythetic oil at this point of the game? I plan on putting 7 to 10,000 for the next 3 for 4 years then rebuilding as a project with my son. He is 10 years old now. We argue over who's car it is. LOL If i can refrain from building it up before then. I have a bad habit of not stopping projects till they are done. And then you are never really done are you?

 

[dconnor]

Valve springs would be a VERY good idea, (Comp Cams part# CC980-12 will work well) and you should also pull the timing cover to check on the condition of the timing set.

30 psi of fuel pressure is below stock specs (38 psi), did you check it with the vacuum line on the regulator or off? Fuel press. should raise 1# for every lb of boost, so you need to try checking it while driving and at WOT whenever you get a chance. Accufab makes a good billet regulator which CPP www.conleyracing.com or any of the sponsoring vendors of this can set you up with. CAS also makes a nice piece www.chargedair.com but can be a little slow on getting stuff shipped.

Regular dino oil works fine, just be sure to use a quality brand (Penzoil uses the best crude based stock available) & continue the 3000 miles changes. Switching to a full synthetic on a high milage car can help uncover weak spots in the engine's gaskets & many complain of leaks that weren't there before. I'd suggest weaning onto full synthetic by using a synthetic blend for a few changes before going to a fully synthetic oil. There is a company who makes a new blend for high milage engines (forget who exactly) that contains additives to help re-new old gaskets & seals, may wanna give that a try before making the switch.

Doug C.

 

[14mins]

Okay i am going to do the valve springs. I am going to order the fuel regulator monday and give adi a call. I have already ordered and spent more than i had planned on by far. Changed the transmission fluid and the rear axle fluid today. Put a new set of front pads on. All looked pretty good, just want to give everything a look over. Going to add a set of tires( sitting was hard on the tires) I want to go with a 255/60/15 on the back and 235/60/15 on the front. gOOD OR BAD? You guys have brought me to far to bail on me now. Hopefully the headliner will get done this week. The drivers seat needs to have the center cloth replaced. Need to do some checking around on that. Then i want to drive around and enjoy the car. Spent 3 hours late,late last night working on the windows. Got them pretty good i think. I have a annoying rattle on the drivers site T-top i think, could be coming from the drivers side dash. Any easy cures? I think when all is said and done a few trips to a mental health care professional will be in order. All my projects start out this way!!! I keep telling myself that high 12's will be acceptable. It does not appear to be working!! Any ideas what this baby should do when she gets tuned in? I ordered a thrasher chip. After i get all this done i am thinking of Alky for christmas, a set of guages above the glove box, injectors and a few diffent chips. There i go again.....lol

Guys when this first round is done in a couple of weeks, if all goes well you will be my idles...lol or................

 

[14mins]

update on my project, if anyone cares-

1. did the gm top engine clean
2. cleaned the intercooler out
3. changed the tranfliud,axle fluid,brake fluid,oil
4. installed all new hoses, belt
5. installed hyperteck 160 t-stat
6. installed walbro fuel pump
7. installed racetronix hot-wire kit
8. new plugs and wires (wires are wrong, need to reorder)
9. installed mass air pipe from cottons
10.installed fuelregulator from cottons (acufab)
11.installed new valve cover gaskets (sitting was bad)
12.ran a few gallons of xlene thru my baby
13 A few other odds and ins.

I still have not gotten the headliner done. My buddy with the body shop is going to buff the car out. I have replaced some weatherstipping.

I have a oil leak that i do not want to tackle. I think i will see if richardson imports will do that.
I need new tires, my scanmaster 2 is not here from cottons yet. My service manual is not here yet.

I am going to order gauge pods and valve springs this week!
I am going to change the fuel filter, o2 sensor in the next few days.

New question- Is there a place on this site that explains how to change the CHIP? Never done that before. I have the thrasher. Thanks for everyones help so far. I am enjoying doing this project. Can't wait to get most of it finished. I guess you never really finish though.

What is a good way to refinish or clean the valve covers? Mine look sort of natty. Thanks for the replies.

 

[striker_29]

Be sure to unplug the ecm wire before you change the chip. Remove the passenger side kick panel in the car, and you will see the ecm. Remove the plate on top of the ecm, and that will expose the chip. Ground yourself, pop the chip out, and stick the new one in. Reconnect the ecm wire and fire her up! Good luck.

 

[14mins]

Stryker- thanks. What do you mean by ground myself? Sorry to be a pain, but never done before.

 

[salvageV6]

Before you pry the old chip out discharge yourself on some clean grounded sheetmetal of the car such as a trim screw on the open door or the door pin switch itself which is a good clean ground.

Some like to always be touching ground when removing the chip but that isn't easy to do without a ground strap.


If the valve covers are off use some engine cleaner on them to get the really cruddy stuff off the outside and inside.

I then bring them to work and glass bead blast them which is gentle yet effective.

Cork gaskets.