I just bought a 2002 SS this weekend. One owner car with 70,000 miles. The car is nice but when driving in all gears if you barely give gas when you hit 2500 rpms the car shudders a little and the tach kinda goes up and down. If you give it gas and speed up more aggressively it goes away. Actually i mainly noticed it around 45 or 55 mph. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas?

Also were should a start with performance upgrades to some more power out of this baby. I figure I would start with a K&N CAI.

 

[align=center]Hi Brandon & welcome to the MCF[/align][align=center]I'm not sure whatyour problem could be, but[/align][align=center]be patience & I'm sure that one of our intelligent members[/align][align=center]will assist you with your prob's.[/align][align=center]Was the transmission ever serviced ?[/align][align=center]Look forward to your future posts.[/align][align=center]Good Luck with your new Monte.[/align][align=center]Post more pic's : )[/align][align=center]`Space[/align][align=center][:-]click onpic : )[/align]

 

Yes it has been serviced. It is a one owner car that was serviced regularly.

 

 

Have the CAT checked out.

 

ok
here is my list o parts fer ya
'
change the cat to a hig flow, (or at least ahv eit checked out)
U bend delet
CAI set up on these cars for some reason actuaklly make a pretty good diffrence.
change the plugs and wires out even thou GM says 100,k I have changed mine out at 30k Im still old school i guess.
But get the iridum plugs they are about `10.00 Ea. at teh auto zone here.
Also chang ethe T-Stat to a lower temp version to get some of the ehat out of the motor faster/.

And then sit back and enjoy it.
Headders for our cars are over rated untill ya get enough power to make them needed.
But the down pipe with the U bend Delet and also the 2.5inch pipe are worth the price i would say and it is a bolt in that you can do in the drive way on stands if ya dont mind getting dirty

 

Keep in mind I am new with the Monte. So when you say u bend delete you are talking about the exhaust in the back. Are you recommending just one exit pipe?

 

The u-bend is rightafter the cat and it is just what it sounds like a u shape in the pipe for an o2 sensor to go in (AKA a big restriction on your exhaust)

 

well first i would as are there any engine lights? if the engine light is flashing when the cars is stumbling like that its cause its misfiring...

what i think your problem is....its called torque converter shutter. but normally it happens around 2000 rpm a shift kit and a fluid change should deff fix it. and if you do a modified PCM or buy a tuner that will help aswell.

mods might make things worse actually... more power might aggitate the issue.

but deff the first set of mods you need are the following:
-180* thermostat $10
-U bend delete ( this is the U shaped bend in the exhaust just after the cat that protects the O2 sensor)
-synthetic oil
-trany fluid change to Dexron VI a new fluid from GM its amazing!
-AC delco Rapid fire #12 plugs if you look them up you wont see them listed for your engine... they are actually one heat range colder then what your motor requires. I feel these are needed if you are doing any real modding and driving the car hard. I dont like iridium plugs cause i saw more engine Knock with them. the electrode is too small and caused hot spots... i guess with a colder range iridium plug they might have been ok...

Real mods to consider:
-Cold air intake... a FWI or Airbox like the thrasher or slp box
-ported exhaust manifolds and down pipe or headers
-rockers or cam
-full exhaust system
-ported TB and HV intake manifold
-new PCM or computer tuner.

 

check the easiest thing first before you start doing mods to fix this thing...i admit it does sound like it could be a cat problem....BUT ...easy first check the tires..make sure they are balanced properly and they're not worn improperly...this could cause a vibration