Thread: Just Bought A 97 Grand Prix GT

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You didn't mention how many miles were on it but the front right side being rough will be a bad strut, bad strut mount, or a broken sway bar.

does this mean there's probably no chance of saving the rotors for the next 3,000 miles?

Cross country move means interstate driving so the brakes won't get used much anyway. Having the car shake can be as simple as someone didn't use a torque wrench when putting the lugnuts on. Unequal torque equals warped rotor every time especially on the front end.
For a major trip on a well used car I would change the oil in the engine and transmission, check the condition of the belt & hoses etc.

take it to a shop to mill them down?

Nobody (well almost nobody) turns rotors anymore. Thanks to our Chinese buddies new rotors are so cheap that it's easier to replace them.

Oh, and excellent buy for $500!

Thanks Mystic. I literally spent 5 days straight on Craigslist hitting the refresh button when trying to find a car. Every car under $500 was a crappy late 80's Geo Metro or something similar. Someone posted a Grand Prix for $595, I claimed it 15 minutes after the ad went online, went out 50 miles and drove it home for $500. I'm still sure there has to be something wrong with it that no one's telling me, but everything seems fine that I can tell. Engine doesn't rattle or overheat, transmission works perfect and doesn't slip at all. It has fairly high miles (160,000) and the inside shows the age to an extent (No rips or tears though, except the driver's side panel is loose,) but the outside looks so good it could be a 2002 or later.

I'm still excited to have picked up such a fun ride for $500. It's after midnight here and I just drove around the area for fun to test the power and acceleration, scared the hell out of my wife.

I may actually wait on the brakes, I'll just have to be a little more careful since I can't brake as fast. Can waiting on the brakes cause any permanent damage, or will it just be the pads and rotors that are affected (Not too concerned about damaging them anymore since they definitely need to be replaced).

Forgot to mention, the only other problem it has is for some reason the AC only works on the max setting. Any ideas? I didn't get a chance to check the fuses yet, but I'm guessing if it was a fuse the AC wouldn't work at all. Overall it definitely has some problems, but it looks like everything's pretty minor and fixable.

One thing I didn't check was the timing belt (I'm guessing they have belts and not chains?), but I'm assuming if that was severely worn there'd be some sort of noise. Even so I'll definitely check that tomorrow. The oil looks like it's just been replaced. I'm still worried I'm missing something, but I guess the only way I'll find out is if I break down on the trip. Thanks for the advice, I'm writing that down to check out in the morning.

O'Rielly's turns rotors for free and has been for years.

And all the '98+ cars look the same...unless it is a coupe...then it is older than '01.

For the A/C...there is a resistor you can replace...but it is underneath the glove box. All I can say is have fun with that one

Quick update. Belts look fine. I called AZ and they have the blower motor resistor ($40), but I wasn't sure how to tell if my car's a 3.1 or 3.8 (It says Grand Prix GT 3800, so that means 3.8?), or whether or not it's supercharged (I'm guessing no). I also noticed it blows hot air, I'm hoping it just needs to be charged, but again I don't know for sure.

Wife and I agreed we'll wait on replacing the resistor until we move, but it would be nice to have cold A/C considering we're moving to the middle of the desert. That can wait though. I was also wondering, if the problem does have to do with the struts/sway bar, would it be a good idea to go to a junk yard and try there (As well as for the resistor) to get the parts? If so what would be a fair price?

Thanks again for all the help. I'm a fish out of water right now, but I'm learning.

on the back of the fuse box cover

As said I have almost no experience fixing cars, but I do have a tight wallet a tendency to be too stubborn to pay someone for something I can learn how to do myself.

Good to hear! One of the benefits of the GM W-Body (Grand Prix, Regal, Impala, etc) is that they are easy to service and there is a lot of support online. You'll need a metric tool set, a couple of jack stands, and a jack to start with.

They wanted $1000 to replace the front struts,

I'm going to assume these are the gold plated ones. (More on this later)

The AC isn't hot, but it's not cold either.

Question time. Is your A/C control panel have 3 round knobs or a digital readout with pushbuttons?

