Thread: New to the Pontiac world

Hello everyone, my name is Robert. Have had my 06 Grand Prix L27 for just over a year and now want to start putting some mods on it. Relatively light type mods like intake, exhaust, electrical, suspension, and brakes are what I'm planning. This is my daily driver and I just want to make it sound better and perform better. I found this forum on my quest to find parts and more information on this car and this car scene. I'm not much of a mechanic and i really dont have a place to do installs, so i plan on having my regular mechanic do my installs. I did come across a company that had some nice looking performance parts, zzperformance.com . I emailed their customer service department and they gave me a quick rundown on some terms for these vehicles. Thats where I found out that I have a series 3 L27 3800 (I sound legit jk). I have always loved cars. When I was younger I was into imports (thanks Fast and Furious) but never really got into modding or getting my hands dirty in some engine grease.

So, I come to you guys, where should I be looking for parts? What mods should or shouldn't be done? Exterior parts to make the car look better?

Again, not looking to make this car into a race car, just looking for some HP gains and better performance to make her last.

Thank you,

Robert

I see I can't edit my post, i accidentally put L27 when its actually L26.

Welcome to the site.

Don't touch the exhaust. It will never sound much better unless you dump some $$ into it, and even then it's subjective. The 3800 just sound like crap with most aftermarket exhaust systems. Nature of the beast.

If you're not a wrench slinger then it's time to learn. Paying a shop to do the work you're looking for is going to get expensive fast. These cars are not hard to mod if you have a basic skill set.

I'd start out by making sure all the normal wear items have been addressed and have a solid base to start with or you're going to be fixing it as you go along which could turn into more $$

Thanks for the advice! I have heard that the v6 doesn't sound great with an aftermarket exhaust. I was thinking about getting the zzperformance 2.5 downpipe. I think I might have an exhaust leak issue as well. They say the downpipe takes out the Ubend, has a hi-flo cat, and is a little bit quieter (dunno if i like quieter lol).

I do have a check engine light on, going over to the parts store to have them look up that code. Other than that, I have made sure to keep up with oil changes, i flushed the coolant, and had a new trans-pan gasket installed and the pan cleaned.

What preventative maintenance can I do for the transmission? I heard these engines don't have the best tranny.

Also, Is there any common issues for these motors I should keep in mind? Preventative care I should put into practice?

Originally Posted by RobVandal

Thanks for the advice! I have heard that the v6 doesn't sound great with an aftermarket exhaust. I was thinking about getting the zzperformance 2.5 downpipe. I think I might have an exhaust leak issue as well. They say the downpipe takes out the Ubend, has a hi-flo cat, and is a little bit quieter (dunno if i like quieter lol).

I do have a check engine light on, going over to the parts store to have them look up that code. Other than that, I have made sure to keep up with oil changes, i flushed the coolant, and had a new trans-pan gasket installed and the pan cleaned.

What preventative maintenance can I do for the transmission? I heard these engines don't have the best tranny.

Also, Is there any common issues for these motors I should keep in mind? Preventative care I should put into practice?

Change your transmission fluid, add a cooler (which you should be able to do yourself), and you should have no tranny issues. I had a 98 GTP and the transmission was perfect. I now have some issues with my 2008 GXP, which produces 60 more hp and a bunch more heat. You won't have either of those issues.

I run the ZZP 3" catted downpipe on my 00 GT. No issues. Your 06 will likely throw a CEL for the cat w/o the defouler mod since it will flow more than what the rear O2 wants to see. It is a well built DP and will likely outlast the car. Not sure about the quiet factor but it did change the tone just a bit but there is no drone which is what you want on these cars.

One thing to look for is the coolant elbows as they like to leak. Being an 06 you should already have the updated LIM gaskets so those should not be an issue. Valve covers could be suspect at this point. I always run Fel-Pro gaskets and grommets on my 3800's and have yet to have a leak.

As far as the trans is concerned besides adding a cooler I would throw in a Trans-Go shift kit. All you need for this is to drop the pan and pull a few parts. Easy to install yourself. I only did part of the kit and my trans got rid of the hard shift issue. The stock trans. pan gasket should be re-useable if its not been damaged. Also change the filter while the pan is off.

One gripe about these cars is the stock oil pressure sending unit. I've had multiple ones leak/fail across my 3 different 3800's over the years. They like to leak out of the electrical connection. This sensor is located on the back edge of the oil filter adapter and has a 2 prong plug. If you pull the connection and see oil INSIDE the connector then I would replace it with a genuine Delco unit. Just snug the new one in as they are tapered threads and the housing is aluminum. I opted to go with an electronic oil pressure gauge that replaces the stock sending unit and mounted an actual gauge on the A-pillar. No leaks and now I have an accurate reading.