At what miles do you guys start gettin problems?

**GottaHaveLS1** · 01-30-2007, 09:25 PM

Just curious at what mileage you guys start to get problems with ur f bodies. Mines at 67k and no problems except for bad 02's, cracked panels, scratched windows, but no biggie. I might need a new clutch b4 80k, but thats prally my fault.

**bwinch** · 01-30-2007, 11:16 PM

I had a 2000 and when i sold it it had 80k on it and never had any big problems or anything. Just minor stuff and regular maitenance of course. I know the guy who bought the car and its up to 95k and he has had no problems yet either.

**silverbird22** · 01-31-2007, 08:07 AM

99 WS6 T/A with 105,000. Still going strong (Knock Wood) with no major issues. Regular maintinence. Piston slap (@ cold start & lasts a few minutes) started around 64,000.
Auto trans and rear end holding together. Rear end @ de-cel a bit noisy since 34,000. No oil consumption. Many trips down the 1/4 mile. 13.09 @ 107 mph. Wind noise @ highway speeds from side windows has recently increased. Could be hardened rubber weather striping???. Still handles tight as a drum.
All-in-all it's been a great car.
Silverbird

**98Camarod** · 01-31-2007, 10:20 AM

Just do regular maintenance and make sure you dont have the original plugs and wires on there.

I bought my car and immediately started modding and I found two original plugs and one original wire. Thats not good, there was 79,000 on the clock. There are some lazy people. My tinted windows have been scratched, piston slap upon start up, and a noisy 10 bolt with 4.11s.

**Huskerz1** · 01-31-2007, 10:50 AM

Replaced a water pump at 54k and a cracked radiator at 71k. Air conditioner compressor just went out at 76k. Case seal leaked all the compressor oil onto my garage floor. Man was I worried when I backed out and saw all that. Being a vert owner, I'm not too worried about getting it fixed right away.

**GatorSS** · 02-01-2007, 08:58 PM

I bought mine brand new and now have 107k on it (mostly on the interstate highways). I replaced the driver's window motor @ about 70k and a weak ignition coil (just bought 8 MSDs) @ almost 107k. Replaced plugs and wires @ 85k, ...and a few mods along the way. All else has been regular maintenance. Runs great with no piston slap.

**Dreamor** · 02-01-2007, 09:20 PM

I also bought mine new with 86 miles and now have over 103k. I've replaced 2 window motors (damn parking garages) and 1 battery besides regular maint and tires.

**GatorSS** · 02-01-2007, 09:45 PM

Forgot to add that when I bought mine it had seven miles on it. Yes, only seven.

**GottaHaveLS1** · 02-02-2007, 11:08 AM

what exactly is piston slap? doesn't sound like a good thing at all!

**0rion** · 02-03-2007, 09:11 PM

Piston slap is normal and doesn't hurt anything. You can do a search and find as much info as you want about it. Sarge has a few posts on the topic.
The LS1 is a damn reliable motor. Every car is going to have it's little issues but I'd argue that the f-body is one of the best as far as not having a boat load of problems with it. There are tons of 100k+ mileage cars around that have been rode hard and have little to no issues. The rears are probably the weakest link to the car. Other than that you'll see some water pumps and fuel pumps but IMO those are parts you'll be replacing on just about any car at some point.

**jamiemc** · 02-07-2007, 03:32 PM

Bought my 99 Z 4 years ago. I've been through 2 auto trans rebuilds. The recent one was from Mad Dog Lou, I bought the punnisher. I'm very impressed with it.

I've replaced the drivers side window motor and I now need to do it again. I'm very pissed at GM over these dam window motors. My 84Z and my 94Z had the same problem. Screw those penny pinchers. Who wants to make a bet that the 2009 Camaro has the same defective window motors?

I finally replaced all of the factory plugs and wires at 145,000 miles! When I replaced the plugs and wires the car was still running great. Everyone says the factory plugs suck - they probably do, but they kept my car running fine the whole time. Passenger side plug replacement sucks. Take your time and find a friend with small hands - you can get them all from the top if you remove the coil packs. Reading the factory plugs indicated a very healthy engine.

