Archive for the 'Pontiac' Category
Paul’s question:
If I replace the spring/ strut assembly in my 1993 Pontiac Sunbird, will I NEED to get a front end alignment?”
Answer:
IF you mark the exact bolt position of the old one and put the new one back in the same exact position, the alignment would be OK if the strut assembly was made correctly. Most guys will realign the front end after such work because they doubt if the new assembly was made perfectly. Try putting it together, and if it doesn’t pull or shake at speeds of around 65, then it would be OK. If it did, then get it realigned.
Keith’s question:
I have a 2001 grand am 3.4 V6. When I’m driving at 60-65mph, my rpms will bounce around 2500-2800 when I hit 2500 rpms. That is problem one. Problem 2 is yesterday I started the car, and it shut off, started it, it shut off. The happened 5 times and on the 6th it started and it idled at 2000 rpms. Problem 3 is today the car feels very sluggish while shifting between gears like a lack of power. Sorry to ask all these questions, but I’m so frustrated! Any help will be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!”
Answer:
The rpms bouncing around at higher speeds seems to be the transmission slipping. If you keep your foot in the same exact position, not moving the accelerator, and the rpms move that much, the only thing doing it could be the transmission slipping in gears. Now the stalling and having poor acceleration is commonly a worn fuel pump on those grand ams. The pumps don’t put out enough fuel, so the engine starves at idle and dies. And when it does get weak, you will also lose acceleration from lack of fuel. Have the fuel pump pressure and volume tested by a mechanic, and replace the pump if either is low. This is a VERY common problem in those cars. I’ve had customers with them go through four or five pumps in just a few years.
Tony’s question:
My 2002 Pontiac Grand Am is making a really bad clunking noise that is coming from under the car, and it sounds like it’s coming more from the rear of the vehicle. I just replaced all of the struts and shocks on the car, but the clunking noise is still there. The noise gets louder/more noticeable when I turn, and the clunking gets faster or slower as I speed up or slow down (they coincide). I’m wondering if I’m having wheel bearing or brake problems….but I’m not sure! Any suggestions? Thank you!!!”
Answer:
OK, wheel bearings don’t clunk, they groan and the faster you go, the louder they groan. A clunk is something worn. Pay special attention to all the torsion bar bushings, they will wear and then clunk And look at ALL the rubber bushings back there. Any metal suspension part that goes through a rubber bushings has the possibility of causing clunks. Normally the torsion bar bushings make the most noise, I see that a lot. So check them first.
Arleen Ramos’s question:
” Hi . Can you please help? We have a 1994 Pontiac Transport minnie van. It has always started on the 1st turn but lately it has to turn several times befor it starts. I know it’s not the altinator and it has a new battery, plugs and wires. It’s taking longer and longer to start. Also it has plenty of get up and go. It’s just starting it. Thank You Very much and God Bless You for taking the time.”
Answer:
Well, old age is catching up with your Transport (as it does to us all.) From your symptoms, you would have a problem in the fuel injection system. If you remember the olden days, we used to pump the accelerator on old carbureted vehicles to squirt gas into the carburetor. That would get it to start. In modern cars, this is done automatically by the fuel injection system WITHOUT having to pump the accelerator. So first, try pumping your accelerator a little as you crank the engine. If it starts right up then, you have a minor fuel injection warm up system problem. If you don’t care, you can start the vehicle that way ( I have MANY customers who have done this over the years.) If you do want to discover what’s wrong, it can get REALLY expensive and time consuming for such a minor problem if it starts with pumping. You would have to have the fuel pump checked for proper pressure and volume, you’d have to have the computer warm up circuits checked for proper operation, you’d have to get the fuel injectors themselves checked out, and you’d also have to check the entire warm up system wiring and sensors. BUT, as a wild guess, the pump could be starting to wear, so you might try changing the fuel filter first and have a test done on the fuel pump itself. I have seen pumps starting to go out act like that (they don’t work right when starting cold, but once they start pumping they work fine until they cool off again–pumps sometimes will break in this fashion.)
Charles Arcuri’s question:
I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand AM and the power windows don’t work right. I have had problems with all of them on and off but now only the rear passenger window will operate and it will do so from the driver switch and the back door switch. The power sunroof didn’t work when I bought the car but does work now,and I did nothing to it. I have replaced the circuit breaker for the windows and checked the fuses under the hood but have had no luck. Any ideas as to what the problem could be.”
