Thread: Might buy grand prix. help on engine fire!

decided to forego the '97. i dont want to deal with any leaks right off the bat.

i found a 2002 grand prix GT 3.8 for $2500. 180k miles. gonna check that one out instead

Mine ran fine until the recall after GM fixed it it ran horrible 3 weeks later it caught fire thank god it was in my driveway and I have the hood up I could put it right out (was standing next to the garden hose) took 6 months to get them to fix it they would not admit fault in the meantime I fixed it they finally agreed to trade a paint job to stay out of court

That's the same price u would've paid for the others but this has 30,000 miles more. 180k is extremely a lot especially for a 10 year old car.

Originally Posted by Fox

decided to forego the '97. i dont want to deal with any leaks right off the bat.

i found a 2002 grand prix GT 3.8 for $2500. 180k miles. gonna check that one out instead

98-08's can still suffer from valve cover gasket leaks and the remaining powersteering and trans cooler lines can still leak.

Any 3800 without metal framed LIM gaskets is prone to failure.

Any L36 is prone to UIM failure. aftermarket replacements are less prone to failure.

Originally Posted by Dragon1972

You are so wrong...engine compartment fires on these cars is fairly likely, according to the TSB's and recalls

Do you have numbers on the failures?

LIM gasket failure is likely, but i never see any in for repair. Only 60* GM's for LIM and head gaskets.

Does that make my sample accurate?

Originally Posted by Dragon1972

The reason for the fire was the cooling fan circuit

The cooling fan circuit is not addressed in the recall.

The valve cover gaskets in supercharged applications are replaced and the spark plug wire retainers are replaced with a design which is designed not to hold oil.

ok this is going to be the last car i ask about. if this one has problems too im just gona look for other brands.

98 GTP. 145k miles. $2400. assuming its in great mechanical condition. any potential problems i should be concerned about with the car aside from the valve cover gaskets?

Everything that can fail on any car in the current market.

The only serious failure points are the valve cover gaskets and LIM gaskets.

Both of which aren't serious repairs if you can perform the repair yourself.

No special tools are required and it should be easily accomplishable within the constraints of a weekend.

the GTP is in excellent condition. ill get a mechanic to check it before i buy it. so i plan on living in the mountains in a few months. i don't really plan on driving a whole lot, especially in the snow. but will cold weather / snow negatively affect the supercharger in any way? in fact what does negatively affect a supercharger and how can i prevent it from going ape sh1t?

It will make more power in the cold, that's about it

Idunno if someone posted it already but there was a safety recall. When you register it they will send you something in the mail telling you you can go to the dealership and get a new rocker cover for free or something. I went, but they told me that because I had an aftermarket manifold i didn't have anything to worry about

180K miles is nothing for a 3800 mine has 211K on it right now.

I'm very aware of the mileage a 3800 can reach but that's if u know specific mechanical history. U don't know how much it was beat on or if their oil changes were on time. There's a lot of miles which means its probably highway. Did they travel at 90-100 mph the whole time they were on the highway?

Not only that but u have a 98 and that's a 4 year difference.

Fox this new gtp sounds like a great find. Its in ur price range and it has average mileage for its age. For the most part there is nothing specific about a year that u should avoid unless u have certain preferences. All 97-03 gps are gonna have the lim and valve cover issues that we mentioned. Like I said before if ur not familiar with a tune up u probably shouldn't tackle these jobs. Yes they are easy but u at least have to understand how to do some things to the engine before u do a big one. If ur not up for the job and don't wanna spend 500 to 900 bucks for the repair, then don't consider it.

i bought the gtp

runs good. mechanic didn't find any real problems with it. had a small oil leak i think, said it was normal for cars w/ 150k. when i was driving home the low coolant light came on for 5 seconds then turned off. the engine bay is pretty dirty and grimy. want to get a steam clean for the engine bay so i can start familiarizing myself with engine components. anyone know what the cost is for that?

and i have to get the alignment fixed cuz the car pulls to the left. the coolant was yellow / golden colored so i dont think it has dexcool in it, but im gonna get the coolant changed just in case