Hello all, I'm /\/ick.
Just wanted to introduce myself (tell a long ass winded story about car buying frustrations) and shoot off a couple questions. I'm a complete n00b when it comes to car mechanics. I've read a bunch of threads on this forum and forums like this(used to hang out at a Bonneville forum) that list out mods done to their vehicles and I never know what the mod is our what it dose. (in it for the pictures) Now is probably the best time to learn, and here's why:
(Long ass winded Story)
I just got an orange(I love orange!) 04 gtp, comp g with the tap shift and red calipers, a couple months ago. I wanted to get this car back in 04 when it first came out but ended up getting a 2k Bonneville ssei due to affordability. The Bonneville was a great car but became too expensive to fix once the transmission died. Then, while it was in figuring out what was up with the transmission, we learned it started having the coolant mixing with oil issue that my wife's 03' Grand Am had as well as my parents Rendezvous. Along with other issues like rust around the gas door and a leaky sun roof I decided it was time for a new car. (We are down to one car at this point as we had gotten rid of the Grand Am after the oil / coolant mixing issue came up for the 2nd time. Damn you Dex-Cool!)
So I jumped on Autotrader to look up orange Grand Piix gtp's and found 2 in Illinois (I live about 40 miles west of chicago.) one in Wisconsin and one in Iowa. The two in Illinois ended up in the same small chain of stores that promised to bring the vehicle to the location nearest you. When we pulled up to the tiny lot (an Saturday) I did not see a single orange car on the lot. They had assured me that they would find the vehicle and get it there.. Four hours later (and I had tried to leave multiple times!) both cars were sold on different lots. as well as every other car i wanted to look at that weekend.The other GTP in Wisconson, a black 04 Bonneville GXP, A white 02 Bonneville ssei, a Black 07 Grand Prix GXP, and even some silver Cadillac CTS that was barely on the list.. We called the store in Iowa to see if that one was still there and it was. Decided to just go out there Sunday and get it because I didnt want to be stuck with the rental car for another week (maybe longer?) as I'm pretty picky about my cars! We found the car had been through a couple scrapes from a Carfax report but I wanted to go anyway.
So we drove out to the middle of Iowa Sunday night. Even checked the lot before heading to the hotel to make sure the damn thing was still there! The next morning it snowed a good deal so I couldn't really get on it during the test drive. First thing we noticed when they pulled it up was how loud it was! The sales guy told us they modded the exhaust, something he said he wouldn't have done. The sales guy also told us that the dealership replaced the alternator. Ended up picking it up thinking we could probably do something about the exhaust later.
Got it back home and swapped the wheels form the Bonneville as we had just gotten new tires about a month before the trans died. Brought it into the locale auto shop to have it looked over. They told me a lot had been done to the car. The engine had been rebuilt, new air filter intake, the entire engine mount was reinforced with aluminium, the exhaust and even the head lights were not stock. They tried hooking it up to their computer but I guess they couldn't get any readings. They are wondering if there is an aftermarket computer in the car.. Some issues they said that the idle seemed to be up too high and it seemed to be eating up more gas than it needed to be.
This is definitely a fun car! Some things i miss form the Bonneville are the sunroof, the climate control, the seats, and a little bit of that extra room! The Grand Prix is still a big car, but the Bonneville was just that much bigger. Also feel that the gas tank on the Grand Prix seems small. The sticker says the tank should be around 17 gal but we have only gotten about 15.5 out of it. The Bonneville had an 18+ gal tank, so that's kind of what I'm basing it off of.
(Questions)
So I guess to my questions(Finally!)
How can I tell if my cars computer is an aftermarket thing? Is there something I should look at or somewhere I can bring it?
We are just dealing with the exhaust setup and the noise. Seem to have gotten used to it over the past couple months. The worrisome thing is, are the emissions laws between Illinois and Iowa the same, or different? Would this car pas an emissions test in Illinois? I'm guessing the computer might have to be "fixed" as well before getting an emissions test.
I know this car was 260 hp stock. With all the stuff done to it, and I'm not even sure to what extent that is, I would like to fins out where I'm sitting now.
If the gas tank was modded, why would you put a smaller tank on?
As for any of my own mods I would like to do to it, probably a ram air hood! I think those look slick. (mostly because I don't really know what other mods been done to it or what any other mods do. :/ But willing to learn!)
(Pics!)
And as a reward for reading through all that crap, or even scrolling through all that crap, pictures!
Just got it home and before the wheel swap. Crappy weather and already salt covered :/
My two beasts..
The stare down
After the wheel swap on some other crappy day.
In the air for a break job. Breaks were pretty shot on it.
Reinforced engine mount?
Random chain on the exhaust?
Under the hood. First time I had looked under the hood since i had gotten it.. maybe a month later.. I know.. I'm smrt...
Well thanks for stopping by. Hope to learn a few things and maybe even get my hands dirty myself!
