Rough idle on 20,000 mile TTA

[s0n0mas]

I bought this car in Oct. and it has been in the shop ever since. It has 20,500 miles on it and only 5,000 put on in the last 8 years. I has a full tune up done on it as well as new injectors and chip. The guy working on it says it still has a rough idle. He has done alot of work on GN's but not much on TTA's. He checked the valves, springs, comp. ratio and can't figure out what is causing the rough idle. He said it sounds like a car does when it has a beefer cam put in. I don't want to pay the extra money for him to keep hunting this ghost (tearing the motor apart to check the cam). I am woundering if anyone knows anything about this (is it a common problem or is it ment to have the throaty rumble and rough idle). Also could it be that the car has not been driven enough and maby just needs to be run. And is the timing gear on the TTA metal or plastic. The guy said he thought GN's used a junk plastic timing gear that wore out causing the car to slightly slip out of timing, also he noticed my timing chain was a little loose. Any insight would be welcome. [/b]

 

[UD LOSE]

I have a rough idle also. Although, I would call it more of a miss. My mechanic can't figure it out. He is the shop forman at Ford. He talked to his buddy at the Pontiac dealership and said that some of the TTAs came from the factory with flat cams. This could be our problem.
Also, these cars do require a special type of tune up. See the Buick Regal website on info on how to do this tune up procedure. TTA #11

 

[s0n0mas]

Ya my mechanic works on GN's and said maby I got a bad cam from the factory. The other idea was that the owner before me put a hopped up cam in the car. And the old owner also took out the cat. So I don't think this car will even pass New Jersey inspection. I just wanted to put this question to everyone before I shell out 1,000.00 to put a new cam in the car. Thanks for your input.

 

[UD LOSE]

My miss is only noticable at low RPM and speed. Performance is not noticable being hurt on my car. Its faster than sh__. However, if your like me and are willing to wait and replace the cam when a rebuild is needed and just want to pass a smog inspection then I suggest getting a new cat. That should let you pass smog. If that doesn't work then there is one other thing that you can do but I can't really tell you. Someone else will know though, especially if they live in California where passing smog can be tough. Good luck. TTA#11

 

[s0n0mas]

Ya mine is acting the same. It has the rough idle at low rpm and feels like it has a miss at WOT but in between........Hold on to your head. And I just found out that New Jersey has an exemption for cars driven less than 5000 miles a year. That was a relief. And having had to go to a special mechanic in California to get a truck to pass inspection I know exactly what you mean. Those 90.00 inspections are expensive. HAHAHAHAHA!