I've been researching and troubleshooting this problem for weeks now but I'm starting a job 1.5 hours from home tomorrow and don't trust the GP right now. So to the rental agency I go!
But on a serious note, I honestly can not find a solution to the problem (which yes there could be more than one). But any and all input would be quite beneficial and appreciated. Here is the problem:
Car: 1999 GP GT, 3800 VIN K with 102K
Stalling. Over the summer, I was driving the car maybe once a week ... in stop & go Boston city driving. The car would stall 2-3 times on a 5-10 mile trip when coasting or at a stop. I figured b/c not driving it often, the computer wasn't adjusting properly. I've been driving it daily the past 2 weeks and seemed to have fixed itself. Initially it was at city speeds, but also died on me on a highway trip going 60 mph. Vacuum fitting are somewhat corroded, but I have siliconed everything I could find until I can afford a new set ($200 from the dealer!)
Ticking. In the past month, ticking has been coming from the lifters. At first it seemed to be coming from the front, then more recently from the back. It would go away though after pressure built up. Low oil? Low oil pressure? Either or... I did a change last week and the problem has seemed to vanish.
Overheating / Leaking. I put in a new thermostat and radiator cap in after the cap blew about 18K mile ago. Good to go. After the oil change last week, the car seemed fine. After a 400 mile trip over 3 days though... I have some serious overheating/rough idle issues.
- Cap was bad again. Replaced and now have vacuum pressure (I could squeeze the upper radiator hose completely before).
- However, now the car warms up and warms up fast. I can sit on the gas at about 2K rpm in the driveway and the car will be up to 210F in under a min from a dead cold start. And after 5 min of 40 mph driving, its over 235F but not "overheating".
- Low coolant. Light has been on for over a year so I lost faith in that aspect awhile ago. I've put a gallon of Dexcool in the past week both from the reservoir and straight into the radiator from the cap though. Still very low (reservoir empty this morning) and NO signs of leaks under the car.
- No white smoke from the tail pipes, but a lot of condensation on hands.
- The car is sluggish.. had complete loss of power at 25 mph yesterday from cold start. Pulled over, turned off and on.. and I got home ok. Still idling/running somewhat rough.
- Wouldn't start... once. When car "overheated" to about 240-245F, I pulled over and shut her off for about 5 minutes. I know the computer shuts off coils/cylinders? in this instance to prevent further damage.. but it wouldn't start at all. It would struggle for gas it seemed and would cut right out. After a minute and giving it some gas (2-3K rpm) it finally started but was really struggling to stay running. I limped home.
- No signs of coolant in oil. No milky-ness. Fresh oil change, bad or good to decipher?
These (-'s) are my symptoms. Out of everything I have found... I think its the LIM gaskets. Could be easy fix, but want to be reassured before I waste time and money. But from reading the forums, it could be a Head gasket, a sensor of any sort (MAF, radiator temp, ...??), or even the computer could be bad or needs to be reflashed.
Any and all help would be appreciated. Although I don't post or respond that much, I read them all the time.