I have a 95 Z28. When starting to move, in first gear, the car seems to bog right down and almost stall out. The engine light will come on too but go off after about 15 seconds or less (gonna get a code scanner to check what it is). Also, at any speed in any gear, the car seems to surge or jump/buck (and it seems to happen moreso when I drive over a rough section of road). I had a new spec clutch put in last fall. The folks who did the install said that the pinion bearings ??? should be replaced as there was a bit of give in the drive shaft. I can see that this might cause some of the jumping/bucking on a rough road. But that wouldn't have anything to do with the engine light coming on. Any suggestions as to where to start (I know, I know, get the engine code scanner first!!!). Has anyone else experienced the same? Thx

 

The pinion bearing won't cause any SES. Get that scanner and see what the code is.

 

A bad pinion bearing will lead to rear end howl but not bucking/surging. As Shoebox stated, get your car scanned for error codes. It could be fuel related as in dirty fuel filter or fuel pumping failing (can verifiy with fuel pressure gauge). What shape are your plugs and wires in?

 

God forbid but, the opti might have gotten wet or on its way out. My car did similar till the opti completely took a dump.

 

ya. i know the pinion bearings will give rear howl...i got it big time. gonna get it fixed over the next week or two.

i was thinking its either spark or fuel related. i'm starting to lean towards opti-crap giving out. new plug wires put on last year and new plugs. and I did have a water pump leak about 2 years ago (and of course, you know where the coolant went!!!). Thank you GM for crappy design.

Gonna get that code scanner tomorrow and see what it reveals. Will a failing opti be shown with a code?

Thanks folks

 

Let me go ahead and bet that its code 48, MAF failure.

 

I'd be a lot happier with a MAF failure now then opti, especially considering the crap I'd have to go through to get the opti replaced....

Gonna scan her tomorrow and see what the eight ball reveals.

 

I suggest looking at your wires!! Look for arcing in the dark.
Goodluck!

 

Bought a GM scanner for 82-95 vehicles but it didn't work on my Z (doh!)

Anyways, I popped the hood this morning with the car running and there is a hissing sound at what I believe to be one of the 2 front injectors on the drivers side (or at least in that area from what I can tell). Would bad injectors do this? Or do you think it might be an exhaust leak? I'm guessing that problems with fuel delivery would indeed result in the behaviour I'm seeing. Suggestions?

(PS: still trying to get a code scanner!)