Alright, Im 18 now and for my high school graduation my family bought me a 1994 Maroon Camaro 3.4L V6. It's got 100,000 thousand miles on it and as far as I can tell was kept in decent shape. Ive already replaced the tires, and installed a new alternator. My next project is my shocks since they need it terribly, it rides ROUGH! Then a brake job, but after that I was wondering if there was anything I should know about Camaros in general that could need repair. Previously, I owned a Mazda 626 and the common problems with those was their transmissions, and now I want all the advice I can get to make this car run at top condition.

Obviously the most important thing to me is making sure the car runs correctly, but after that I also want to know things that you would reccomend to make the car faster and better looking. I am new to this so a little help is all im asking for. Thanks and If anyone has pics please send to my e-mail they wil be MUCH appreciated : lock_davis@hotmail.com. Thanks, Lock

 

Might want to give it a little tune up. spark plugs and wires. (MSD wires are good wires to go with)

As far as mods go: Exhaust and intake is a good place to start after you get your shocks.

1. A cold air intake (cone filters) $200

2. A nice catback (flowmaster, magnaflow, hooker, eldgebrock etc.) 2.5", 2.75" or 3" works. 3" is best if you have bigger plans than just exhaust and intake (i.e. Supercharger, turbo, cam etc.) $250-$450

3. Headers and a highflow cat would complete your exhaust. $240-$450

That will get your started with performance mods and you don't have to do it all at once, but that would be the order to go in if when you start.

I suggest checking out www.v6fbody.com and www.camarov6.com for further advice. I lurk at Camarov6 and I'm a member at V6fbody under the name 96blkCmaro so look for me there. See ya around.

-Ryan

 

Well, someone who has their head on right. Dont mod it unless it runs right! You got that part down.

Anyway, do an oil change if you havent, change the PCV valve, the fuel filter, plugs, wires, and the belt. That will get it running good. Also, id suggest running seafoam through it (check napa auto stores, they carry it). That will clean out any carbon deposits and what not. Works great on higher mileage engines. Then, your first mods should be a high flow cat (magnaflow is good, and inexpensive) and a catback exhaust system, like magnaflow also.

After that, a cold air intake would help some too. Thats what you should do to start off. I reccomend replacing the cat and exhaust first because if you have a 100K car and its the original cat, itll go very soon.

 

hi, and welcome. Congrats on the car and welcome to the family here. Where are you from?

 

Welcome. My main advice is to gain as much knowledge as you can from these boards by reading up on past posts. Everything you want to know is here, you just have to dig a little for it.

As the others have said, you car will appreciate some basic maintenance. This should be done first. You can do a good portion of it in an hour: change the oil/filter, check/replace air filter, check/replace PCV valve and check fluid levels and condition.

If you don't know when the last owner did a tune-up, that should be next. A good for you would be some rapidfire plugs and a decent wire set (I run $50 Taylor wires). I'm not sure if the 3.4L has the same issue as the 3.8L, but I put boot shields on.

As for the shocks, don't skimp on this department. I had take-off (Z28 shocks) for a while before I replaced them with Bilsteins. I still believe that was the best mod I've done to my car. Night and day difference.

Good luck.

 

If it has power windows, those tend to go out. On mine, the shocks that open up the back hatch went out, also. Even if you get your shocks/springs changed, it will probably still ride pretty rough. As with any car, transmissions could possibly become troublesome with high mileage. Both my Camaro and my boyfriend's Trans Am tend to be all over the road (following ruts), even when the alignment is right. I'm not sure if all of this is very common or not, but it's just some things that i have noticed along the way.

 

Change your tranny fluid and filter,rear gear oil,power steering fluid,and do a flush and fill on the rad.