james55

Well.. since my other thread was closed I just wanted to report back that I took my car to the muffler shop, and I was wrong, it was not the cat converters. There was one problem, the gasket at the collector on the exhaust was leaking and they replaced it. It still ran like crap so I took it to a family owned auto repair shop, Webb Automotive, and explained the issue to them. Plus I gave them a whole laundry list of items to check that I have been wanting to be fixed for a long time. I'll find out tomorrow sometime what it will take to fix it.

bw_hunter

If you have scanned the computer and have codes we can give you some insight as to what's going on. If you haven't done a scan because you don't have a light you should...some codes don't set the SES light.

One thing to remember about the 96 and 97 cars (obd2) is that monitor a lot of things..including cat con efficiency. The car can tell you what's making it sick...for the most part. Unfortunately, it doesn't diagnose the distributor very well....

james55

Thanks. I have scanned my Camaro several times, the muffler shop even had a computer and scanned it, and not a single error code.
My original thought was the optispark, but with my recent batting percentage, I hate to even venture a guess.
I wish I would have never bought this car..... well it was my big idea for a loan payback from someone. They had a 94 and this 96 Camaro and he agreed to let me take my pick of the two. The 96 was the better car, with leather interior, less body damage. It still needed work, more than what I realized, and I have honestly put close to $30k into this car with body work and complete paint job, interior repair, wheels and tires, engine rebuild, engine repairs, TB, CAI, Cam, headers, Magnaflow exhaust, etc, etc, etc, etc. Sometimes I feel like tossing a hand grenade inside the car or something. It has been a source of almost divorce for me and my wife. Geez loueez.

bw_hunter

Did it run correctly after the rebuild and then suddenly start running badly or has it run poorly from the start? A big cause of problems is an incorrectly installed opti. It's supposed to go on one way but...and it happens a lot....people get it wrong. The car will act like a real dog as the timing is way, way off.

Another issue is cam timing but hat's usually when you do the cam with he engine in the car. If the cam is off by one tooth on the timing gear you have a significant timing issue and, again, a real dog.

The good news is that both of these are cheap to fixbut a pain in the...well you know where. If your shop can't figure it out do a compression test...ifit's low but even it's probably the cam timing.

james55

Hmm.... cam timing, I'll have to remember that. I forgot to tell the repair shop I have a non-stock cam anyway.

Although I had to take my Camaro back for new fuel injectors and a couple of other problems, it ran good after the rebuild and like a bat out of hell after the rebuilt engine was broke in. Then came the Purge solenoid valve, evap canister, evap control valve, O2 sensors, LT4 knock module and on and on we go, where it stops, don't think I'll ever know! You hit the nail on the head when you it being sick.... it is dreadfully sick. It ran better than this before I got any work done on it. Well at least my son replaced a right bent axle on it for free!

Injuneer

james55 has requested that I close his account. I will honor his request: