Hi all. I am a service connected disabled veteran with an 04 Grand Prix GTP, comp g, 109k miles.
I recently purchased the vehicle from an auction dealer, looked nice, super clean Carfax, 109k miles, 1 owner, female who traded in the vehicle to the same dealership for a new car. Looked super clean inside and out, picked it up for $3500 with my VA retroactive check (the VA raised my disability percentage).
I purchased the vehicle for "Veteran's Day", and I'm hoping to have a nice GTP, comp g, when I'm finished with it, (still getting used to the "tap shift tranny" over my old manual).
I normally perform minor maintenance on my vehicles, and after having the vehicle for about a week I found a few issues.
1. The radiator and "reserve" tank were covered in standard Dex-cool corrosion. I performed a simple slow hose flush, and left water in the radiator for a few days to flush again.
After the "water hose flush", there is a small coolant leak on the bottom of the engine. The leak did not appear until after the "water hose flush".
The leak is located on the left side of the engine, at the bottom, somewhere under the engine or near the heater, (not sure), behind the battery and the belts on the left side of the engine.
It only leaks when the engine is running, there was no leak when the engine was off. Due to it being a slow leak, I could not find the leak after inspecting with a flashlight several times.
Again, it does not leak when the engine is off.
The good news is the radiator is super clean now, and quite a bit of corrosion came out during the flush.
I ran the heater when running the engine so I do not know yet if it is just the heater.
Regardless, it's somewhere on the left side of the engine, behind and under the engine. It's not leaking much so I cannot tell where the leak is coming from.
2. The oil pan is leaking. From the main oil "plug/bolt". The oil pan is also really dirty and oily. Engine looks nice and clean up top, it's when I got under the vehicle that I found some issues. Really dirty/oily/leaking oil pan, dripping from the main oil bolt.
I have a very honest mechanic who is a family friend and I'm taking it to him for it's first diagnostic tests. I would just like to have a list for him first so he has an idea of what we're dealing with.
I will take some pics and post them if I get a chance, busy Thanksgiving weekend.
3. Also, there was one body issue. In the right corner of the windshield, there is a small 1 inch "tall" by 4 inch long patch of corrosion rust, with a small dot in the center of the vehicle, between the antenna and the windshield. It's that nasty beach rust that has to be addressed immediately so I have some body work to do too. Just wondering if they'll have to take off the entire windshield to get to it. The owner lived near the beach and I've had this rust here in Florida before. I didn't see it in the sun when I first inspected the vehicle (it's small).
At any rate, I have about $2500 set aside to put into it right now so I'm hoping the radiator leak isn't catastrophic.
It should be pretty "set" once it's finished.
I cannot work right now due to my disabilities, so I only drive max. 2-3 times per week, maybe. The vehicle will also be garage kept and taken care of well.
Any help would be great! I have some brain damage and nervous system damage from the Army so I apologize for any spelling errors/mistakes.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend,
Service connected disabled veteran,
GW
