Check this out, on my last thread, the car was running reeeeeaaal rough once it warmed up, but only at idle or driving with the rpm's between 1000-2000, above that it seemed okay. This was after I had the Opti replaced, and the coil also to an MSD.

So far, so good, right? The car ran great, except for once it was warm, there would always be a slight hesitation from idle to whomping on to the gas, so I figured it had to be something else.

Then the major problems yesterday, it was running REEEAAAL bad once it was warmed up.

Took it to Superior Automotive in Anaheim, they are a great shop, they told me that they would scope it, minimum $75.00, I didn't care, I wanted it fixed, they said they would get to it today, this was about 10:00 AM. They were very empathetic, they took care of my oil leak, knew that the Opti was brand new, the lady at the counter(I think she's the co-owner) didn't think it was the Opti, they're thinking maybe one or more of the other sensors that come into play once the engine reaches normal operating temps.

Guess what? They called me @ 12:15PM, and told me to come pick it up, it was fixed!

A bad ignition coil wire...:hm:

When the mechanic scoped it, he found nothing, waited for it to warm up, and it started to cough & sputter again, he told me he knew it wasn't the fuel system, cuz the car was getting gas, so get this:

He got a spray bottle filled with water, and having someone keeping the gas on so it wouldn't die, he did a wide spray to the front of the engine, and saw an arch coming out of the coil wire.

Voila

He had a spare coil wire, replaced it, runs purrrrrrrrrrrfect.

$75.00, worth the hassle.

Kudos to Superior Automotive, they were genuinely glad for me that it was minimal, and they want my business, they build stroker LT1's and LS1's, and they want my business in the future, so they have my business from now on.

 

That's cool that you found a good shop that doesn't try to rip you off.

 

Tell me about it man, and hey, Superior Automotive kicks budai! Their shop is HUGE, spotless, they work on classics, Mopars, Fords(YUCK!), and they guarantee their work, they have been working on LT1's for years, currently they are putting a blueprinted/balanced 383 stroker in a 96 Imp, I saw it, this car is awesome.

They got my business, big time.

 

what will scoping "see" I need to see why mine does some things

 

alot of people overlook that simple coil wire, good job on finding a cool shop

 

I lucked out on the coil wire.

 

What "things?"

 

well one scope can see above water , another hears your heart, what does the "scope " "see" when they scope the motor?

 

I would imagine that "scope" is a general diagnostic...ie codes...fuel pressure...stuff in that general category.....main thing though would be hooking it up to the computer and watching sensor info.

 

A modern scope would interface with the cars computer and report engine parameters (timing, temp, a/f ratio, etc..) additioanally a classic "scope" would display the spark performance for each cylinder (like a EKG "heart monitor") which can determine how well or if the various ignition components are working (coil, wires, plugs) and if all is well with the ignition, they can even determine if the fuel delivery system is functioning properly (I believe), by seeing how a full stregth spark trace is affected by things like cylinder presure which will change during combustion based upon the richness or leanes (or total absence) of the a/f mixture. this might indicate a plugged or faulty injector.