Thread: Any one have any ideas on my car.....

ok so i bought this car for $300 runs drives stops.... its a 99 pontiac gtp 3.8 has roughly 240xxx on it idles smooth shift great. my question is any advice on cheap upgrades since it was so cheap lol. in the process of getting new mass sensor rear struts and evap solenoid and canister and gas cap. also doing the oil change and s/c oil... any other recommendations so i dont break the bank haha dont want to put to much into it. oh it has a k and n filter with a weird sealed box and the pcm is in it and has msd coils....

Yea, full tune up, change the fuel filer, trans fluid filter/fluid change (NOT A FLUSH!!). Do NOT over-oil the K&N filter or it could coat the MAF sensor and may kill it.

Get a set of stock coils from a junkyard and sell the MSD ones to fund the tune-up. Stock coils are actually better than MSD, and the MSD's have been known to have issues on these cars.

Beyond that, I'd install a trans-go shift kit to help the trans live longer (which can be installed when you drop the pan to change the fluid/filter since you're right there).

Check the front control arms and ball joints for wear/tie-rods, etc. If the rear struts are shot the fronts likely are too unless someone was cheap and only did the fronts.

Basically my point is get everything mechanically sound and then you can think about some small mods. There is no such thing as a "cheap" upgrade. You want more power, then you pay to do it right or end up paying more in the end when something breaks.

Maybe you could upgrade the stereo and add some window tint. That could be an inexpensive upgrade.

Originally Posted by FordMan77

Yea, full tune up, change the fuel filer, trans fluid filter/fluid change (NOT A FLUSH!!). Do NOT over-oil the K&N filter or it could coat the MAF sensor and may kill it.

Get a set of stock coils from a junkyard and sell the MSD ones to fund the tune-up. Stock coils are actually better than MSD, and the MSD's have been known to have issues on these cars.

Beyond that, I'd install a trans-go shift kit to help the trans live longer (which can be installed when you drop the pan to change the fluid/filter since you're right there).

Check the front control arms and ball joints for wear/tie-rods, etc. If the rear struts are shot the fronts likely are too unless someone was cheap and only did the fronts.

Basically my point is get everything mechanically sound and then you can think about some small mods. There is no such thing as a "cheap" upgrade. You want more power, then you pay to do it right or end up paying more in the end when something breaks.

Maybe you could upgrade the stereo and add some window tint. That could be an inexpensive upgrade.

yeah i understand that i am mechanically inclined it seems they were damn hacks.... stero is lest of my worries front end is nice and tight thoi know his ca has been beat on and just trying to make it reliable first and it came with stock coils and msd seems to run and idle better with the msd but ill change those back over and for plugs and wiers should i do the copper since there a colde plug and how about a 8 mm wire tryigt o get the old girl to run right b4 any major work you know andd the guy couldnt weld was tsting the new mass and the ****ing exaust fell down sory for the language but it looks like popcorn lmao so im dealing with that today

Originally Posted by Darkstar1586

yeah i understand that i am mechanically inclined it seems they were damn hacks.... stero is lest of my worries front end is nice and tight thoi know his ca has been beat on and just trying to make it reliable first and it came with stock coils and msd seems to run and idle better with the msd but ill change those back over and for plugs and wiers should i do the copper since there a colde plug and how about a 8 mm wire tryigt o get the old girl to run right b4 any major work you know andd the guy couldnt weld was tsting the new mass and the ****ing exaust fell down sory for the language but it looks like popcorn lmao so im dealing with that today

and i sound dumb but what trans is it i seen the 4t60e but idk went on the trans go site and it not listed

th enew parts are cheap enpugh for my budget and would rather put oem on it i now the mass is shot theres a code and a evap solinoid code i have a scanner lol i am a mechanic but mpre familiar with silverados then pontiacs but deff looking for input nd a steer in the right directiopn like i said the dude that owned it was a hack job

and sorry everyone i have a sticky keyboard so the mispellings lol

its the maf sensor code stating its malfunctioning n dthe eveap on the motor is in high circut

I'd just stick with stock range spark plugs for now. And the cheapest set of wires you can get from Autozone will work just fine. And if you have those stupid metal shields around the end of the plug wire where is connects to plug leave those off of the new wires, they're not needed and can cause issues. I've run for over 300K miles without those things. No issues.

With the K&N I'd wonder if it covered the MAF in oil. Get a can of actual MAF cleaner and spray it out good, let it dry and then plug it back in and try it. Clear out the codes first and see if it comes back. And if you do need a new MAF, do NOT go aftermarket. Junkyard OEM one for sure. These cars don't like the aftermarket ones. Might save you some money to deal with other things on it.

I just don't like throwing parts at stuff because that's what the computer said. Sometimes on these cars a code can be caused by something completely seemingly unrelated.

For the trans-go kit, go to tripleedgeperformace.com Dave is an expert on these trans. I got the kit from him so I knew I would get the correct parts.