Unfortunately the car in practice has not worked out as well as I would have hoped. With the current job and financial condition, I decided to get rid of the car and get my garage stall back … then I decided not to make a rash decision and think thinks through. After considering all the work that needs still be done and the cost of registration and insurance … and the current job situation … then I decided to sell the car and any parts I have. I will try to sell locally first and then if needed go eBay … looked at the local offering and I am trying to come up with a reasonable price ( I will take some current pictures and list all that has been done to it) right now I am thinking 6k … after you stop laughing I have time to sell it and I can take a lower offer if need be, in addition this is not Texas or California where all cars have no rust, it snows so they salt and our cars rust, rust and rust some more. I just took look at eBay and there are a couple of convertibles for 4-5k with still time to bid. I will do some more looking and post up once I have something written for the ad.

Nope not that cold at all

Update: No … wait, nope nothing.

So the weather here has been unusually mild and I had high hopes I would get out into the garage and start working on the car, so what has stopped me; again we have been really busy with everything going on and to put it plainly the best thing for me and the car long term … is some time apart.

Status: Still have a battery drain and will have to go get some gas soon. I have NOT put in the O2 sensor or the other air temp sensor in as of yet. The mirror is a bit wonky and I will need to replace the glass and Super Glue it shut at this point I can live with that.

I did not pass –up the free $50 I got from Advanced Auto and picked –up some bushings for the front end.

Strangely, I think it has been a good year and we have made some real progress towards getting the car road worthy. It will just take some more time and effort to push through this last mile.

… and in case I miss it Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Rocking moms minivan radio?

Old News: Replaced the faulty alternator, took it back to Pep Boys and had it tested. It was only putting out 11.5 volts the new one is well over 14 volts. In the end it is two wires in back and two wires to the plug. I believe we can safely say that issue is fixed, and we can also say that this wiring harness has been “hacked” I will keep that in mind as issues with power crop up.

So shinny ...

The Surge … as I am now calling it.

There seem to be two camps: the intake manifold folks and the “other” camp … still wishing for the “other’ camp resigned to having to try the intake manifold solution.

I have unplugged the O2 but have not installed a new one – No change

Interesting txt I received from the mechanic:

“I am talking to a GM race car mechanic and I picked his brain. He is telling me that we have to look at replacing the temp and O2 sensor. The voltage tells the motor that regulates the TBI what to do. He is looking it up to make sure which parts of the circuit are used.”

Now I have replaced the intake manifold temperature sensor, it was almost the first think I replaced, and as we have seen the O2 looks not to be that but only when we install it will we be sure.

… But I did find a temperature switch which seems to be near the O2 sensor on or near the exhaust manifold, it was not remotely expensive so I bought one, I will swap it out with the O2, when I get a chance to jack up the car and take the wheel off to get to it.

On another note my thoughts have swung back to … well I guess it would be optimistically pissed off?  I am not willing to let this thing beat me right now and I am going to solider on and see if I can fix it.

What else had been going on well …

Working on the steering wheel, I need a puller despite what folks say on the boards, I have a replacement and the horn parts … so rent a puller and carve some time out.

No a hammer will not "just do"

Also I need to put the “new radio” in …. OK, ok on the plus side it works and it was a gift from my mechanic on the minus side it looks like it came out of a Chrysler Town & Country minivan. The solution will be AFTER I get the “surge” fixed I will send the old one to get fixed and get a MP3 port added.

Got to love chunky knobs ....

That’s all I got for now still working on some thoughts on suspension bushings and Coil Spring Isolators.

Happy Thanksgiving Baby ... oh and sorry about the syphilis

Well earlier I was trying to determine if  I ha replaced the EGR Solenoid, I think I did last year but I will check my recites, while I am looking for the recite for the alternator or is it a generator I have been told it makes a difference … more on the in a second.

I have to admit the car not working has had one good result … it seems to have shaken me from my don’t do anything because you will make it worse funk, now whats the worst that can happen?

One wire is a replaced fusible link, One is squarish with a rubber cover

I went to take the alternator out  and realized  … I don’t own a 1/2 inch ratchet and could not get the belt relaxer to work without it. I will stop and pick one up or a breaker bar. Once i get it out on Saturday I will take it to Pep boys and have them test it. I also noticed that when I moved the wire on the back of the alternator …. there were two coming off the back. So here is where the Generator thing comes in to play, I was told that if this was a generator it would need to be charged to start up , so is one of those two wires my missing wire for the top plug?

I was also told if the alternator is bad then good, if it is good than it is wiring.

