Ok guys, so I have done as much as I possibly can with this car.... New brake rotors, new brakes, re-did the exhaust, cleaned out the throttle body/front of intake which was full of gunk/, new window motors- have yet to put em in but still.... So i just drove about 230 miles with my car to get home started with a full tank and ended with a 1/4th which lasted about 30 miles in town.... I am driving like a grandma to try and save money on gas cause iam a college kid, but my gas mileage still SUCKS!! To follow up, the rear end of my car keeps putting out a whirring whining sound every time i start to drive or slow down, 0-20 30-0 it makes this horrible whining sound!!! I cannot figure it out I fixed the rattle, the rear breaks were crap those have been fixed, but this whining sound.... ANY IDEAS?????
PLEASE!!! could it be?
Hung up break caliper?
Gear ratio oil/lube bad shape?
U-Joints?
anything with the drive shaft?
ahhh any help is very very appreciated !

 

For your gas mileage a new air filter, fuel filter, PCV valve, O2 sensor, spark plugs, and wireset might help out. With roughly a 16 gallon tank and getting 230 miles out of 12 gallons (3/4 tank) you're getting around 19 MPG which isn't bad for what I'm assuming you have a 3.8 in the city. Driving on the highway you should be getting mid 20's MPG. You said that you only went 30 miles in townwith 1/4 tank (4 gallons) which means about 7.5 city MPG which is not very good.

 

the 4th gen gas tank is really goofy though. mine runs out fast up top, but then the bottom half of the tank lasts for awhile

 

Yah that math is almost dead on worst part is, its almost all straight highway driving with no heat running.....I put a new fuel filter, air filter, and spark plugs in this summer, I didnt go with cheap plugs either 6 bucks a plug, Not sure how to do the PCV valve? secondly the o2 sensors are freakin outragously expensive 63 bucks a piece! and what wireset are you talking about exactly?
thanks 4 the input!

 

which O2 sensors are you looking at? there are narrow bands and widebands. narrow band O2's are for your cars emissions and arent nearly that expensive, the widebands are around 80 bucks, and require an aditional harness which is usually around another 80 or so, and these are for precise tuning, but will not work well as control systems for your engine (they have a lead that works as a narrowband, but narrowbands flip faster so they work better)

 

Well there are 4 o2 sensors for the 96 3.8l camaro 2 behind the block 1 infront of the cat and 1 behind the cat, i need to replace the one behind the left side of the block for sure, i had it tested and it bounces up and down alot and offsets all 4 of them but the car parts places around here want a minimum of 62$ for an o2sensor for a 96 camaro i dont know if its the narrow band or what.... I had my car checked out through the guy who did my exhaust - family friend, we took it for a drive then he put it up on the hoist at his shop lifted up the back end and we ran it on the hoist turns out to be a hanger bearing inside of the drive shaft so... we called around and everyones saying you cant replace the bearings youneed to buy a new drive shaft for about 800 bucks .... we lubed up this one and i Did replace the pcv valve this morning aswell it was really really easy the old one wasnt too warn either... I appreciate all the help thanks guys!!
also ebay has o2 sensors aftermarket for about 18 $ they look the same as what i have right now...
Thanks
Kyle

 

All O2 sensors look the same, they're all a universal size. I would suggest going with AC Delco because that's what the car origionally came with, shop around online, you can find them much cheaper than $62. If you're looking to replace a faulty don't worry about a wide-band, just focus on getting the car running.

 

thats a strange 02 configuration [&:]. but yes, 62 is way overpriced for what ur looking for

 

Just goto a shop that does not charge for telling you what needs doing -- see what they say.

Try adding a good Cold Air Intake to help out on the MPG, but seriously find out what's wrong first...

PCV valve is simple -- it just snaps in/out...

Unrelated to MPG, install a Prestone radiator flush kit if you haven't yet, and do a flush if you haven't recently -- cheap at Wal-Mart.

 

Spec, the OP's description of theO2 configuration, soundsstrange Iknow. Actually, there is a sensorin each exhaust manifold, and a before and after cat sensor (four for you math wizards).


You can get an aluminum one piece driveshaft for less than $200... Search around on ebay. It's quite a bit lighter than the 2 piece steel version.