Questions and Answers

1976 Camero Questions Q. Hi there Vincent. I have a couple of general questions about my 1976 Chevy Camaro V-8. First as you can see, it's an old car, but I love it. It has a clicking sound that is most likely a lifter, I am going to try the ATF fluid in my oil with my next oil change to see if that helps.

1. It also has a big oil leak around the filter that does not get fixed after a pro oil change, would the lifter issue cause this as well?

2. The car has horrible gas mileage, maybe 8-10 mpg on a good day, I would love to improve it. Would the lifter/oil issue affect that? What would you suggest for improving it? (it does diesel occasionally when it's very low on gas as well)

3. How can I find out the actual mileage of the car? is there an internal odometer or some other place I could look?

4. How does the lifter problem (whether it's gunk in the engine or a bad lifter) affect the car if it goes unfixed? (don't worry, I'm gonna fix it)

1976 Chevy Camaro
305 V-8
Automatic transmission
Mileage, not too sure, but the odometer says 172059 but the last digit is 10ths I believe (it goes faster), so I don't really know the true mileage.
Carburetor
P/S - yes
A/C - yes, not connected

Thank you so much for your help!
Victoria

A. As for the mileage, the odometer is all you have. If it rolled over 100,000 it is very possible you have 117,000 miles and not 17,000. The tick noise can be a lifter or loose rocker arm. It could also be a bad fuel pump if it's carbureted, which I'm sure it is. This can be isolated by listening with a piece of garden hose held on the fuel pump.

As for gas mileage, give it a tune-up and have the carburetor gone over. There are lot's of things to check but you have to stand back and say: "Is this car really worth the money that I'm going to pour into it?" The oil leak sounds like a valve cover gasket.

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