The answers to PRC:

• That those is the one to the air filter , plugging it made no difference, neither did the vacuum pulse though kept up steady.
• Not sure what you mean about the exposed vacuum ports on the Throttle  Body, I looked at the  the video and I am not seeing them I can take some picks so we can find them

I am resigned to the fact that is it the intake manifold is one way or another, since it seems to make the most sense with amount of fluctuation that is occurring. Just have to get up mentally for it.

I know how they feel

The O2 sensors came today and Bob said that they would fix everything, and they did I was out enjoying the 90 degree weather with the top down and my hair blowing in the wind with a hot, tattooed blonde I picked up  at the Hess station. /sigh

Ok, the O2 sensor did come today and I did not get a chance to put it yet. However, I spoke to Bob today and it was depressing, they guys he had took a look at it the video think that it is vacuum leak, related to the intake manifold.

Yup, tear it apart and reseat and seal it. SO …. I did some thinking and digging. I took out the WD40 and got a spraying, no luck yet in tracking it down. I took video, with the camera since my video camera was acting up and narrowly missed being thrown across the room.

I also looked up some video of the car when I got it and you may notice the same issue before I replaced the intake manifold. Just saying…..

Not that I am really not looking forward to taking the whole top off the engine, but hey it is only going to cost me time and a couple bucks for new gaskets.

Now let’s move on to the alternator. There is a large red wire coming off the back of the alternator, and at the plug there is  one red and one thin could be brown … It is possible the way I was reading the diagrams that would be correct. The issue is it is still putting out only 11.5 volts form that red wire; I was unable to test the ones on top since I could not find any exposed wire. I did unplug it and it did not seem to make a difference.

Here is the Alternator from Pep Boys http://c2c.activant.com/ctoc/index.jsp?ID=eAi1oFiopEU5mPzF_CUdHM2RDVVRwS1MBX3hVSABI

SO, what is the issue? When the car gets warmed up and running in P the idle flutters, revs or seeks whatever you want to call it. It only happens when the car is warm, and it happens in N, D, R and P. When you are driving you can keep your foot on the pedal and it drives itself like a first time, first drive or a teenager.

That is not the only problem

Issue 1:

The car did not start this morning, now you may remember it’s a new battery, so I have been thinking about why we are not getting a charge form the alternator back to the battery at least that is what I think. Which would be why the battery is not starting the car? Here is my thought … the plug to the alternator. Now you may remember or not, that when I went to the AA I got a plug that had three wires to replace a plug with two wires (Three wire red, brown, black and two wires red and black) so my mechanics used the red and brown and cut the black. See picture. Now I found this on the boards …

The S pin (red wire) run to the starter, it’s attached along with the positive cable. It’s a fusible link so make sure it not broken. The F Pin (Brown wire) runs to the fan fuse. The I Pin (Black wire) it runs to a junction block usually near the side of the radiator on the support. It too has some fusible links. But this wire doesn’t have any on it. It only supplies voltage back to the battery. I think you have your I and F pin mixed up. I don’t see any other wires connected.

So what do you think? Should it be the black to black? And how would I check that?

Issue 2:

It’s the O2 sensors … Yea that’s the ticket

I got a call from Cali yesterday after the ECM install, and we worker the problem. So here is what I have replaced:

• Temperature sensor
• EGR
• IAC
• Battery
• Alternator
• Fuel injectors
• Fuel filter,
•  Fuel pressure regulator
• MAP Sensor
• EMC

I have not changed the O2 sensors; this is why we are now thinking about them. Well it only starts when the car is up to temp, so it is not from the start. It happens in P, R, N and D. Now here are questions answered (Via Video)

Does the exhaust smell like gas when it is “searching”? Well … it smells different, and now the exhaust seems to struggle and is spitting liquid.

That is the first time it stalled going into reverse.

So now I have to figure out how many O2 sensors I have? This one looks like a one wire, and strangely looks new.

Um, no. Yup same problem again. Fluttering idle when warm. It is a whole lot stronger though and the car, when it runs, runs well. I did some research and I am going with a bad ECM, I know just another shot in the dark. After that the O2 sensor or back to vacuum hoses, who knows? Right … not me that’s for dam sure.

So how did I come up with the ECM, besides the fact we have replaced everything else, well I read this post, Seemed as good an idea as any to fix the issue. So I looked all over for the box and finally located behind the panel on the passenger’s side after removing the seat, not because I thought it was under the seat but because I was too fat to fit under the dash with the seat in place.

