1997 30th camaro 6spd cai and cat back.

So i have had this random misfire for a little while. I did plugs and wires. I also did a new fuel filter and seafoam in the gas. It went away for about 300 miles. Then it would randomly misfire and drive just fine. So i figured might as well do the Opti because it was the only thing left. Tore it down and guess what i found behind it? There was 2 loose bolts holding the timing gear to the cam and one snapped off one. Any idea how this happened? I went and bought some grade 9 bolts and some thread lock. So it shouldn't happen again.

 

i would say someone did not use threadlock when they put it back together. im sure the bolt in there bouncing around didnt help anything and your lucky it didnt get into some jaming position. what kind of opti did u get?

 

my car only has 35k miles on it. a gm opti unit. And since they were all lose the timing was adjusting it self.

 

check and make sure it didnt damage the gear or the shaft as best u can. if there not tight yet see if the timing gear moves sideways on the cam. the bolts being lose wouldnt let the cam move enough to make much of a timing difference but could let it move enough to wear on the cam and gear so it would not center very well throwing the balance of the rotating assembly off. that would also effect the match up to the opti and wear the seal and bearing on it

 

everything looked pretty good besides the bolts. it has been back together for a month now and runs fine. but there is a oil leak now. so i am guessing that the seal around the opti needs replaced. have one just don't want to take it apart again.

 

check the intake seal/gasket at the front of the manifold. notorious for leaking. besides the opti like u said the only other thing is the water pump seal and they are a pain to do. was for me anyways. finally got a used installer kit. the lip of the shaft kept catching the seal lip on the inside and tearing it. unlike the main seal the water pump seal has two lips or seal surfaces.

 

the intake gasket was done at 28k. had a Chevy dealership do it.