How far can you push a MAF engine?

G

george88gta

Active Member
Basically, I have had my fill of modding an OBDI setup. If the replacement wiring harness doesnt fix my 1988 GTA, I plan to rebuild the original high output 305. Car was a lot of fun to drive when it was stock and the engine spun a bearing so I went the 350 route. Many mods and tunes later, car still has issues. So if I go back to the stock 305, is there anything I can do to pick up a few ponies and avoid a custom tune for the ECM? Comp Cams has a replacement cam that does not require a tune. Can I install GM 305 vortec heads? Reason I ask is that I have a vortec TPI base intake. Will my SLP runners and 52mm throttle body keep me away from a tune? Or is the best plan, leave it alone? I have all of the original parts, so stock is not an issue. Bottom line is that I want to get this car running smoothly so I can get to my 1955 Belair ragtop with a 2002 LQ4 engine. I can only afford to work one at a time.
 
Paul, I was able to get back to this today and I tried your suggestions. I pulled the ECM chip adapter and reinstalled the factory prom. Removed the throttle body and gave it a good cleaning. I removed the TPS and IAC before cleaning. Reinstalled all parts, set the TPS to 0.54 volts and fired it up. Started right away. I let it warm up and went for a ride. Ran for about 10 minutes and I decided to push it a bit. Car backfired and then died. Electrical failure, dash went dead. Was able to get over to the side of the road and call a tow truck. Trouble shooting brought it down to a defcetive distributor module. This is the second module in less than a year. Module was greased with Thermalcote, no voids. I had a spare module and car fired right up. Plan is to replace the module tomorrow and try to tune this pig up. Sure starting to look like that 305 is going to get rebuilt and reinstalled.
 
self diagnosis of your engine with out experience and the proper tools is generally a P.I.T.A. but thats how you gain EXPERIENCE, and get forced into buying tools, its part of the LEARNING CURVE
 
I used the GM shop manual and the appropriate testers. Led me right to the defective module. Not sure why the module went defective. Ground was good and the dielectric grease was intact. It was an ACCEL module. Tomorrow I am getting the ACDelco module for replacement. Distributor is a billet aluminum distributor. You would think it would be good at removing the heat.
 
IM not sure why but IVE noticed theres a good percentage of ELECTRICAL components that are made with the minimum quality components, now many guys will point out that its the cost,of the components and that might be true, but if youve ever worked extensively with electronics youll quickly see that in many cases adding an extra 25%-40%, or even 100% larger amp or voltage capacity to a circuit when you specify things like resistors,larger heat sinks, transistors,thermistors, capacitors,diodes ETC, just doesn,t add a huge increase in price to the finished product,when your buying those components in bulk buy the gross or in thousands and while you might be forced to charge 5%-20% more the product will have FAR fewer failures, I know if I wanted to buy lets say an ignition and one cost lets say $140 for the BRAND (X) and a competitors BRAND (Y)cost $168 If that BRAND (Y) competitor stressed in his advertising, that hes used much heavier capacity components than the BRAND (X) , theres no question ID spend the extra cash without a second thought, but in most cases we are never told about the quality and its only over time that brand (X) gets a bad reputation for durability and the smarter experienced guys start avoiding brand (X) and specifying brand (Y)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top