I've got a 2001 3800 standard Camaro
I have quite a few problems with it
When I drive, it pops, I think that's misfiring, and I can barely accelerate, doesn't feel like a clutch problem, it feels like a lot of power is just not there.
Engine surges, very clear indications of a vacuum leak as well.
Have a hole in my Y pipe behind my headers, so the exhaust sounds awful as well.

So, I had a few questions
First off, to start I'm doing ignition coils, wires and plugs and I was wondering what you all would recommend for plugs, wires and coils.

after that I was thinking of replacing the exhaust system, just headers w/ an h pipe back to 2 borla xr-1 multicore mufflers, no cats

So if I do plugs wires and ignition coil, will i need to change out the plugs again when i buy the exhaust system, which will be roughly a month or so after the plugs and such

This is only the start of a long project, so any other information or tips on what these issues could be would be extremely helpful.

 

yeh sounds like my problem, its more than likely a misfire like mine was doing. for coils i heard its best to stick with oem or acdelco because other brands seem to have issues. plugs i would go ngk or something similar but if you dont want to go that expensive then anything is better than whats in there right now especially if they are old and wore out. wires, i went and bought a nice set of bosch premium wires and they work great.

 

have it scanned for trouble codes and let us know what comes up. could be a crossed wire, bad wire, bad plugs, plugged catalytic converter.

 

Nobody can figure out why my port for the scanner doesnt work, fuse is good.

 

hmmm... If the fuse is good I would use a screw driver to pop out the drivers side knee bolster and have a little looky looky at the electrical connection from the port. If you KNOW the fuse is good then it has something to do with the port. Not what creates power to run to the port

 

Alright
Got her running nicely, got the port working
I replaced all the plugs with AC delco iridium plugs. For some reason, I had 5 bosch platinum plugs and 1 ngk iridium, one of the bosch didnt even have a diode.

"You are required to get the back plugs from the bottom" haha didn't need to even get under her to do it





I replaced the wires w/ 7mm BWD select wires
and I replaced the ignition coils with BWD select coils

Those fixes took away almost every single issue that my car was having, even took away the engine surges, which I thought was a vacuum leak.

I got my SES light scanned and it came back with an 02 problem, i dont remember the exact code, as I accidentally threw away the receipt that had it on there.

It feels like my car is in lean loop, maybe my cat is plugged.
would an exhaust leak cause the 02 sensor to trip?

I was thinking about doing my entire exhaust system, would it be possible to get my 02 sensors tuned out because I will not be running a cat.

 

your o2 sensors are before the cat i believe, so even if your not running a cat, its not gonna affect anything

 

I have an o2 after the cat too, or so i thought.

do you think the muffler shop i'm gonna have build the custom h pipe will be able to put a spot for the o2 sensor in it? i was just thinking i could get it tuned out

 

you can have the after cat 02's tuned out without issues. they are to keep an eye on how the cats are working and if you dont have any then theres no reason to have them there. different if you have to pass emissions tests then you need cats and 02's

 

the shop i wanted to go through was going to charge me 80 dollars per hour to do my headers, and they wouldnt do it w/o me doing cats.

So I guess i'll do it in the shop on base here, they have everything I need, just 1 thing, I have no clue how to install a place for an 02 before my cat, well, i wont have a cat regardless, so is it essential that I put a before 02 sensor in?

Where would I get the after cat 02 tuned out?