[DIYguy]

Also Has anyone changed their oem spark plug wires ? Or spark plugs ? Is there any upgrades possible in that area ?

On LGX engines there are no spark wires.
The coils are mounted to the tops of the plugs directly, so that is a good thing (no plug wires).
As for spark plugs you pretty much have to remove the intake manifold (not that big of a deal to do) and some sound padding to access them.
That is unless you want to chop up the sound padding as some have done.
Personally I would advise against destroying the padding because then you will hear noises made by the high pressure injection pump and the valve train.
But to each their own...

The OEM plugs themselves are actually quite nice and should last a very long time.
No need to change them unless they are actually worn out.
But you might consider checking their gaps and indexing them.
I did mine a while back and it is not hard to do, but don't purchase plug shim washers for indexing if you do that.
Because of the way the seats are machined into the heads they will only jam in and cause problems.
Just swap the plugs around until you get the ground straps on all of them oriented toward the exhaust valves as best you can.
It is another small thing, but it seems to help (another old hot rodder's trick).
Some may say it is not worth the trouble but I do it on all of our vehicles.

However, as part of the process of removing the manifold you should also check for leaks around the large o-ring style manifold gaskets at the head ports.
Mine was leaking for sure.
A little cleaning and a thin smear of RTV and now it isn't.

[BOYD3800SII]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

Depending upon how thick the spacer is it may be necessary to slightly trim a rib on the top of a wiring guide just below the throttle body position.
At least it was necessary on mine.
Other than that though, as BOYD3800SII said installing a spacer is a dead simple ten to fifteen minute job.

Speaking only from my own experiments (yours may well vary) pretty much everything that has been suggested does help.

• Removing or wiring open the exhaust dampers is a plus. I originally wired mine fully open using heavy steel wire and stainless steel hose clamps because they rattled. If I ever have the exhaust system off the car I will permanently remove them as PolynesianPowerhouse suggested. A side benefit is a nicer exhaust sound.
• Removing the air baffles inside the manifold opening helped my car with off-idle flat spots. Use a sharp "end cutter" tool for this. The only downside I have noticed was a slight increase in intake noise. Not a big concern though.
• I mirror polished an OEM replacement throttle body I put on a while back. It made a definite improvement without any doubt. The Soler unit would be an improvement on that I'm quite sure, but it is a significant amount of money and might involve a lot of down time right now.
• Finally (and I can already imagine some of you rolling your eyes, but please indulge me) I designed and 3D printed a 12mm thick spiral throat spacer just for kicks, being a "frugal" skeptic of them in general. Amazingly it also improved the off-idle flat spot which is now more or less gone. I'm just using it for testing but so far it has held up perfectly and makes a noticeable difference. I wholly agree that for a direct injection engine it shouldn't matter, but in fact it does. At least this one does. I have had it on and off again several times and every time I can easily feel a difference.

None of this will turn your V6 into a ZL-1 and might not even show up except as blips on a real dyno.
But it all works together in little ways, and again speaking only for myself I can feel the differences.

Great detail in your post. Also glad u tried your own TB SPACER. Let people roll their eyes all day. Experience is the best teacher and proves results. Simply put.. to each his own. The Airaid TB spacer was totally worth the investment to me. Combined with the Soler TB and CAI you will see a difference. Now I was really was hoping that sombody would try the ground wire mods to the trunk and engine compartments but none have done so but oh well...

[DIYguy]

Originally Posted by BOYD3800SII

Now I was really was hoping that sombody would try the ground wire mods to the trunk and engine compartments but none have done so but oh well...

Well...
Actually I did that too, but only in the engine compartment.
I have run into problems with engine grounding on various vehicles over the years.
So I got into a habit long ago of adding an auxiliary 4-gauge jumper from the chassis to the motor block of newly purchased cars as a given (all three of our vehicles have them) and don't even think twice about it.
However because the Camaro has a trunk-mounted battery it is not a bad idea to add one there too.
Hmmm... another project.
But, I also have a supercapacitor bank mounted from the fuse block to the chassis under the hood on both our truck and the Camaro (there is no space for one on the Cruze so I fitted a diesel battery in it).
That takes the starter impulse away from the battery to a fair extent and makes them crank noticeably faster.
FWIW...

I have used Airaid spacers before, but on carbureted and TBI vehicles.
They did make a difference, but not a huge one.
However on the LGX because the intake is dry it was more of a question in my mind.
Until I tried my homemade one anyway.
Totally worth the time and effort to design and print it, and well worth its sub-$5 cost (to me).
Glad to hear the Airaid worked out for you.

