Thread: Buying a Grand Prix Gt

Let's see....

1. Check oil for signs of coolant. If you see coolant, then a good chance the LIM gaskets are leaking and need to be changed.

2. Coolant elbows leak after age sets in. There are 2. One comes from the LIM to the tensioner, and the other is hidden by the tensioner.

3. Cracked UIM on N/A cars. May leak coolant around the TB area. This can fill the motor with coolant and hydrolock it/break stuff.

4. Window regulators. These are always broken. Check all the windows for smooth operation. Any slow moving windows should be suspect.

5. Front swaybar- check the ends where the endlinks bolt to the bar. They like to crack here.

6. Coolant condition- Pull the cap and see if it's still running the orange Dex-Cool. If so, does it look orange still or does it look rusty/Mississippi Mud? If the later, will need a flush and change the coolant out. Some go green, some put Dex back in. Not getting into that argument. Your car- you decide.

7. Heater Core- Do you smell antifreeze in the car? Passenger side carpet wet at all? Not hard to change, just time consuming.

8. Motor and transmission mounts. If the car has over 100K on it then I would suspect these both need to be replaced. Not an easy task if you don't have a good support system for the motor.

9. Wheel Bearings (especially the fronts). If you test drive it and hear a growl or hum from a wheel, then the bearing is likely on its way out. May throw an ABS code as well if worn badly enough.

10. Is the CEL on? If so, get it scanned and see what's up.

11. Struts. Anything over 60K they need to be checked/replaced as needed. The front will just feel mushy and the rear may be sagging a bit.

12. Transmission- As mentioned, the trannys in these cars aren't their best feature. Pull the dipstick and check the color of the fluid on a WHITE towel. If it's red and doesn't smell burnt, then it's probabaly ok. If not, then a filter change/fluid change is needed. I personally don't recommend a flush on a higher mileage tranny with an unknown maint. history. It is likely to fail shortly after a flush.

Also drive it and see if it actually shifts into Overdrive. They are known to strip the 4th gear clutch hub out and loose overdrive. You can still drive it as a 3 speed, but wear will increase, and gas mileage will decrease. Contact Dave at TEP for trans. questions.

13. Valve covers- These tend to leak oil as they age and can drip onto the exhaust manifolds and possibly cause a fire. Install a new set of gaskets AND grommets and you will be set.

That's about all that comes to mind. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but that should be enough to get you in the right direction