I'm not sure what to look for when checking the calipers.

The only thing "bad" about calipers is if they are leaking or if one of them is "frozen" . If there are no leaks and the car doesn't pull to one side when braking then they are fine. The shaking when braking is warped rotors. Replace the rotors and tighten the lugnuts with a torque wrench (so that the torque is equal on all five lugnuts) and the shaking problem goes away.

is causing the right side to be rougher, but I don't know what else it could be, unless one of the struts wore significantly faster than the other.

Very possible that one side wore faster than the other. Plus the strut mount could be bad. Here in the MI the edge of the road is usually rougher than the center which means that the right struts are changing position more often than the lefts equalling more movement which is more wear. Strut mounts are $70 a pair and struts are $130 so with tax you've got $215 or so. Compare that to the $1000 that Midas wanted Sway bar links can be obtained from a salvage yard if you can get them off in one without breaking them or can be obtained from a parts store.

Originally Posted by hacket

Shaking of the brakes would probably be due to the rotors rusting up. That's what happened with my 98 GP. As soon as I replaced the rotors, no more shake.

It isn't really from the rust...it is from the rotors warping is when you tend to get the shaking while slowing down.

I thought i'd answer some of the super easy questions. Your car does have the 3.8l V6, without a supercharger. When you do ur trip, your going to be in it for rotors and calipers, do them both at the same time so something doesn't screw something else up. My step mom had the same problem in her 02 GT because my dad had cheap cheap rotors put on it. Needless to say he ended up paying for it like 1.5 year later.

P.s. Are these car's known for bad A.C. compressors? Because that's the first thing i had to take out of my car.

Originally Posted by TEBO

I thought i'd answer some of the super easy questions. Your car does have the 3.8l V6, without a supercharger. When you do ur trip, your going to be in it for rotors and calipers, do them both at the same time so something doesn't screw something else up. My step mom had the same problem in her 02 GT because my dad had cheap cheap rotors put on it. Needless to say he ended up paying for it like 1.5 year later.

P.s. Are these car's known for bad A.C. compressors? Because that's the first thing i had to take out of my car.

I just had to replace my AC compressor last week.......98 GTP 103k miles...


Good luck with the fixes. Also swaybars are relatively inexpensive to buy original gm parts or gmpp.......I got mine delivered for $85.00 and that included new bushings. If your sway bar is shot, please look at the bushings......you get new ones if you order a new sway bar, or you can just get new bushings if you want to save a little money and get a used swaybar from the junkyard. These are very easy to install........literally a ten minute job or so. I would also just get new brake pads for sure. Have some place that turns rotors inspect them. If they are too warped, then they cannot turn them and you will have to get different ones(don't cheap out on rotors as it will cost you in the long run and they will warp easier and just not work as well.) If they can be saved they will turn(resurface) your existing rotors-costs around $10/rotor around here. As long as calipers are not leaking and look to be in good mechanical condition they should be fine to reuse. Do your own struts and save a lot of money....I am sure you can get your AC recharged for less if you look around. When they do it, have them add dye to it just in case you have a leak somewhere and then you will be able to pinpoint it for sure. If you have any more questions.......let us know.

I don't know anything about a/c, but i don't know if i'd buy used struts from the junk yard. If your going to be saving up some money, save a little more and get new ones. Just my opion. I'll be saving up for some struts myself, my car's starting to do the wave thing when you hit a biger bump. And i gota get tires, damn this is going to be an expensive year.

if you are paying $75 for the front swaybar and links, why not just order a new upgraded or stock one for about $15-$25 more delivered to you...??? Then it is new, you wont have to worry about replacing it soon, and you know it is not bent or stressed heavily.......will last much longer....and after your time and gas to go to the junkyard it is almost a wash......

I think...IIRC...you can even get the ENTIRE GMPP Handling kit for about double that...which includes Front/Rear Sway Bars, Rear Trailing Arms, and a Front Strut Tower Bar...I think I got my set for $160 or something...just something to think about since it is a '97 and the suspension is probably worn a bit being 12 years old. That would wake up the handling aspects of it for sure.