I'm new and in need of some help

[97WS6-Bird]

I just bought a 97 WS6 with manual trans and it has a pulley along with several other mods. My problem is the power steering is difficult to deal with unless I rev it up. I was wondering if they make a performance power steering pump or something. I don't want to give up the pulley and sacrifice HP. Also the daytime running lamps work when they want to( its unpredictable) If anyone could help I would appreciate it. I tried to create a signature but somethings wrong w/ the site

[Joe 1320]

I just bought a 97 WS6 with manual trans and it has a pulley along with several other mods. My problem is the power steering is difficult to deal with unless I rev it up.

A pulley makes little difference, it sounds like it's a problem with the steering pump or rack assembly.

[Red97v6Bird]

Welcome
Good to see another Black LT1 M6 WS6
But I'm another newb so I'm afraid I can't offer much help on the technical problems. I'm assuming you did check the power steering fluid tho?
About the sig tho the user CP is messed up, use the quick links at the top to get to get to signature and make one.

As far as the other stuff someone else will chime in, there are a lot of helpful guys on this board

[1slo_camaro]

i know exactly what you are saying cause when i put my pulley on my V6 it lowered my RPM to about 700 if not lower and the PS was a little harder and all i noticed was bottom end power. not alot i would much rather have the PS then that one or two HP thats my 2 pennies. if its more then that. HAVE FUN playing with the PS is about as fun as the A/C and the Headers. thats the three hardest things i had problems with on my swap. well i mean R&R them.

[Injuneer]

I ran a 25% U/D pulley on my 94 and never noticed any difference with the power steering. What do you mean when you say "power steering is difficult"? Do you mean the force required to turn the steering wheel is significantly higher than it was before the U/D pulley? Shouldn't happen. Are you sure the serpentine belt is not slipping? Did you replace the belt with a shorter one when you added the U/D pulley?

If there was a "high performance steering pump", you would simply be adding a pump that eats up what little power you saved by going to thye U/D pulley. The tiny gains from the pulley are really not worth your perceived loss of steering assist, or the reduced charging at idle.

You do realize that the fact the LT1 water pump is not belt driven makes the under drive pullies sort of useless as far as increasing HP?

http://www.ws6.com/mod-2.htm

i know exactly what you are saying cause when i put my pulley on my V6 it lowered my RPM to about 700 if not lower and the PS was a little harder and all i noticed was bottom end power.

Adding an under drive pulley should not affect your idle speed, if that's what dropped to 700 rpm. If it did, there's something wrong with the idle air control circuit. The PCM will hold the idle speed the same, without regard to the crank pulley diameter.

[1slo_camaro]

Oh Ok Fred, i wasnt sure i just remember when i did change the U/D pulley, my idle lowered substantially. But that motor and trans is in my backyard covered up, worthless to me right now.

[97WS6-Bird]

When I bought the car the U/D pulley was already on there . If it's not giving me like 15 HP like I was told, then I'm getting rid of it. The steering fluid level is good. I bought the car from this cop who let the car sit for three years. It runs great, but I wonder if it would run better if I replaced the plugs,wires,rotor,and distributor cap? Do you think this is necessary? I've already been putting fuel injection cleaner in it and that has helped.

[1slo_camaro]

After anymore then just about 6 months of sitting, i would recommend a Tune-up it wouldn't hurt.

[Red97v6Bird]

+ 1 on the tune-up

Can't hurt number one, and in my opinion it's always a good idea when you buy a used car.

Just curious but how many miles are on her, depending on that you might not want to go to the trouble of replacing the distributor yet.

As far as what Joe said, does the car track straight, alignment seem good? That might be a hint at something else wrong. . .

Like i said I'm a newb tho, so take this for what it's worth

[ConElite]

LT1's Dont have distributers. The ignition system used is an Optispark. Kind of the came concept but its on the front of the engine under the and to theDriver side of the waterpump. Not like the run of the mill dist. like older cars.

Yeah I would recommend a tune-up. Make sure it has not beem crashed. All the usuals, and if we can get the mileage, That would help.

[Joe 1320]

I ran a 25% U/D pulley on my 94 and never noticed any difference with the power steering. What do you mean when you say "power steering is difficult"? Do you mean the force required to turn the steering wheel is significantly higher than it was before the U/D pulley? Shouldn't happen. Are you sure the serpentine belt is not slipping? Did you replace the belt with a shorter one when you added the U/D pulley?.

That's what I was alluding to, the fact that the pump shouldn't be affecting the steering effort unless the belt was slipping. You could have too much preload on the rack. The rack has an adjustment, however it should not require it unless someone has played with it.

courtesy of shoebox Rob's site:




The barrel shaped portion of the rack assembly where the hydraulic hoses attach has the threaded nut adjuster on the front. It would be wise to obtain a shop manual for referances.

[Red97v6Bird]

LT1's Dont have distributers. The ignition system used is an Optispark. Kind of the came concept but its on the front of the engine under the and to theDriver side of the waterpump. Not like the run of the mill dist. like older cars.

Thats what I was hinting at and why I said might not want to go to the trouble

[97WS6-Bird]

Yes the alignment is terrible. It has 98500 miles on it. I owned a 97 green Trans Am back in 99 and loved it but traded it in for some stupid reason and regretted it ever since. The guy I bought it from also took to Catalytic converter off so it smells bad also. He said since I have 3" exhaust all the way back that I need to rev it to 3000 rpm till fire comes out of the tail pipes to clear out something so the inside of the exhaust won't rust. This sounds ridiculous to me.

[Red97v6Bird]

Errghh not to alarm you or anything but that could be an indicator that the car has been wrecked. I'd take it to a trust worthy alignment shop and have them do a 4 wheel alignment. If there are any problems with it they should show up with that. It might just fix your steering problem as well.

If it has that many miles on it tho (depending if it's the original opti or not) it might not be a bad idea to replace the Opti. It's about $300 for a new one fyi.

As far as the reving it up to 3 grand thing I have no idea WTF that dude was talking about, maybe someone else does

[Injuneer]

LT1's Dont have distributers. The ignition system used is an Optispark. Kind of the came concept but its on the front of the engine under the and to theDriver side of the waterpump. Not like the run of the mill dist. like older cars.

Its a distributor, and if you look in the GM parts catalog, that's what they call it. Same function as a conventionally located distributor - directs the spark to the correct cylinder, with the added feature of the optical cam position sensor.

Replacing only the cap and rotor (high voltage portion) may not be the best solution. The body (back half) of the Optispark distributor houses the optical sensor, the bearing and the electrical harness connector seal, all of which can deteriorate with age, and can benefit from being replaced.