Thread: new member/owner of a free 2001 grand prix gt.

I was given a grand prix GT , 2001. with 135k Needs work to get it back on the road. I have gone through these forums a few times in the last few weeks but never registered until now.

The guy that gave me the car inherited it and didn't want it. Said it had tranny leak and what he thought was oil leak.

Normal stuff seems to be wrong with it.

When I first got it I knew there was an electrical issue also . the mileage and oil life display was not on with the engine running. the blower motor only had the high setting etc. Then in the short few days I had it it began not starting. I found online that the ignition switches are common. I pulled the lower dash panel and hot wired the starter wire to see if it would start and it did so I bought and installed a new switch and tumbler while I was in there. My traction control light is still on I'm not sure if the faulty ignition switch may have caused this and have not been able to drive it to see if it will clear I'll worry about that later.

The tranny leak was one of the lines, easily fixed. One of the brake lines blew in the driveway moving the car( figures). Ended up being passenger front line along bottom of firewall. The rest of the lines looked fine. That problem is fixed.

engine leak was not engine but the power steering rack ( squirting out of boots). Im in the process of replacing it. Dropped the cradle and have the old one out. Waiting on the reman to come in.

After that I just have to fix exhaust leak, valve cover gaskets and the rotted rocker panel issue. Strangely enough the rest of the frame under the car is in great condition compared to the rockers.


hopefully I can get her on the road soon.

thanks im only fixing what I have to fix to get it on the road. im about $300 into it so far.

Which means you have more in it than you paid for it

I saw what he did too :-) I'm sure its still "worth" more than $300 at this point. Anyways refurbed axle came in today. I put it in after work. Got the system bled before dark. I just have to replace the sway bar links (they broke taking them off). Here's some pics of the rack progress.



http://s248.photobucket.com/user/pae...y/grand%20prix

Yeah i was just messin wit ya . And i thought i had a low investment in my car

Originally Posted by paedbo

I saw what he did too :-) I'm sure its still "worth" more than $300 at this point. Anyways refurbed axle came in today. I put it in after work. Got the system bled before dark. I just have to replace the sway bar links (they broke taking them off). Here's some pics of the rack progress.



http://s248.photobucket.com/user/pae...y/grand%20prix

^ thanks I had already seen issues with the fronts where they meet the firewall. not bad but just starting. back I haven't gotten to look yet up close. I have my own welder and free supply of steel at work if I run into anything major.

I might have to pull one control arm to check its integrity . I didn't like the way it looked when I was under the car.

Just a noob update. Car isn't ready for the road yet. steering rack has been fixed. I removed the resonator and just replaced it with a piece of straight pipe and I went on to do the valve covers. the rear valve cover on drivers side was spilling a lot of oil on the manifold. However after repairing and degreasing engine I an now seeing a small oil leak on top of the tranny. Looks to be the intake manifold. Ordered upper and lower kit. I got the felpro permadry for extra security on the lower. I'll also be blocking coolant flow to the upper plenum while I'm in there.

My autoenginuity cant read the abs module even though I have the GM enhanced features Grrrrrr I was upset with that! Oh well ! I read on here its usually a wheel speed sensor or a harness break. Took a gamble and pulled the loom off the drivers side between the plug and lower control arm at the knuckle. Sure enough found the broken wire right away. Soldered it back up and abs/trac off lights went out.

On the long weekend I'm going to tear down the intake manifold. I probably wont see the new parts until next week. Local box stores didn't have countersunk brass plugs that I could find so I had to order those too.

Oh yeah forgot I'm waiting on new tie rod ends too. One has been replaced but the other is bad. For the cheap price I got them at I figure I'd do both again before getting an alignment.

Some day I'll get her on the road!!!!!

I swear ill get this dang thing on the road soon! After repairing the intake manifolds I took it for test drives just to find out I had a nasty clunk noise in the front end. Front veritical bushing on lca was dislocated from its hub. Ok ive done these before on an intrigue but I go to check the otherside just to find holes and cracks in the other lower control arm!

No surprise to me though since we have had an intrigue for the last 7 years.

Seems you are doing pretty dang good for posting in the noon forum. Either you are really good with Google or you have a good amount of experience under your belt. I see you blocked coolant to the intake plenum, I realize people do that because the plenum are known to leak coolant into the engine but I really don't suggest it. Not that it is going to really hurt anything for say but for the reason coolant is there in thw first place..Coolant is there to warm the throttle body to prevent icing, not a big issue if you live in the southern states. It also keeps the plenum cool around the egr pipe. The egr pipe is the main cause for the plenums to fail and the pipe diameter was reduced in later years to keep some heat off of the plastic.

Anyhow props for all the work done! Its more than I would want to do after work xD

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the tb heater is there to prevent freezing in siberia. in places where most sane(ish) people live this isnt a concern. blocking it is worth a lil power actually

I'm in Iowa and see freezing in unheated throttle bodies every winter... The 4.2 is a prime example. Lol a little power huh, can a dyno even measure 0.00001 HP?

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cold air intake anyone? anyway if tbs are freezing in iowa you hav other issues, hav previously lived in des moines

I'm not to worried about tb freezing. Our ford Taurus doesn't seem to have an issue and theres no coolant anywhere near it. I usually drive my truck in the winter anyways. I just got this car and im already fed up with coolant leaks lol.
Yes this site and Google has helped me tremendously. I was going to give up on car until i read how easy it is to fix yourself. I was skeptical on the cradle drop for the PS rack but it wasnt a big deal.

yeah I feel the same way it's not needed in my area. although we were reaching -5F this last winter.