[BOYD3800SII]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

Well...
Actually I did that too, but only in the engine compartment.
I have run into problems with engine grounding on various vehicles over the years.
So I got into a habit long ago of adding an auxiliary 4-gauge jumper from the chassis to the motor block of newly purchased cars as a given (all three of our vehicles have them) and don't even think twice about it.
However because the Camaro has a trunk-mounted battery it is not a bad idea to add one there too.
Hmmm... another project.
But, I also have a supercapacitor bank mounted from the fuse block to the chassis under the hood on both our truck and the Camaro (there is no space for one on the Cruze so I fitted a diesel battery in it).
That takes the starter impulse away from the battery to a fair extent and makes them crank noticeably faster.
FWIW...

I have used Airaid spacers before, but on carbureted and TBI vehicles.
They did make a difference, but not a huge one.
However on the LGX because the intake is dry it was more of a question in my mind.
Until I tried my homemade one anyway.
Totally worth the time and effort to design and print it, and well worth its sub-$5 cost (to me).
Glad to hear the Airaid worked out for you.

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...ghlight=Ground

See my original post:
I only added 2 extra ground wires to the battery in the trunk. Switch to starter cables were cheap.. I added 4 to the engine compartment. You can easily see where I connected them in the pics. I think the best places to ground are the alternator case, block, metal intake manifold, and any place you see a factory ground point. Now FWIW I have the similar setups on 2 other cars. I did my brothers crappy 2010 Dodge Avenger 2.4L and he was amazed at how his engine smoothed out and throttle response increased. I have an old pontiac G6 with 178,000 miles and the same factory alternator and zero electrical malfunctions. Its totally a great little mod.

[DIYguy]

Very nice. Thanks.
I will look into adding another ground to the battery and perhaps also a second one to the engine.

I too have seen smoother engine operation as a result of adding engine grounds, mostly at idle and on multiple vehicles.

It is indeed an interesting and inexpensive mod, and is cheap insurance for your electrical system.

Just an FYI-
Upon closer inspection I did notice a potential concern in the second photo from the top in your link.
If you look at the OEM ground cable it passes through a current sensor.
The sensor is actually a part of the charging system controls.
When bypassed by the added jumpers in the photos the sensor can no longer accurately measure charging or discharging currents.
When I added an extra battery-to-engine grounding jumper to our Cruze I was careful to route the added jumper through the current sensor for this reason (notice the green cable in the photos).
If I add another grounding cable to the battery in the Camaro I will run a similar cable through the sensor, FWIW.

The OEM ground side battery cable on the Cruze runs to the chassis and then a separate jumper grounds the engine to the chassis.
In principle at least, just like on the Camaro.
So I chose to also ground the engine directly to the battery and yes it idles smoother!

All that being said, your engine grounds look great to me.

[10efra]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

On LGX engines there are no spark wires.
The coils are mounted to the tops of the plugs directly, so that is a good thing (no plug wires).
As for spark plugs you pretty much have to remove the intake manifold (not that big of a deal to do) and some sound padding to access them.
That is unless you want to chop up the sound padding as some have done.
Personally I would advise against destroying the padding because then you will hear noises made by the high pressure injection pump and the valve train.
But to each their own...

The OEM plugs themselves are actually quite nice and should last a very long time.
No need to change them unless they are actually worn out.
But you might consider checking their gaps and indexing them.
I did mine a while back and it is not hard to do, but don't purchase plug shim washers for indexing if you do that.
Because of the way the seats are machined into the heads they will only jam in and cause problems.
Just swap the plugs around until you get the ground straps on all of them oriented toward the exhaust valves as best you can.
It is another small thing, but it seems to help (another old hot rodder's trick).
Some may say it is not worth the trouble but I do it on all of our vehicles.

However, as part of the process of removing the manifold you should also check for leaks around the large o-ring style manifold gaskets at the head ports.
Mine was leaking for sure.
A little cleaning and a thin smear of RTV and now it isn't.

thanks!! I learned something today! 👍🏻 I got to have the day off but didn’t want to deal with the throttle body spacer today so that’ll be my next day off. But I went and changed all the possible lights to LED headlights, high beam, front and rear signals. License plate, Back up couldn’t do since I didn’t have the resistors ( coming Monday) and I thought I was going to change my brakes to LED but found out we have like 3 small bulbs 🤔 I wonder if anyone has changed those for LED is they even make that size if anyone can tell me the size for looking something up on amazon that’ll great. Or share a link pls

[DIYguy]

I did the backup lights and side marker lights on my Camaro a while back and just love them.
The backup lights do indeed require resistors to turn completely off and not cause a battery drain.
However the side marker lights work perfectly without resistors.

