Thread: So glad I'm here

I've gotta say, after all the pain and frustration my '98 GTP has given me, I'm glad to have found a place where I can fit in with my fellow car lovers and learn a lot at the same time.

Want to hear about my car problems? Here's a list:

Blown LIM gasket
Bad S/C coupler & bearings
Blown tstat
Blown heater core
Bad fuel injectors or pullies (something is clicking; I have yet to take off the belts and test for the sound though. Gets faster when I accelerate.)
Burning up tranny (previous owner never changed the oil. It's dark brown and trans is starting to slip and slam into gear.)
Throttle is sticking sometimes
Vaporlock issues
No A/C
Rear passenger door lights are out (bad fuse, perhaps.)
Panels in the interior are loose (door frames, sunroof control panel, etc.)
TAC button doesn't work
Front sway bar stabilizer link is busted
Trans coolant, engine coolant, and P/S coolant are low/dirty/old/rusted
Front driver's side headlight is busted at the threads (I keep having to hot glue it together, only to find the headlight flying all over in front of my car while driving on the freeway. LOL!)

As if this wasn't enough...

Rear trunk lid is misaligned
Rear driver's side tail-light has water damage
Exhaust is cracked and leaking by the cat
ABS wires are frayed and split in the rear tires (although ABS sucks so I could care less about that)
Parking brake wire is disconnected or broken

etc,etc,etc,

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? WORTH THE $3K AND 180xxx MILES ON IT?! HAHA!

Anyway, I hope to begin tackling these issues one by one and clearing this list. My family has told me to get rid of this car as it's a burden, but I find it incredible for knowledge. I'm attending college in the winter for automotive, so it's a good start. I want to eventually restore it up to par and master the arts of inside the engine so I can someday buy a Trans Am and do some awesome 350 GEN II modding. Someday. :P

Hello all GP owners! Nice to be here with you guys!

Welcome Spazz. Your car sounds like a piece of crap.

Sounds like a perfect car to gain hands-on experience with. But Gawd, 3k?
Are you going to have to drive it to school? On can you just leave it there as a project?

When I first bought the car, it was in perfect running shape. Err, the alternator and battery were crap, but after I swapped those, it ran like a gem for eight months. I drove it across the state without issues. I could always hear the ringing of bad bearings in the supercharger snout, but it wasn't serious enough to be changed out.

Of course, this list may seem long and insanely crazy with problems, but it's not too bad. Tomorrow I'm changing out the LIM gasket and tstat, along with getting all fluids changed, so there's a few already knocked off the list.

After the heater core is swapped, the car should be driveable. As long as the tranny holds. After that pops, I'm trashing it and buying a new GTP.

What sucks is that I LOVE this car. Almost as much as a Trans Am. And believe me, to me, F-body cars are like a godsend in my eyes. And what makes the GP even better is that it's so affordable. I regret blowing 3k on the car because I know how much of a piece of crap it is, but I guess looking at the good from it, I'm learning how to do a LOT. When I buy my next GTP, I'll be able to tackle anything that goes out on it, but my next purchase will be much smarter. The first GTP I checked out was the one I bought. I had no idea what I was looking for when I looked under the hood. Lesson learned- this time will be MUCH better. ;]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes though! Lmao :P I'm glad you guys are shooting on me about this- goes to show people here know their stuff.

Welcome...

But just wondering how do you "blow" a LIM?

Oops! I meant LIM gasket*

The heater core and tstat went out about the same time and caused my car to start overheating.

I got it to the redline in temperature about three times and one time severely enough to make some steam billow from the hood and turn on the SES gauge.

Of course I knew not to drive it being in such bad shape, but I had to. My landlord was getting evicted and I had to move things out of the house. Believe me I tried getting others to help and had no luck.

So with it being so hot, the gasket ruptured and coolant started flooding in the crevices under the supercharger around the intake. I'm just glad the heads or the pistons didn't give out. That could've been really bad.

Welcome!

Maybe we can help each other, I live in MI too... Will PM you my location.

Anyway, I have similar. I just got my 99 though. It ran and drove fine but I knew there were things that needed attention. It has 130,000 miles in it. Here is what I have done so far to mine.

Replaced the broken front sway bar.
Changed coolant, T-stat, up/lower rad hoses and heater hoses.
Changed plugs and wires.
Cut off and changed the fuel filter.
Replaced both headlights.
Replaced the UIM and gasket.
Replaced both valve cover gaskets.
Cleaned the throttle body. It was the blackest I have ever seen too!
Got a few used parts from parts galore.
Fixed a door lock issue.
Replaced the fuel pressure regulator.
Replaced the PCV.
Cleaned the MAF.
Repalced the ignition module. Got it for $14, was not priced correctly and supposed to be $140. Thanks Auto Zone!
Did the battery wire ground mod seen at ZZ performance. Amazing what a good ground can do for electrical! CHeck the site out if you have not, http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/articles.php.
Replaced a few burned bulbs with a few interior switches.
Put on a EVAP selonoid, air temp sensor and washer bottle motor I had, all new from when I worked at GM. Parts I had laying around and probably would have never used if it were not for this car, in the old parts dept!
Buffed the heck out of the black paint, than clay barred it.
Steam cleaned the interior.
Changed the oil.
Fixed the trunk light.

Still chasing down an oil pan leak, got it slowed but need to do a little more.

I am doing all of this, some the average person would not do but I do not want break downs in the middle of winter, or out of state. I put $500 into it so far and and still have to rebuild the alternator, probably another $50 and then it is done!

Since you can do all the work yourself, I would say keep the car. If you could not, then I would say ditch it too. Yours similar to mine, previous owners just did not fix things even if a little item. Now there are many little items to fix!

The overheating and steam concerns me, and I hope the heads did not warp on you but sounds like you know what you are doing though.