New Owner, Some issues to sort out.

Pauliejr

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Hey All,

This is my first post as I picked up a 2014 GT500 TP/PP with 9,500 miles about 3 weeks ago.

I’m coming from a 2016 GT/PP

The car had sat for a little while and old driven about 200 miles the past year or so since the owner sold it to a dealer.

I do have a few questions regarding the vehicle.

#1 After driving the car for the first 3 or 4 days I would get a random CEL with a misfire code. (Probably the most the cR has been driven in a while) I did run the gas low and put in premium/ plus some zmax engine and fuel cleaner. I HAVE NOT THOWN A MISSFIRE CEL SINCE

#2 Recently occurring after about 10 days. The little wrench appears (in place of the steering wheel on the dash) I did have this randomly pop up once or twice on me, however after I turned the car off and then back on again it would disappear and pop up down randomly here and there.

It came on about 5 days ago and has not gone away. I pulled my battery overnight, started up the car this morning and came right on about 3 seconds after startup. There are no CEL codes present with my scanner. Not really sure what this could be. Any ideas?


#3 The vehicle has the Adjustable Bilsteins. The car appears to only be able to drive in Sport? I set it to Normal at a stop light, and when I take off it flashed and goes back to Sport. And will continuously do this. Not familiar with this system so any ideas can help.


Other than these issues the car runs and drives great (slightly rough idle at times, with AC as well)

I also just put in a brand new McLeod RXT1200 which I have a few questions about, however I will post another topic on this.


Thanks everyone
 

COOL COBRA

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Maybe the car was modded & returned to stock? Does the supercharger pulley look stock? Any signs of being replaced?
I'd not get in boost until the tune was checked. Running it lean could be an expensive mistake.
Any chance of making contact with the previous owner?
 

Pauliejr

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I can take a picture of the SC pulley. It looks factory to me. I bought it from a dealer, I contact of the previous owner. It appears to be stock to me.

I’m guessing this is al in reference to the wrench issue?
 

Pauliejr

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Maybe the car was modded & returned to stock? Does the supercharger pulley look stock? Any signs of being replaced?
I'd not get in boost until the tune was checked. Running it lean could be an expensive mistake.
Any chance of making contact with the previous owner?

I’m breaking in the new clutch so I am not driving the car hard at the moment.
 

COOL COBRA

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I can take a picture of the SC pulley. It looks factory to me. I bought it from a dealer, I contact of the previous owner. It appears to be stock to me.

I’m guessing this is al in reference to the wrench issue?
Yes. I'd be wondering if the car was modded some & returned to stock. If it had a custom tune and the stock tune not reloaded.
These engines are stout but very expensive. Running lean is the main killer.
The intermittent rough idle and wrench light would cause me some concern.
Another thing, the stock clutch needing replaced @ only 9500 miles. Either someone can't drive stick or they've been playing rough.
I'd damn sure be wanting to check the tune.
You're saying you cannot contact the previous owner?
 

Pauliejr

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Yes. I'd be wondering if the car was modded some & returned to stock. If it had a custom tune and the stock tune not reloaded.
These engines are stout but very expensive. Running lean is the main killer.
The intermittent rough idle and wrench light would cause me some concern.
Another thing, the stock clutch needing replaced @ only 9500 miles. Either someone can't drive stick or they've been playing rough.
I'd damn sure be wanting to check the tune.
You're saying you cannot contact the previous owner?

I’d have to look into contacting the previous owner is at all possible (out of state car)

The stock clutch was slipping at WOT in a high gear. I would say that the previous owner did not treat the clutch well, also the guys at the deal could NOT drive stick and I’m sure they damaged the clutch as well.

As far as my “rough idle” I’m not going to say it’s a choppy rough idle, if I am sitting idle for a bit, it does blip here or there, especially with the AC on but the motor seems smooth otherwise.

Wouldn’t I be throwing a CEL if there was something major going on? What exactly is this “wrench” and it’s purpose
 

COOL COBRA

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I'm no expert on tuning these cars or what the individual warnings (wrench) means so I won't try to act like I do, lol. But I know a guy that is!
Bj @ Venomous Tuning. Formerly with VMP. He's tuned hundreds of GT500's. Including mine.
He's generous with his time and is an expert on these cars. 352-800-4407
I'd suggest giving him a call & explain what you've got. Would just hate to see your engine possibly get damaged because that can lead to big bucks.
 