ECM boxes are kind of tricky, I am glad I just did not order one and go with it, I waited and got the part number off the old one and ordered that. The original one I was looking at was wrong … well mostly because I had an aneurism and thought that the VIN letter was “F” not “E” for this car, need to write that on my hand.

I also ordered replacement ball joints, springs and struts to fix the suspension, which is highlighted by the car listing to the driver’s side by about an inch. Once this work and the new ECM is in I am done for the year with new parts, I still have a bunch of other parts I need to put on anyways. (You know I wondered why it was so easy to get in and out of the car on the passenger’s side and such a bitch on the driver’s side; I thought it was just the steering wheel)

I have to admit I have not been keeping up …. There are plenty of things that I could work on and get done in the time between visits’ from the mechanics. I still have not finished the weather stripping, rear view mirror, seats or steering wheel, I am hoping for a mild winter not too cold to work in the garage. ROLF

So we will be shutting down for the winter … again … soon.

It has crossed my mind that this whole thing was becoming a bit of a bad idea … I read the blog and am still working on it in my head … luckily for the Camaro you have to wait till summer to sell a convertible. I am not sure it has come to the end of the road yet, namely because I will be lucky to get a tenth of the money I put in to this car out, I still think this is a great looking car and I would not want to own any other right now (well one that work) and I still have all the time in the world, just no the money, knowhow or patience.

You will know it when you see it

It would appear it was the battery, was it the battery the whole time … who knows. It works so I am happy for now.

Amen to that!

This Sunday morning I took the Camaro out around the block and she ran like a champ, then Sunday night right back to having the problem again. Now we are looking in the direction of the alternator (new, refurbished from Pep Boys) or the battery (not new), I had long thought about replacing the battery, in fact I took it back to the store and had it charged (now it is not true that I don’t trust all folks in a retail environment, just most of them). I am going with the battery, for now, and have ordered a new one and will pick it up today and put it in a see what happens. This of course begs the question if it was the battery all a long and if I had purchased one when the car was delivered would everything be working? We will see, tonight.

The flashers and turn signals work, I was not simply that I could not find the parts in the car it was that I could not find the parts in the part store (another several fruitless trips to NAPA, if your car is less than 5 years old they can help you if not they have no interest) One I had tracked down the correct ones for the car that were LED compatible and found the old ones in the “convenience panel” , and a couple loose fuses there too, they did the trick and now people know where I am going.

The radio does not work, while I realize this is a small thing, I was looking it in the light of the overall electrical system and low and behold all the wires to the speakers had been cut, so splice them up and good to go right? Nope the power button in the front of the radio is bad. It does come on if you hold the button in a certain spot, at which time we found that the power antenna works, just does not stay on.

With all this electrical work and the lights on for a prolonged period of time we then buttoned it up and found that the issue had returned, so I am hopeful that it is the battery.

Other minor issues:

I have been working on the hood and trunk alignment, with limited success.

I have added some of the weather stripping to the top. I made an attempt to smooth out the wrinkle in the top with no luck, just have to live with it. Then I panicked when I could not get the top down, but after a few tries and loosening up the folds and such it went down and tucked away. Don’t be surprised if in four or five years I replace the top and had a professional do it.

I ordered and paid, for the new battery so … this should be an easy trip to the parts store.

I seem to be spending every evening at a Home improvement store, Wall-Mart, Auto parts and Craft store in the greater Clifton Park area after school and have been living the “homeless guy” in the truck dream. Once home I am comatose on the couch and then supervising some type of work in the house, whether that is homework, flooring work or school related work.

I found all kinds of pics for this but this was by far the best one

Still, I need to work on the convertible top, finish up the flasher issues and tie up any loose ends because I need to think about shutting down for the winter. Vern has given me a bit more rope, but not much and I tend to agree with her. Car has no heat really can’t drive it around her in what I sure will be an epic winter.

I have plenty of little tinker issues that I can finish up once the veil of mosquitoes die off and I can get out in the garage and work.

Convertible top – well I am going to try to eliminate that wrinkle and I still need to work on the weather stripping and Plastic molding to finish up.

The Rear Lights – still waiting on weather stripping and will be swapping out the LED’s in the License plate holder to plain 194’s (sometimes it is just not worth the work) … and replace the flasher and turn sensors and then button everything back up. (Oh and work on the trunk and trunk lid which do not line up right)

Steering wheel – needs to pulled and horn button fixed

The Mechanic – he will be sorting out the fan wire and cleaning up a couple other wires. Oh also don’t forget that pesky ball joint and its mate on the other side.

It is the weekend soon so there should be a bit, just a bit more time.

Happy Oktoberfest

Had to toss it in - wait why are the waitresses drinking?