serious III N/A chugging not starting everytime

**RedneckGTP** · 09-16-2014

I picked up a car that seemed to be running good. its an 05 GT fully loaded (monsoon/leather heated/factory nav etc...). wanted another GTP, but I need better mileage and cheaper gas.

ANYWAY. it has 100k on it.

a few days after I bought it I noticed some chugging and not accelerating or maintain 75 on cruise without kicking down (not a real hilly area)... THEN, it stalled after cranking it once (when warm). now it does it all the time. when cold it always starts (I guess in open loop). but when warm it stalls back out almost everytime and needs accelerator pressed a little to keep it running the next time.

tranny acts a little funny.

I also noticed tonight that my coolant gauge came up above the "half" line when stopped to fuel up. when back on the highway slowly dropped down and fluctuated a bit. got home at idle came up again over the half line. SO, I am guessing its a coolant issue like I have had before, but I have NEVER had hesitation and chugging and failing to start etc... Where should I start at guys?

**Scottydoggs** · 09-16-2014

id start with cleaning the throttle body.

temps rise when in local traffic/ stopped vs highway driving. could need air bled form the system.

new car, 100,000 miles its time to catch up on its regular maint. tune up, coolant flush, trans service, ( filter and pan drop only) do not flush it.

**RedneckGTP** · 09-16-2014

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

id start with cleaning the throttle body.

temps rise when in local traffic/ stopped vs highway driving. could need air bled form the system.

new car, 100,000 miles its time to catch up on its regular maint. tune up, coolant flush, trans service, ( filter and pan drop only) do not flush it.

why would a car with 100k need air bled from the system unless it had been worked on or has a leak?

I agree with the tune up stuff. and have every intention to.

**BillBoost37** · 09-17-2014

Originally Posted by RedneckGTP

why would a car with 100k need air bled from the system unless it had been worked on or has a leak?

You recently bought it, correct? It's safe to say you don't know the full history.. a check/bleed wouldn't be a bad start. Temps also sound right from my experience with 04+

**stocker** · 09-17-2014

Originally Posted by RedneckGTP

why would a car with 100k need air bled from the system unless it had been worked on or has a leak?

I agree with the tune up stuff. and have every intention to.

I'd start with what other have mentioned and then add plugs, wires, filters, oil, etc. There is no reason to assume the car wasn't recently worked on and it may have a leak. To my understanding, any time coolant is removed from the system, air may need to be bled out. It could be anything from a leak or someone replaced the thermostat. Start with a fill/bleed and go from there.

I was having some temp fluctuations a while back and I believe it ended up being air in the system. You can listen for sloshing noises behind the dash - that is a dead give away for air in the system.

**231FUN** · 09-16-2014

Temp gauge sounds normal for a stock 04+ to me.
I' also say it needs the regular maint. that Scotty suggested.

**RedneckGTP** · 09-16-2014

Originally Posted by 231FUN

Temp gauge sounds normal for a stock 04+ to me.
I' also say it needs the regular maint. that Scotty suggested.

ok, I will start there and see were I get and what I find.

**Below Average Joe** · 09-17-2014

Warm stalling is the TB most likely. I have an 05 and when we bought it, it did the same thing. Bill suggested to take the TB off and clean it real good. This fixed the issue, but I'd clean it once a year or so because this summer ours started to do this again. I'd also clean the MAF while you are at it. Now the "chugging," our 05 does this on occasion as well. When it starts, pull off and turn off car. Start car again and it will run fine. I have no idea what it is. We just are used to it so we pull over and restart and all is well again. I would also recommend a trans cooler if it wasn't mentioned above. Our 05 had around 110k or so when the trans started to go. Now we have a TEP trans and cooler.

**RedneckGTP** · 09-18-2014

the car was serviced by the dealer after I got it. new oil and all fluids topped off.

I will do a trans drain and filter this weekend. plugs and wires and air filter this weekend as well. I will also mess with the TB

**BillBoost37** · 09-18-2014

Originally Posted by RedneckGTP

the car was serviced by the dealer after I got it. new oil and all fluids topped off.

Please.. don't accept that because a dealer did an oil change and topped off fluids that they spent any real time looking over the car or ensuring the cooling system was burped etc. I see that the same as ruling out a part as bad, just because it's newer. I have found those assumptions to cost me time and effort vs looking at the most likely item (aka new part) first.

**Below Average Joe** · 09-18-2014

clean the MAF too

**stocker** · 09-18-2014

I did the throttle body on my 08 and it was pretty straight forward. Just make sure you buy actual Throttle Body cleaner or I heard you can mess up the inside finish.

**hammerline81** · 09-19-2014

RULE NUMBER ONE... Do your regular tune up. Doesn't matter what anyone says about fixing and all the other bull****. Do it yourself so YOU know that it's done.

For an example... I had some serious power loss... why? Cause I was in a rush to just rebuild the body and fix what I could see that needed to be fixed and skipped out on some really easy but important stuff... plugs, plug wires, fuel filter. My car wouldn't push through 140kph. Just something you Need to do.

For the chugging. I would do what everyone else said.. clean the throttle body. mine did exactly this and I asked the same question.

I think when people buy a GP. They should..
Clean throttle body, switch the elbows out to aluminum, switch the coolant, change the plugs, plugs wires, oils in everything, and all the filters. Also make sure you check that your valve covers aren't leaking and if they car, install new ones.

I believe there's a thread on here for people who just bought the car and what do look for and stuff... read through that and it'll help you out. A lot of common sense things that we sometimes shrug off or forget about.

**RedneckGTP** · 09-29-2014

update.

I put new ac delco iridiums in the car. new wires. did a tranny fluid and filter change. changed the air filter.

car seems to run better. hasnt yet stalled after starting so far (thats good). took it for a few mile drive and it seemed ok. no chugging or stumbling. Ill see more happens tomorrow on the commute.

I did see a bunch of leaves and crap in the injector valley. So I blew them out. when doing so there was wetness seaming to blow out of the valleys as well. I assume that means LIM's...

it does seem happier now.

**Scottydoggs** · 09-29-2014

the lim bolts like to seep coolant. so, yup check to see if your gaskets are black or silver, black means plastic and they should be changed. silver is metal and your ok as far as that goes.

the bolts are supposed to have thread sealant on them to keep them form leaking. it wears out over time and they leak.

one of mine used look like it was crying when the car was hot.

**RedneckGTP** · 09-30-2014

Another update.

drove it to work this morning and everything was great. the fuel mileage seemed to improve greatly. throttle response much better etc.

Go to lunch. everything is still good. eat subway and then get back in car to go back to work, and it stalled like it did before when trying to start... did that 3 times. finally gave it some throttle and got it running. started driving back and now the chugging is worse! almost thought it was going to stall or not go over 2k RPM's. finally did, but its worse now. running like crap also messes with the way the trans shifts and that shifts like crap. no SES light or anything...

weird. I guess I will try cleaning the TB, and maybe check fuel pressure...