[Thee TMC]

96 rms, she stumbles when she is idle and I hear a lil ticking sound. I just got her she has 53k miles and to me looks all stock. The local wrench head said it's because I run 87-89 octane and the LT1 needs 92 or better. Any suggestions?

 

[Nor-CalSS]

first off he is full of crap. unless you car was tuned to run 92 then its perfevtly fine to run 87-89 oc.

Check the stock headers. Sometimes the bolts break or back out which will create a ticking sound and poor idle and stumble.

P.S. Get another mechanic!

 

[Gregg-O]

Your local wrench head is a dickhead. I run my SS on 87 all the time with no issues. Check the back exhaust manifold bolt's, they have a habit of breaking off, thus , a 'ticking' exhaust leak. How steady is the sound.? Is it louder when cold?

 

[cletus284]

The ticking could also be a plug wire arcing to ground. Given the mileage, they are almost surely original. However, age takes a toll on plug wires just like mileage. To get it running right, you should start by replacing all the normal wear items, such as plug wires, spark plugs, filters, fluids, etc.

 

[94 Fleet SS]

Back from the dead. I am the owner of this car now. It has 70K miles on it and I just removed and replaced the original spark plugs, shocks and EGR valve. The plugs solved the rough idle and the ticking sound. No wires were replaced, yet. It runs good, strong and smooth on regular unleaded. It is headed to Cali to do a road trip to TX. After that its headed to my little bro in Florida.