here goes nothing

[GreyGoose006]

problems so far:

right turn signal kills cruise control
no right turn signal
OD doesnt work because of a disconnected wire that was cut and blaah blaah blaah. (i need help with this one)
oil pressure guage is off. reads 35 psi at idle and goes up above 60 as soon as i start driving.
cruise control is harsh. when you bump it up or down it kinda jerks you around. maybe this is normal. idk.
needs an external transmission cooler. should be easy, but how?
rough idle and lower power until car warms up. id say about 2/3 of normal drivability and power.
coolant temp guage doesnt work. sits at 100.
horn is erratic. i guess a new button would solve that.
steering wheel is wrapped with some kind of getto rigged cover that needs to go. new steering wheel may be in order.

there is probably more, but i made the maiden voyage today after the tranny rebuild and this is what i found.

its an 85 iroc with a 350 dropped in
see my sig.

[GreyGoose006]

No replies?
c'mon, theres a lot there, surely someone can help me tackle a few of them...

[Morley]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

problems so far:

right turn signal kills cruise control
no right turn signal

You have a short in the turnsignal stalk wiring most likely.

OD doesnt work because of a disconnected wire that was cut and blaah blaah blaah. (i need help with this one)

The speedometer in the 85's were mechanical, so a cut wire isn't going to affect the odometer. If the speedo functions then you need a new one with a working odometer.

oil pressure guage is off. reads 35 psi at idle and goes up above 60 as soon as i start driving.

Remove the oil pressure sender and temp. install a mechanical gauge to verify the reading is off. A cheap mechanical oil gauge can be had from any auto parts store. If the mechanical agrees that it is off, replace the sender with an AC Delco unit. The cheap-o ones from parts stores don't last if they work correctly at all.

cruise control is harsh. when you bump it up or down it kinda jerks you around. maybe this is normal. idk.

Not normal. There should be some slack in the system where the cable hooks to the vacuum actuator, no slack is bad.

needs an external transmission cooler. should be easy, but how?

Buy one. Inside will be instructions, follow them.

rough idle and lower power until car warms up. id say about 2/3 of normal drivability and power.

Is it a TPI engine and if so, what are you using for an ECM and PROM chip. If you are using the 85's ECM (870) and chip, that is your problem. You need to upgrade to the 86-89 ECM (165) and a memcal (PROM chip package) to go with it. If you need the instructons on how to upgrade computers, let me know and I'll point you to the web pages for it.

coolant temp guage doesnt work. sits at 100.

Takethe wire off the sender and see what it does. If it maxes out, replace the sender.

its an 85 iroc with a 350 dropped in
see my sig.

[GreyGoose006]

The speedometer in the 85's were mechanical, so a cut wire isn't going to affect the odometer. If the speedo functions then you need a new one with a working odometer.

by OD, i mean OVERDRIVE. sorry for the confusion

Not normal. There should be some slack in the system where the cable hooks to the vacuum actuator, no slack is bad.

yep, i hooked it up myself and there is no slack. i will take it a link out one at a time till it feels right.

Buy one. Inside will be instructions, follow them.

a bit sarcastic are we... its ok, i am too. i was looking more for what i need in the way of tools for cutting lines and stuff, and weather a simple cooler will suffice, or i should get one with a fan attached, also, how big is big enough, and is there any harm in going with the biggest one i can find...

Is it a TPI engine and if so, what are you using for an ECM and PROM chip. If you are using the 85's ECM (870) and chip, that is your problem. You need to upgrade to the 86-89 ECM (165) and a memcal (PROM chip package) to go with it. If you need the instructons on how to upgrade computers, let me know and I'll point you to the web pages for it.

well the previous owner put the engine in and "custom chip" is all i know about what is in it. apparently the engine builder took it for a drive, put a chip in it, took it for another drive, and made a few changes, but called it a day...
i LOVE info, so if you have any, i would appreciate it. i have no clue about car computers, but am trying to learn.

actually, i found that there was a wire going to the intake snorkel (MAF?) that was disconnected, and after connecting it, drivability improved tremendously. its still a bit off at first but not nearly as bad.

Takethe wire off the sender and see what it does. If it maxes out, replace the sender.

pardon my ignorance, but is this in the radiator? thermostat?

[Morley]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

by OD, i mean OVERDRIVE. sorry for the confusion

OK, you'll need to get a schematic or better yet, go to a junkyard and pull the connector out of a TPI car's transmission and cut the wires about a foot long. To wire yours up just match up the wire colors.

a bit sarcastic are we... its ok, i am too. i was looking more for what i need in the way of tools for cutting lines and stuff, and weather a simple cooler will suffice, or i should get one with a fan attached, also, how big is big enough, and is there any harm in going with the biggest one i can find...

Not trying to be sarcastic, transmission coolers are just that simple to install. You look on the box and match up the GVW rating of the cooler to your car's GVW then maybe go one size larger (fans aren't needed unless you are going to be doing heavy towing). There is no cutting of lines to do. About all you'll need is a wrench to remove the line from the radiator and install their connector in its place. Then you'll need a screwdriver for the clamps. Don't go too big on the cooler, everything has an optimal operating temp.

well the previous owner put the engine in and "custom chip" is all i know about what is in it. apparently the engine builder took it for a drive, put a chip in it, took it for another drive, and made a few changes, but called it a day...

So there is no telling what he did. The 85's 870 ECM isn't exactly a well supported ECM for tuning and has a lot of its parameters hard wired to the board, not on the chip.

i LOVE info, so if you have any, i would appreciate it. i have no clue about car computers, but am trying to learn.

actually, i found that there was a wire going to the intake snorkel (MAF?) that was disconnected, and after connecting it, drivability improved tremendously. its still a bit off at first but not nearly as bad.

pardon my ignorance, but is this in the radiator? thermostat?

Thermostat is under the waterneck on the intake manifuld, that is where the upper radiator hose connects.

[GreyGoose006]

ok. on my last car, there were hard lines going to the radiator for the transmission cooler that was built in. i assumed that i would have the same thing on this car and would have to cut them and re flare the ends or whatever.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
is this too big?

p.s.
just discovered that there is no actual transmission cooler built into the radiator.
so i will have to go bigger than normal.

[Morley]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

ok. on my last car, there were hard lines going to the radiator for the transmission cooler that was built in. i assumed that i would have the same thing on this car and would have to cut them and re flare the ends or whatever.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
is this too big?

p.s.
just discovered that there is no actual transmission cooler built into the radiator.
so i will have to go bigger than normal.

Umm, if you have an auto trans you better have a cooler in the radiator. You don't cut the lines for the transmission to install a cooler. Really, the instructions will have all of the info you should need.

[GreyGoose006]

well its an aftermarket radiator that the previous owner thought would be better i guess.
idk.

is that a good size?
thats all i want to know now.
if there is a formula to pick the size, that would be useful too.

[Morley]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

well its an aftermarket radiator that the previous owner thought would be better i guess.
idk.

is that a good size?
thats all i want to know now.
if there is a formula to pick the size, that would be useful too.

So, I have to ask....If there is no trans cooler area on your current radiator...where do the transmission lines go to? If it is driven without any cooler for the trans fluid the transmission will soon be toast.

The cooler you have there is more for racing (note the 1/2" inlet/outlet). Whatyou need for street application is more like this http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
or this http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

[Genopsyde]

when i selected my tranny cooler size I just measured the A/C condenser that I had removed and bought whatever tranny cooler was closest. and the sender for the water temp gauges in on the intake manifold close to the front where the water neck is.