Catmonkey

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The "wrench" is more likely related to a throttle body issue, but it means your car is in limp-mode. It could very well be tune related if the car wasn't flashed back to stock. If you're getting random misfires, it could also be tune related. If the misfire code was specific to a cylinder, I'd be more worried about it. If you have an X4, you might want to load SCT's canned tune for your car. That should remediate any tune issues in the short term. However, I'd want to be sure that someone hasn't left a smaller upper pulley on the car. I don't know enough about the canned tune to tell you it would be safe with a smaller upper or not. If you don't have a flash tool, you'll need one sooner or later, so check the market place for any used ones out there. Changing the spark plus might not be a bad idea either. This can be somewhat telling too.

I'd take a few pics of your engine bay and post them here. There are lots of knownledgeable guys on here that can spot non-stock components, maybe even a non-stock pulley. I'll throw out another endorsement for BJ, if you need a tuner.
 
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Norton

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Agree with all that @COOL COBRA and @Catmonkey said.

CEL with misfire code MAY have been due to the old gas you've replaced, but could also be tune-related, as could the "wrench" light. The potential for a bad tune would concern me.

Stock clutches in these were somewhat hit/miss. Some report no problems, even with high miles and "spirited" driving. Others have had to replace with well-under 10K miles. Without knowing the car's history, this may or may not be a concern.

IIRC, the "wrench" light could also be related to the adjustable suspension problem you describe. Recommend checking physical condition of the Bilsteins themselves, along with their electrical connections.

Pics might help to confirm whether aftermarket parts (e.g., intake, throttle body, pulleys, etc) are in play, but I definitely recommend consulting with an expert before any "spirited" driving.
 

Pauliejr

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Going to post some pictures today after work. I do have an sct handheld tuner, however I did not return the vehicle to stock when I sold my 2016 for getting to do so. So I will need to get it flashed to be able to run tunes on this car. I have used it to check codes so far that’s about it.

I think the “misfire” was gas/ dirty fuel system related as it has not returned in 2 weeks.

The “wrench” issue sound like it may be suspension possibly? Or maybe engine related. Let’s wait for my pictures to diagnose this better
 

Pauliejr

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5-B6-F7171-0441-466-A-BC82-6478-A065476-B.jpg


There is the picture of the SC pulley
 

Norton

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Engine bay looks very clean, which indicates the car was relatively well cared for. The first thing I recognize as non-stock is the battery.

That said, the cap that covers the S/C shaft threads is conspicuously absent and there appears to be some scratching on the pulley's front surface. Also, the pulley looks shinier than (both) my original (and upgraded) one. (See red circled area in atchd photo.) The cap's absence, scratching (assuming that's what it is), and shiny appearance make me think the pulley was swapped. It's not clear in the photo, but are the S/C shaft threads accessible, or is something blocking them?
 

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Pauliejr

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Engine bay looks very clean, which indicates the car was relatively well cared for. The first thing I recognize as non-stock is the battery.

That said, the cap that covers the S/C shaft threads is conspicuously absent and there appears to be some scratching on the pulley's front surface. Also, the pulley looks shinier than (both) my original (and upgraded) one. (See red circled area in atchd photo.) The cap's absence, scratching (assuming that's what it is), and shiny appearance make me think the pulley was swapped. It's not clear in the photo, but are the S/C shaft threads accessible, or is something blocking them?


Please elaborate on if the threads are accessible. Also I am not sure if it’s “scratched” there seems to be some sort of white residue around the inner ring and on the face slightly. Not sure if that’s a clue at anything.
 

Norton

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Please elaborate on if the threads are accessible. Also I am not sure if it’s “scratched” there seems to be some sort of white residue around the inner ring and on the face slightly. Not sure if that’s a clue at anything.
Does it look like you could insert a (properly sized/threaded) screw into the shaft, or is there something blocking the threads?

The area within the upper circle I added here LOOKS like it's scratched, but could be white residue?
The area within the lower circle I added here LOOKS like something is broken off in the threads?
 

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