I have not yet done the brake lights but plan to in the near future.
It should be an easy matter to search for the LED equivalent of the OEM bulb.
RockAuto.com is a great resource for this.
I buy parts through them all the time.
I think that this link is for your car based upon your "garage"-
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ght+bulb,13716
It indicates a 7440 bulb, which is the same as the backup light bulbs.
They do have an LED version of it.

Be aware though that you are very likely to need resistors for them no matter what the LED manufacturer may claim.

Love the LED headlights by the way!

[10efra]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

I did the backup lights and side marker lights on my Camaro a while back and just love them.
The backup lights do indeed require resistors to turn completely off and not cause a battery drain.
However the side marker lights work perfectly without resistors.

I have not yet done the brake lights but plan to in the near future.
It should be an easy matter to search for the LED equivalent of the OEM bulb.
RockAuto.com is a great resource for this.
I buy parts through them all the time.
I think that this link is for your car based upon your "garage"-
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ght+bulb,13716
It indicates a 7440 bulb, which is the same as the backup light bulbs.
They do have an LED version of it.

Be aware though that you are very likely to need resistors for them no matter what the LED manufacturer may claim.

Love the LED headlights by the way!

Thanks! 👍🏻 yeah I also did the side markers a while back too! Cool appearance upgrade right there.

[DIYguy]

Originally Posted by 10efra

I also did the side markers a while back too! Cool appearance upgrade right there.

It really is. Even in the daytime you can see them now.
And at night they really stand out.
Plus they run barely warm and require far less power.
I could not be happier with them.

There are so many small and inexpensive mods that can be done.
Perhaps they don't individually make that much of a difference, but when added together they make these cars come alive.

BTW, whose LED headlights or LED "bulbs" did you install, and did you have any problems with them?
Thanks in advance.

[10efra]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

It really is. Even in the daytime you can see them now.
And at night they really stand out.
Plus they run barely warm and require far less power.
I could not be happier with them.

There are so many small and inexpensive mods that can be done.
Perhaps they don't individually make that much of a difference, but when added together they make these cars come alive.

BTW, whose LED headlights or LED "bulbs" did you install, and did you have any problems with them?
Thanks in advance.

Yeah got my sidemarkers from ebay no problems yet.. the headlights have been on for months with no problems. Turn signals and high beam just installed but so far no hyperflashing. 👍 will post if anything comes up

[10efra]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

I did the backup lights and side marker lights on my Camaro a while back and just love them.
The backup lights do indeed require resistors to turn completely off and not cause a battery drain.
However the side marker lights work perfectly without resistors.

I have not yet done the brake lights but plan to in the near future.
It should be an easy matter to search for the LED equivalent of the OEM bulb.
RockAuto.com is a great resource for this.
I buy parts through them all the time.
I think that this link is for your car based upon your "garage"-
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ght+bulb,13716
It indicates a 7440 bulb, which is the same as the backup light bulbs.
They do have an LED version of it.

Be aware though that you are very likely to need resistors for them no matter what the LED manufacturer may claim.

Love the LED headlights by the way!

Also I think the 7440 is wrong since I just looked at the number I used for the turn signals and is the same so it wouldn’t fit. Will try autoZone or autoparts to get a correct size

[DIYguy]

Thanks for the headlights, I will look into them.

Originally Posted by 10efra

Also I think the 7440 is wrong since I just looked at the number I used for the turn signals and is the same so it wouldn’t fit. Will try autoZone or autoparts to get a correct size

It is almost certainly a 7440 and is the same as the reverse lights.
However aftermarket LED replacements do vary quite a bit in size, so that may be the problem.
The ones you have shown look rather tall but are "7440".
Shorter versions are available.
For example-
https://www.autozone.com/electrical-...eVehicle=false
https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/l...ake+light+bulb
https://www.napaonline.com/en/search...Qualified=true

The front and rear turn signals, stop lights and backup lights all use the same bulbs, differing only in color.
From my owner's manual-

[10efra]

Originally Posted by DIYguy

Thanks for the headlights, I will look into them.


It is almost certainly a 7440 and is the same as the reverse lights.
However aftermarket LED replacements do vary quite a bit in size, so that may be the problem.
The ones you have shown look rather tall but are "7440".
Shorter versions are available.
For example-
https://www.autozone.com/electrical-...eVehicle=false
https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/l...ake+light+bulb
https://www.napaonline.com/en/search...Qualified=true

The front and rear turn signals, stop lights and backup lights all use the same bulbs, differing only in color.
From my owner's manual-

.


Thanks, tho I had better luck searching for w5w. Installed red green and blue led lol also got the reserve lights on too.

Hey, did you have the A8 shudder issue ? My transmission is shuddering now. Gotta visit the dealer which sucks. ...