The engine still has 40-50 lbs of oil pressure on start-up. Once it is fully warm, it sits steady at 40lbs of oil pressure. By 2000 rpm its at a steady 60lbs of oil pressure. Full throttle exceeds 60 lbs. I have seen no signs of engine wear.

Every 2500 miles I have to top off the oil with about 1/2 quart of synthetic, but I've never had any noticeable smoke from the exhaust and it seems to burn perfectly clean.

I've noticed a small amount of piston slap. just the first minute or 2 of intial start up and the severity has never increased. I recently replaced the alternator. Voltage regulator went bad at 140,000. Power steering is starting to leak a little bit - couple drops over night.

I use only Mobil 1 Synthetic. I like to use 2 quarts of 0W40 and about 3 1/2 quarts of 5w30. I change it every 5,000. I also use a Fram 3675 filter - it is slightly larger than the factory size and sits level with the oil pan when installed. It allows me to get a little more filtration and oil volume.

I've never changed or worked on anything else. It has been perfect except for transmissions. I added a deep sump tranny pan and a B&M Supercooler - which was very easy too install at 142,000. I strongly suggest the cooler and deep pan for all automatic applications from day 1!

**LS1Chris** · 02-11-2007, 06:35 AM

'99 Z28 with 131k currently...

stock battery leaked at 75k, replaced with a Optima redtop.

replaced the waterpump at 97 or 99k due to coolant dripping out of the peep hole (shaft seal failing)

110k replaced both rear axles and axle end bearings due to the old one getting loud and chewing into the stock axles.

123k replaced front knock sensor

that's it...a good car I say.

**hutch1999** · 02-12-2007, 08:47 AM

Owning a used car involves a little bit of maintence. Just be sure to change all of your fluids and you should be fine. Of couse the normal wear parts will have to be replaced. Our window motors and headlight motors suck but that comes with owning an older firebird.

**Brad5150** · 04-09-2007, 08:13 PM

i havent had such good luck with mine...im the 2nd owner bought it at 101k miles in october its at 105 now. the guy before mustve dogged it cuz looking through the reciepts i got when i bought the car from him it says he replaced clutch assembly at only 38k miles lol..ive had to get a new water pump, fix rear main seal, new clutch assembly, new clutch master cylinder. i replaced the plugs and plug wires 1k ago and it runs better than before, but even still it ran great before. i had it dynod in january before the new plugs and with a crappy cardboard air filter and it had 300rwhp/321tq. so its still running strong and probably 5-10 more with the maintenence ive done to free up some more. hopefully if i get a scholarship to college parents will gimme money and im gonna drop an ls2 in it or just rebuild my engine. im keepin this baby forever!

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 04-09-2007, 08:41 PM

Drivers window motor at about 30k.
Cracked drivers top of the door trim at about 38k.
Everything else was normal maintenance or mods.

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 04-09-2007, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Hot Black Trans-Am

Drivers window motor at about 30k.
Cracked drivers top of the door trim at about 38k.
Everything else was normal maintenance or mods.

My rear pinion seal leaks a little too.

**sic2001** · 04-10-2007, 04:59 PM

So far , the body control module...twice, due to water getting in it. Still havent firgured out how but its been good since. Im the second owner, bought at 32,000, has 77,00 now and runs strong. Ive modded the entire suspension and did the "must do" mods and thats it..Oh yeah, and the window nmotors for both sides. I adjusted the window so tight to seal off wind noise it waers on the motors pretty good but its worth the 25.00 for a new motor for the quiet ride at 80 mph.
My twin brother has a 99 trans am and hes done the water pump and rear axel bearings. Has 34,000 on his.
These are great cars! I just got my 4th speeding ticket in 6 months so Im probably gonna lose my license and have to garage it. Its off topic but Im sooo bummed but its all my fault.

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 04-10-2007, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by sic2001

...Ive modded the entire suspension and did the "must do" mods and thats it.....

All mods are must do!

**sic2001** · 04-10-2007, 05:10 PM

LOL, yeah, meant, lid, cold air package,exhaust,tune, dynomat front to rear,audio,ect ect

**REDHEATWS6** · 04-28-2007, 08:45 PM

One of my headlight motor needed replacement a couple of years ago and just this week the air conditioner compressor needs to be replaced. Car only has 37,000 miles.