i need some advice
 

im going to look at a 01' trans am with 54k miles i was wondering if there are any specific things or problems i should be looking for in the trans am some advice on what to check and look for would be appreciated thanks

look for dents in the upper rear quarter that shows signs of abuse

hahaha, like yours!!!

Look at the sail panels, look for cracks in the paint. Look for faded or mis-colered spots. Do a shock test on the car. Listen carefully when the car runs for any tapping. Look at the exhaust see if it smokes any color (after its warmed up) maybe even smell the exhaust see if it smells unusual. If its not cleaned look at the break dust on the wheels. Also check the rear inner fenders for burnt rubber shavings.

Thats all i can think of right now.

obviously check for any sort of leaks. rear tire wear. also check the wear pattern on the front tires. if one front tire is wearing out the outter or inner shoulder of the tire, chances are it needs an alignment. Hell, it could even mean they smacked a curb with it.

Drive it. make sure there arent any strange noises. make sure the trans shifts okay if its auto. make sure the clutch doesnt feel funny if its stick. also if its stick, be sure to see if the trans itself is shifting okay. If you have trouble going into any of the gears, it may have a messed up shifter or a bent shift fork.

drive in a straight line and let go of the wheel, make sure it doesnt pull to either side. If it seems to go to the right a little bit, it might just be the crown of the road making it do that. also, with your hands off the wheel, hit the brakes and make sure it doesnt pull to either side while braking. if it pulls to the left, a suspension component on the right side is messed up. same goes for if it pulls right. or it could be a braking problem.

like everyone else said, check the body for damage. different shades of paint usually means a repair of some sort.

piston slap was big in '01 also oil consumption

well how do you stop the piston slap if any way

to fix it?...new motor or at least new pistons or piston rings, GM says its normal but GM lies. My '01 SS had piston slap and oil consumption, 1qt per 1k miles. the dealer wouldnt do anythign for me, but i dont have to worry about it now, my motor blew up and i'm building a stroked 6.0L iron block.

if 01's have this problem why does everyone recomend getting the 01'-02' over the 98-00 and what exactly is piston slap, is the valve hitting the piston whats slapping exactly

www.pistonslap.com

01+ fbodies have an ls6 intake, 28lb injectors & no secondary VE table.

how many people actually have a problem in there trans ams with this

Lots - do a search on LS1Tech for people complaining about it....

- Justin

haha lmao.

piston slap is basically the piston fitting loosely in the cylinder and moving back and forth. GM claims its just a sound and doesnt affect the engine, but some people have claimed they had their cylinder walls checked and there were noticeable scratches and marks, that loose fit also appears to be the cause of the oil consumption. i had mine checked out by the dealer and they wouldnt do anything about it cause it was "normal". i tried for a while and then just gave up when i decided to do my new engine. Now that my ls1 blew up, im going in to get a new motor under my extended warranty plan and then pulling it right back out and selling it for $ towards my real motor. IIRC, about 33% of 2001's have the problem and like 25% of '02. vettes have it too, hell, A LOT of GM vehicles have this problem. My 99 denali with a Vortec 350 does it and thats going in to the dealer also soon and im gonna bitch about it. that sounds worse than my SS ever did.

I actually just visited pistonslap.com and went through their lawyers info and contacted a NJ representative about my truck. We'll see what happens.

humm.. that could explaine the sound coming from the motor that i was told was my cam and why i get my low oil light on about 1100-1500 miles after i change the oil