Answer:
Power windows use reversible motors to run themselves. When you push the switch down, one wire to the motor is positive and one is negative. BUT, when you push the switch up, the wires reverse polarity with the negative wire now being positive and vice versa. SO, first take apart a door panel on a door that has an inoperative power window. Get to the two wires going to the motor. Then see if it has power and ground when you push the switch up and down. If you have power, then the motor assembly is shot. That’s THE most common thing. If you don’t have power, then go to the switch and see if the switch has power going in and out. If it doesn’t, then rewire the power to the switch assembly direct from a power source and put an in line fuse to this new power. If you do have power at the switch, then simply run new wires from the switch to the window motor (that way you don’t have to trace ALL the wiring going through the car which is a royal pain. They are pretty simple systems in theory, BUT they also run through small computers called body control modules or general electrical modules and this makes fixing them a complex mess if these modules go bad. It’s far better just to bypass these modules if they do go bad in the manner I explained.
David Roman’s question:
I have a check engine light in my 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix gtp. the code is 304 cylinder #4 misfire. The car only has 21,000 miles. what can it be?”
Answer:
All right, modern cars have REALLY sensitive computer analysis systems built into them. A problem that lasts as little as one thousandth of a second can trip a trouble code. In your case, it’s no big deal. BUT, it can be a bad spark plug, a bad ignition coil, a bad fuel injector, bad engine valves, intake manifold leaks OR any of a host of other problems. As spark plugs are cheap, I’d change all of them out and have the computer reset. Then if the code doesn’t come back, be happy. Blame it all on too sensitive computers.
Willis’s question:
” I just changed the battery out on my Pontiac Grand Am with the supercharged 6 engine. Now I can’t get my car inspected, they tell me too many MIL lights are not ready. They said to drive the car to reset it, but I’ve already gone over a hundred miles and it still won’t pass.”
Answer:
Well, if yours is an earlier model supercharged Grand Am (say a 96-98), then they did have a lot of problems going through the drive cycle and resetting the MILs on those cars. I’ve seen it take 250 miles sometimes to reset them. And realize you MUST drive a while on the highway at 55 mph (use your cruise control, it helps the computer go through the drive cycle faster) in order for it to fully reset itself. Realize that you can have up to 2 MIL not readys in the computer and still pass the emissions test (but 3 mils would make you fail.) So take a good road trip and hopefully it will reset itself. In the unlikely circumstance it won’t reset itself, but still shows no trouble codes, you may have a computer problem that may cause the ECM to need replacing. But try a good long drive on the highway first.
Charles’s question:
” I’ve got a 98 Pontiac Grand Prix that clunks whenever I go over medium to large bumps. So a mechanic sold me rear struts, but it’s still doing the same exact thing. Was I taken to the cleaners? And how can I get rid of that noise?”
Answer:
Well, from where I’m sitting I can’t say if you got taken to the cleaners or not. The rear struts may also have been worn out (if the car bounced a lot in the back or had unevenly worn rear tires then the struts were worn out.) BUT, I can tell you what’s probably making that noise back there. There are stabilizer torsion bars in the rear, and they have rubber bushings on them to hold them against the car’s body. These bushings wear, and then the bar clunks against the body, making that noise. It’s a pretty simple job replacing those stabilizer bushings. I’ve fixed a bunch of them myself.
Dave’s question:
“The power steering on my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am isn’t giving much power at low speeds. At high speeds it works fine. I changed out the power steering pump with a rebuilt unit, but it still doesn’t feel right to me.”
Answer:
You’ve definitely got a flow problem in the power steering system. Either that rebuilt pump wasn’t rebuilt correctly, or the rack and pinion has sticky valves inside it. The easiest thing is to try a brand new pump instead of a rebuilt unit, as they are pretty easy to replace. I’ve seen that fix a problem like yours many times. But if that doesn’t do the trick, then here’s a trick of my own. Get some good solvent (like Sea Foam fuel injector cleaner) and put two to three ounces of the stuff into the power steering reservoir. Then drive it around a couple hours. If the valves are sticking on the power steering rack, that can often free them up. It’s worth a try BECAUSE replacing the steering rack is a pretty expensive job (and if you try a rebuilt rack instead of a new one to save money you could end up being burned as they often don’t have a great track record rebuilding the racks.)
Ron’s question:
” I have a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am 4 cyl. The check engine light turned on. We filled the car with gas and tightened the gas cap. 10 days later the check engine light turned off (light still works – I checked on run before starting). Should I be concerned or is there no longer a problem. The car seams to run fine.”
Answer:
Forget about it. You gas cap would have been loose, and the computer knew that by checking the vacuum pressure in the gas tank (which it does every time you start the car up.) Once the computer saw the leak was gone, it turned the light off. You may eventually need a new gas cap, as their rubber seals do wear over time, so if it happens again, I’d advice buying a new cap.
