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where is my power gains??????

N

novmadman

New member
i started moding my car this year and iam confused why it dosnt seem to be getting anymore power.so far i have done cia,pcm,p-log,downpipe,180 tstat,huge zzp wires,autolite 104s.all of the mods i have done are installed correct so thats not it,so am i not going to see anything till i drop pulley sizes or what? i need to know what do next!! although i think my coolant sensor is bad ,does that have anything to do with it ? i have spent about a grand so far, how much more is it going to take to get this thing movin!!
 


Most of what you have done are supporting mods for a pulley drop. They don't make noticeable power by themselves, but do when you drop the pulley. If you haven't read it yet, go the safely modding your 3800 thread and read up.
 
So basically all you've done is a tune and exhaust work...because wires/plugs/t-stat/intake really don't do anything on these cars.

Get the 3.4"...you'll see a huge difference then. Don't think it'll be a damn race car though. You won't get there till you put on an IC and drop to a tiny ass pulley or put a cam or rockers in it and re-tune it.
 
and make sure you have the rest of your tune up done, fuel filter, fresh engine and tranny oil, all the good stuff
 
that still should give a lil umph, maybe you need to seafoam the car and clean tb??? gf gtp (silvermist) has just fwi,ubend delete,180 t stat,and autolite 605s and she notiecd a lil more pep(got use to it now wants more but.....) but 3.4 pulley needs more exhaust work get headers when you drop pulley and a scanner for monitoring kr
 


If the coolant temperature sensor is faulty, that would give you some major problems.

But unless you drop a pulley size or get a custom tune, your not going to feel any more gains on the butt-dyno.
 


explain cammmmmmm.... how does camming get the power gain? I am interested in this information as well. I just had headers put in, and dropped to a 3.5 pulley. I have 104 plugs, CAI,... After all this, It actually feels like my car is slower than it was when i was stock. I have a tuner working on it now, he has tuned it, but my car still feels worse than stock. I am going to drop to a 3.4 and get a smaller 66" SC belt, hope this helps, any other ideas? sorry for the hijacking of this thread, but it is inline with the topic.
 
If you don't understand how a aftermarket cam makes more power...I suggest reading...its a great tool.

If not...it allows more airflow...since I don't want to get to technical with you...there are these things called valves and rockers that the cam moves...it allows more air...soo...umm, more power.
 
Well, more air does not always equal more power.. If that were the case, simply adding headers would make a huge power increase. a simple cam could actually decrease the power if not combined with a pulley drop or other adjusted mods. Again, this is from what I have "read". Reading and researching is not my issue, getting some inside information from people that have gone thru this is what i am after. But, thanks for not getting to tech on me..
 
scoobyydooooooo said:
Well, more air does not always equal more power.. If that were the case, simply adding headers would make a huge power increase.
Click to expand...

Tell me how headers are a air ADDING mod?

They are a flow mod...as in exhaust...they get RID of air.

As for your car feeling slower...maybe...but it isn't. The headers/pulley/tune you have has merely shifted your powerband to higher RPM's. You want necksnapping torque? Go back to manifolds.

As for a cam...I had 1.84 Roller Rockers with Ported Manifolds and a 3" DP/U-Bend Delete with a 3.5" pulley and a DHP PCM with other small supporting crap mods...I got rid of all of that for Pacesetter Headers, XP Cam, LS1 TB, 3.2" Pulley, custom tuning...etc. I went from chirping the tires at or around 20 mph to totally annihilating them at 35.
 


As for your car feeling slower...maybe...but it isn't. The headers/pulley/tune you have has merely shifted your powerband to higher RPM's. You want necksnapping torque? Go back to manifolds.
Click to expand...

Ok, now this makes perfect sence.... This is probably the case with my setup. so, is there anything I can do to get the "snap neck" feeling into this car? will the drop to the 3.4 pulley and the new belt make much of a difference? any other good ideas?
 
More Mods will get your TQ back. I know the neck snapping TQ was fun but it makes it a ***** to hook up with. Go to the track and see how much easier it is to hook up and run consistently with headers.
 
On the bright side, you've done your mods in the correct order to support your future mods. And for that, I'll give you a pat on the back.
 
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