ive been having a few problems and id like to know if theyre common in the LT1s... just recently, my water pump was slowly leaking. it leaked onto the distributor and rusted the rotor, causing about $300 in damage, give or take. is it preferable to buy a better water pump? are they known for going bad? i just bought a remanufactured one for financial reasons...any info is appreciated


my next question is about the gears in the rear end... ive been hearing a lot of noise back there.. ive heard stock gears cant really handle the engine's output, but id like to maybe hear it again on here from some actual reliable sources.... if so, what gears would be the right gears.. ive been debating between 4:10/4:11 or 3:73.... once again any suggestions are appreciated thanks

 

water pumps are bound to leak, its better to buy a new one or if the remanufactured one has a warranty, once a water pump leaks you cant repair it

 

1. Buy an aftermarket vented opti to go on your 94. You can swap to the 95 version, but it's pretty involved.

2. The rear gears are indeed marginal at best.

 

Is the car going to be used for street or strip or a combination? If it's street/strip setup I am a personal fan of the 3.73. How many miles do you have on the car? I bet you the axle bearings have gone bad. They are semi floating axles witch means the axles is used as the bearing's inner race. As the milage adds up so does the ware on the axles. You can pop off the rear diff cover and inspect the spider gears for ware on the contact surface. You can also check for floating shards of metal in the diff fluid and on the magnet. The ring and pinion should be checked also, if those are all okay, take out the cross shaft that is held in by a 5/16" bolt head. Push the axles in and then take out the c-clips and then pull the axles out. If the axles are worn, I'd recomend going with new axles, axle bearings, and seals. If you're pressed for cash you can try to find axle savers. They're a slip on inner ring that goes over the damaged section. Superior Axles cost about $250 shipped with the axles, bearings, seals, and studs.

 

yea i have no idea why they wouldnt have vented the opti in 94... just bad setup right there. next post: i got 77,000 miles and im currently using the car as an everyday driver, with some racing here and there, so i guess you can call that a combination... im guessing that would suggest 3:73s. the 3:42s that are in it now feel torquey, but they arent that impressive, and that noise is troubling. any suggestions are helpful thanks and i will check the axles and bearings as well, thanks Shnormo