V1 JS City Goblin - 2010 LS

[TheNuker]

Going to hit up a couple local independent places tomorrow and see if they can get it done, on the track I thought it was wind but now that I'm licensed the highway feels scary. Hoping they can get me solid.

Nuker

 

[ctuinstra]

You need toe in. The more toe in, the more solid at highway speeds at the cost of tire wear. I actually can get very close using the old string method. I've put a initial alignment on a couple of vehicles to get them down to the shop only to find out that they were so close it was just a matter of fine-tuning it. Camber and caster is a different story.

 

[Briann1177]

I was totally unable to collapse or expand my steering shaft. No amount of hammering would free it up. So very carefully I compressed it in a hydraulic press and checked fit. Did this several times, creeping up to the final length until the cross bolts would drop in and then stopped there. It appears the Chevy factory installed these shafts then punched a divot into them so they wouldn't move. View attachment 526

Now I looked at a few of the shafts at the DF shop, and they all had it, but none appeared as deeply dimpled as mine. I could have probably drilled it out or something but I was too worried about damaging the inner shaft and making it worse so left it alone. Works fine, can't see any reason it would need to move while rotating.

Just a matter of not shortening it too much as extending it back would probably be much more difficult than compressing.

Mine looks identical to that too. It will not budge at all. If you would have drilled it out, are there splines on the inside that will keep the shaft from rotating?

 

[JSATX]

Mine looks identical to that too. It will not budge at all. If you would have drilled it out, are there splines on the inside that will keep the shaft from rotating?

I do not know but I'd assume there has to be. Otherwise the people that have shafts that do collapse would also rotate.

And just from an engineering standpoint, there's no way you would rely on a punch point to keep the steering from rotating freely. Though this is GM we're talking about so never say never

 

[Briann1177]

I don't have a press and that's exactly what I'm worried about. I'd hate for the shaft to rotate.

 

[JSATX]

I don't have a press and that's exactly what I'm worried about. I'd hate for the shaft to rotate.

I'd bet money it won't. Worst case you get it to the correct length and weld it down. It's not like it's going to collapse as it is in a wreck anyway. There's no way mine would collapse in a wreck.

 

[SliderR1]

My steering shaft was frozen as well. I tried to expand it using a press and put so much force on it that one of the u-joints failed. A new one from RockAuto is $60 and it moves in/out very easily, just like on the build videos. It also has the little divot in it.

 

[DanPerryy]

Mine was dimpled, I had a set of vise grips with a body hammer (weight on a shaft) that was welded to the vise grips. With this I could move mine out.

 

[Briann1177]

I drilled the divot out and got it to move much easier. I thought the shaft would come out but it won't.

 

[Tony]

I drilled mine out and it still didn't move easily. I was able to use a 3lb hammer and compress it a little at a time until it fit.

 

[SliderR1]

Did you make it to COTA? We need an update!

 

[Silverback]

Ha! Mine dropped out in my hand (don't laugh)

 

[JSATX]

Did you make it to COTA? We need an update!

Unfortunately I did not. Was really looking forward to it but life has a way of getting in the way! Plus when I signed up I didnt realize you had to select either a morning or afternoon slot. By the time I knew this all the afternoons were gone and I had to work in the morning. Next time!

 

[JSATX]

Just a quick update. Unfortunately I have not been able to drive my Goblin much at all lately. Although the the last two times I have I had a very strange problem.

Both previous trips I had the “engine power reduced” warning come on in the dash. Both times it was under extremely hard driving. Full on fish tailing-high G-rev limiter kinda stuff.

As soon as the warning appeared I get no throttle at all. Some people say it reduces it to only 2k rpm, but mine will not respond to throttle at all. It will not move, and I have to shut it down in the middle of the road. Both times I turned it off, waited 10 minutes, and it continued functioning normally after that.

The research I’ve done so far indicates it’s a maf sensor issue, some forum users with aftermarket intakes indicate the same problem. The MAf isn’t calibrate s for the shorter, wide open intake of the Goblin and it confuses the computer.

For some bizzare reason the CEL code isn’t saved, so I guess the only way to know for sure would be to run a data log the whole time up until failure, and then go back in and see which parameter triggered the limp mode. Could be starved for fuel, could be a knock sensor, just not sure.

 

[TheNuker]

Can you try just unplugging the MAF sensor and running without it for a few days, I know my LSJ runs just fine without it.

Nuker-

 

[SliderR1]

what Nuker said. If the MAF is disconnected, it should default to speed density mode. The problem with that is that some GM MAFs have the IAT integrated into them. I can't remember if the Cobalt is like that or not off the top of my head...

 

[Briann1177]

Not sure if the SCs are different, but the TCs have a separate IAT.

 

[JSATX]

So I’m pretty sure my IAT is combined with the MAP sensor.

 

[Adam]

To me it sounds like something is losing connection temporarily, just long enough for the ECU to know there is a problem and drop down into power reduced mode. The connection that is broken could reconnect immediately but for some errors, the computer will remain in limp mode even after it is reconnected. It isn't until you restart the car that it rechecks it and finds that everything is okay.

I know we had trouble one time with a throttle wire connector that was tough to get all the way on. I'm pretty sure it had the same symptoms you are describing. I can't recall if it threw a code or not when it worked intermittently. On yours, I would check for broken wires or a lose connector at the throttle body.

 

[SliderR1]

I can't remember if you have an LSJ or not JSATX, but I have done a little researching on the LSJ and it appears the IAT1 is integrated with the MAF sensor and the IAT2 sensor is integrated with the MAP sensor on the LSJ engines...