Hey guys this is my first time posting so i hope i can get it right. i bought a 93 z28 a year ago. since i have boughten it alot of little **** keeps breaking (heard thats common) well one particular problem i just cant figure out... My car used to buck or sometimes it shut off, no power at all, if i took my foot of the gas it would fire back up. I thought it was fuel injectors, nope, then spark plugs, not that either. then i had someone tell me that it was my computer, cause it kept throwing bad codes. well changed that too and still does it. i found out my air pump keeps blowing fuses, and now my car is making a ticking noise, just when i start driving from an idle. Also put the chip in at the time of new computer and my thermostat reaches sky high when i am idling, put a new thermostat in, now the minimum heat coming out of my vents. temp still gets hot and right before the red line it will kick back down, but i smell oil. Any suggestions? trying to start building but cant cause i keep trying to fix this stupid problems. Will take an advice if you got it. thanks

 

Sounds like you have a lot of little problems. Most of them probably aren't that hard to fix.
Your ignition problem could be the opti
If you keep blowing fuses, that's usually a short somewhere...
The ticking noise? Could be a lifter... or it could be an exhaust leak?
Oil should have nothing to do with the temperature of your car, if you smell oil, you might have an oil leak dripping onto your exhaust.

 

well i thought it was my opti system but that is fine, i might have an exhaust leak but the ticking noise wasnt there before and now it keeps getting louder and louder, people keep telling me its my air pump

 

the ticking noise could be a rocket that needs adjustment. You would pretty much hear it any time the car was not a higher rpms.

 

An exhaust leak is plausable for the ticking especially if its getting louder. You can take the AIR pump off if its giving you problems, it serves no real purpse. If you smell oil you are burning it somewhere, whats the mileage on the car? Does it puff blue smoke?

 

well after i put the new computer in, the code was the air pump and i had someone look at it yesterday and the ticking is coming in the exhaust and air pump area. so i dont need the air pump? is there something i should replace it with? would putting cold air intake in replace that? its got about 168,000 miles on this car, the engine and tranny still run great, most miles where highway, but i am eventually going to rebuild it and then do some suspension for road courses. thanks guys for all your advice, if you have anymore would love to hear it. thanks

 

You can either completely remove the air pump or you can just unplug it. Its electric and your car won't throw any codes as long as you put a good fuse back in the slot. The pumps always go out on these LT1 cars. The ticking noise could be an exhaust leak. What codes was your car throwing? Mileage? last tune up? Also if your car is getting really hot after a new T-stat install you probably need to bleed the air out of the coolant system.

 

Hey Guys, Thanks For Responding, Well I Put A New Fan Switch, And Had An Aip Pocket In My Coolant, My Car Is Great With Heat, And Temp Now. All I Have To Do Is Take Out That Aip Pump. How Do You Just Unplug It For Now?, I Will Be Getting Headers And Just Replace It, In A Few Monthes. Its Got About 168,000 Miles On It. I Will Be Rebuilding The Engine Soon Too. I Was Just Goingto Buy A New Car, Was Looking At A Firebird With Ws6 And Ram Air. But This Car Is Paid Off, So Might As Well Put That Money It This Car. Thanks Guys

 

Just locate the air pump by looking down the drivers side of the engine. It's towards the front and bottom. If you feel around it you'll find a plastic electrical connector. Just pull it out to unplug it, and tuck it up somewhere. Make sure you have a new fuse in the fuse block for the air pump though. It won't blow anymore, but you need the good fuse in there to keep the SES light off.

 

thanks alot ace!!! i will do after work today!

 

No problem. I had the same thing happen to me right after I got my Z. The ses light came on, and I stupidly payed at the dealer to get it scanned. They told me it was the air pump, and it would be over $300 to replace it. I searched on here and asked how to fix it. I got great responses and haven't had a problem since.

 

I'm sorry but I find it funny that you buy a 12 year old car with 168,000 miles on it and then wonder why little things go wrong.

Replace the opti and water pump and plugs/wires while youre at it, if they didnt go yet, they will very soon.

Remove the air pump, tuck the wires up, and then replace the fuse

 

hey i was actually told my computer was bad, and i changed it and i still had the problem, it started whining and i cant stand it, everytime i step on it front a stop i hear it until about 3rd gear. that is so annoying! thanks again!

 

my air pump died last may. luckily i found one used for 40 bucks but dont buy anew one or even from a wrecking yard! if i knew what i know i would have removedthe stupid thing as i passed the emmissions test last summer w/o that damn thing!

 

if you are hearing whining from the rearend, it could possibly be the pinion bearing, and if it is, it will only get worse. but most of the problems you are having, i have had on my old LT1's and they are not hard to fix at all, it can just be a little annoying when many things go wrong at once. you have a 12 year old car with many miles on it. but if nothin major is wrong, i would say that you have a decent car.
Nick