My 2002 Grand Prix is seriously giving a serious attitude. *gauges..*

**GTBabyGirl** · 03-31-2012

Ok first off before i get blasted. the end of 2011 and 2012 have not been friendly. Ive had alot on my plate with serious family health problem etc etc. Now here is the malfunctions.. and yes i have searched threads on trying to find other people with similar problems and i couldnt find any. car in question ---> 2002 GP GT sedan

This is where i believed it started. My friend got me a sub and amp for my birthday and installed it for me at my house. Immediately my tachometer didnt work. not even a little bit. now the new one that has started is. ive noticed that between 1/2 and 1/4 of a tank my gas gauge goes on a fritz. I have since ran out of gas twice. I am not proud. (2nd is last night fyi). and also my coolant gauge has been also on the fritz. example: Tonight it read severely over heating, the defroster was blowing ice cold and the engine was only warm to the touch and the hood was cool. but then out of no where (Whether the defroster is on or not) and the temp gauge out of nowhere drop back down to normal temps. the only gauge that (I pray to god) does work is my speedometer. The next problem is when i stopped as i saw the "Overheating" after i let it sit and restarted it the car was fine at idle but when it was put into drive, it stalled. not only once but twice. My third try i revved the motor and all of a sudden it was fine.

Now i did read on one problem post that the gas could be the fuel pump sending unit.. and my friend that put in my subs claim that he wired the amp control into my ignition. btw.. i do NOT have an aftermarket head unit and he did not remove the stock head unit to wire anything in. my buddy that i adore and is really good with cars thinks that the gauge cluster may have went bad... but wouldnt they all be bad? seriously im not unintelligent but wiring like seriously goes right over my head. and my mothers boyfriend seems to think the reason why i stalled is it got a bit fudged up because i ran out of gas. so seriously any help would be apprecaited on attempting to problem solve because its freaking me out that my little darling is about to ish the bed and quite frankly the thought of that absolutely freaks me out.. thanks!

~Rara

**GTBabyGirl** · 03-31-2012

even after all that with the temps this morning. i put an entire thing of dexcool in it and it WAS NOT leaking at all.

**Elite6** · 03-31-2012

Rip out your friends $hit install and see if things go back to normal. Minimize variables

**GTBabyGirl** · 03-31-2012

Well. It doesn't matter. Figured out the major problem. Head gasket is blown. So well. Hood for sale...

**FordMan77** · 04-01-2012

Did you do a compression test to verify that? Seems very unlikely. What does seem likely is the LIM gasket or the UIM itself failing and causing the motor to eat coolant.

**KeithGTP03** · 04-01-2012

A blown head gasket isn't going to cause the problems with your tach and fuel gauges.

**FordMan77** · 04-02-2012

True. That stereo install is likely the cause of the wierdness w/ the gauges. Especially considering he tapped into the ignition somewhere.

Head gaskets are super rare on these cars, even if overheated occasionally. Before tearing off the head(s) I would do a compression test to verify this.

**BillBoost37** · 04-02-2012

Can't tell ya how badly I've overheated 3800's and they never had a gasket issue. With that much coolant missing, you either have a leak or you have a leak. Keep in mind..leak could be internal as well as external. A head gasket would usually make the car run like crap and you'd know it. Go on the easier things..like radiator. Ask GTPSHAWTY how tough it was to find his rad leak. It's a pain sometimes.

Gas and tach, that's either bad luck on timing of two other things going bad or your install. I'd try unhooking the install at the ignition and checking the wiring to see if it didn't get yanked or something. Then reinstall once the issue with electrical is fixed.

**f3racer** · 04-02-2012

dexcool is bad!
Old GM settles lawsuit with “Dex-Cool” owners

**GTBabyGirl** · 04-02-2012

well. the oil is nasty chocolate milkshake colored with metal shavings. i dont think im gonna be able to save this one. me and my mother sat down and discussed it with an extremely good mechanic friend that also loves the cars does not think the car is worth it especially since my transmission is starting to slip.

i know the gauges are caused by the install and because all the gauges were messed up i ignored the temp because the light wasnt coming on and how it would drop so easily. its been like that ive been driving it for over a month. unfortunatly. i let her die

**Mike Tackett** · 04-02-2012

replace plentum and intake gasket, also see if your transmission fluid is milky if so your hit and the coolant and trany fluid mixed in the radiator, although rare I've seen it, but if your intake is leaking it will cause coolant to enter the intake and hydro lock, but thats an easy fix pull the spark plugs after intake is complete and crank the engine a few times about 5 to 10 secs a time

**MoarkatsINmuhtrailer** · 04-02-2012

dude really???

can you not read? she has metal shavings in the oil...that means bye bye bearings. bottom end is toast.

best bet is to either sell the car as is..or, find a nice used engine for around 500 and swap it in.

**FordMan77** · 04-02-2012

Yep. Bearings are gone. Even if you changed everything I'd bet you'd get a nice rod knock out of it before it let completely go. A used engine w/ trans can be found for a reasonable price, then you just drop it in and done. Of course not knowing the financials of the OP it's a toss up. Craigslist was my friend when I blew up my motor. Got the trans as a bonus. ~$500 later and I was back in business

**dsmuts** · 04-02-2012

If your feeling a little shady you could replace the intake gasket and over fill the car with oil to quite the knock down and sell it. I would recommend against it though.

**GTBabyGirl** · 04-02-2012

no me and my mom discussed it. its not worth it for me at the moment. its better off i get something different because i dont have the time to fix it. or someone to help me and i cant do it alone so i have to get something else. ill be parting it out. hopefully it worked because i posted a part out thread under parts for sale section but it froze on me as i posted it. if it didnt work another 30 minutes of making a post. ugh.