I'm all smiles right now!!!!!

[95TransAm]

Okay, as some of you might know because I was getting advice from you guys, I have been in the process of doing a lot of things at once to my car.

The only thing I didn't manage to get to were plugs and wires due to the fact that I have no place to work on my car at home, so I used my buddy's grandfather's garage. He needed his garage back tomorrow, so plugs and wires are being held off for when I get to work on my car at school this fall.

Here's what I managed to do...

Optispark Distributor
Water Pump
Added another underdrive pulley and replaced with new belt
Coolant Flush
Front Crank Seal
Distributor Seal
Water Pump Seal
Replaced various hoses that didn't meet my expectations
ICM and Coil
Took off and cleaned out my throttle body
Cleaned up my mass air flow
Cleaned up my CAI K&N filter

After it was all said and done, this was my first time ever starting my car after I had done something major. I've done it several times with my friend's cars, but never my own. Had the most excited/nervous feeling ever!

Turn the key, car cranked for about 3 seconds, starts right up. First thing I notice is my brake and abs inop lights are on and my traction control didn't work as well. First thing that came to my mind was something is screwed up with my abs...that's the only thing that would cause all 3 of those (my brakes pedal felt perfect). I look around, and notice I forgot to plug in a sensor that's on the driver's side of the abs (largest sensor). Turn off my car, plug it in, those lights go off. I let it idle for about 5 minutes, and I notice I have an SES light. So I turn it off, turn it on, and let it sit. I then noticed the SES light would come on when my fans kicked on. Being I reprogrammed my fans, I figured having my negative cable disconnected for 4 days now must have done something. I used my HPP3 to set everything back to stock. Afterwards, I reset everything, and no more SES light! The weird thing is though, my fans initially kicked on at about 195 F, and now they kick on at 180 like they should be. I don't understand the 195 (not stock nor what they're set to with my HPP3), but hey, it seemed to work itself out so I'm not complaining. Then, my hatch release button in my car didn't work, but suddenly started working about an hour later...no problems since.

All I have to say is wow in the end. I never realized how much simple things can make a difference. My car doesn't sputter or backfire at upper RPM's anymore, and pulls like a beast more so than it ever has since the day I have bought it. I simply cannot believe how hard my car pulls. I've been upset with my car for months because something always just felt off...not any more...I'm all smiles. Low end hesitation is also gone, and my idle is rock steady...something it never was before.

I'm still so gitty from this...it's the first time I ever really tore in to an LT1..I had a blast the whole time doing this (probably because I didn't do my plugs and wires ). The best feeling by far too, is that my car runs so smooth/perfect now, and it's all because of me. I did this whole job pretty much myself. My buddy who's a tech at a chevy dealership pretty much just supervised me the whole time while he drank coors light...and lended a hand here and there of course. I really didn't even need his advice/help that much either. The use of air tools also made it that much better

Sorry guys I'm blabering, but I'm a young guy aspiring to be a technician, and this is the first time I really had a chance to tear up my car....I've had a smile on my face for the past 4 hours now

I can't thank enough some of the people on this board helping me out along the way...you guys are the greatest!

And also, to anyone who has a decent amount of miles on their car that haven't done simple maintenance/tune up things yet...I strongly suggest it. I felt a night and day difference with my car with the simple things I recently just did!

[SteveH95Formula]

The rear hatch release is disabled after the car if off and the door is closed for about 30 seconds. If you want to open the hatch after that you have to open a door and the hatch release will work.

[95TransAm]

The rear hatch release is disabled after the car if off and the door is closed for about 30 seconds. If you want to open the hatch after that you have to open a door and the hatch release will work.

I had no idea...thanks

[Injuneer]

Its a great feeling when you turn that key and it STARTS!!!! There is nothing as satisfying as ripping into it, on your own, working hard and putting it all back together, and getting that burst of noise when you turn the key and it fires off on the first try.

It doesn't matter whether its the first time you worked on it, or if you've been working on cars for 40 years.... to me the excitement is still there.

Good Luck!!

[jerrysta]

I am hoping that in a month or two I'll be ready for that feeling. I'm having a stroker built but am going to put on the new Opti/wires/injectors/MAf/throttle body/etc on my own.

Honestly, I hope it starts at all!

[TraceZ]

Congratulations on a job well done! Hard work has great rewards. Your confidence will only continue to build as your projects intensify.

I felt exactly the same way after replacing my clutch myself.

[wolfdogs]

way to go broh!

[thenuge876]

way to go man, i dont know if this is the same for the fourth gens, but on mine when the battery is disconnected for too long, the computer like resets itself adn it takes some time to like "relearn some things" but i dont know if that really explains the sensors and things going off. But either way getting ti to start back up first try is awesome man! Good going!

[RocKin1967]

thats kool man ive been telling my friend to do the same thing to his 00 formula its has a stumble down low and we have done a tune-up on it and everything but it still does it sometimes, but mostly when its raining out.

[95TransAm]

Thanks guys

Its a great feeling when you turn that key and it STARTS!!!! There is nothing as satisfying as ripping into it, on your own, working hard and putting it all back together, and getting that burst of noise when you turn the key and it fires off on the first try.

This is so true....when it started on the first try I was pretty much ecstatic.

I've been working on my buddy's car ('84 bird, crate 350, 700r4, bolt ons, cam, intake, gears, etc...) for years now. Sometimes after a project the car would fire right up and need just some additional tweaking...and sometimes it hasn't. When it doesn't fire up, it's such a crappy feeling. You're always more than willing to figure it out...but you just want that baby to fire. Then, there's when it does fire up, and you look under the car and you're leaking coolant, oil, etc... Had that one happen one too many times. That's why I was so happy...fired right up, figured out how to get all my lights off within an hour, and had no leaks at all.

I am hoping that in a month or two I'll be ready for that feeling. I'm having a stroker built but am going to put on the new Opti/wires/injectors/MAf/throttle body/etc on my own.

Honestly, I hope it starts at all!

When it does start up, it's going to be the greatest feeling ever. Especially with that stroker you're building....that will be a sweet feeling indeed! My suggestion is to just take your time, think things over when you're a bit stumped on something, and just walk away for a second if you cannot manage to do something and are getting frustrated to clear you're head. I'm sure everything will go fine...good luck with it!

Like many of you guys have always said...it is a sweeter and more satisfying feeling successfully doing your own work to your car. I honestly cannot wait 'til I get the opportunity to pop in a cam, work my heads, replace intake, headers, etc... Hopefully the $$$ situation will be kind to me during and after school to make this possible.

[Steel2686]

Congrats on doing the job yourself. I know that feeling well. In fact, just yesterday, I replaced the battery in my Bravada. I went to Wal-Mart, bought a $35 NeverStart battery, installed it..... Fired right up! I was so proud!

What you did was nice, too.