5 Loose electrical connectors in engine bay *PICS*

[hewta]

Hi all. Just bought a 99 Grand Prix GT, Shes my first Pontiac and so far i love it. In the process of doing a large tune-up and while digging in the engine bay, I came across 5 loose electrical connectors. Has me quite concerned as i can't see why there would be 5 loose connectors from the factory.

These 2 are dangling right behind the intake manifold. I can't see any sockets in the area these could/should plug into.

This one is hanging right behind the radiator on the left side. Very corroded certainly hasn't been plugged in for some time.

This one was hanging down by the radiator core support (or "support beam" if you will) on the far right side just by the radiator drain plug.

And finally this puppy was hanging down by the radiator core support too, but on the far left side just under the left headlight. Seems to be some kind of ambient temp sesor maybe? I do have climate control so this may be feasible.

I'd appreciate any input. Very scary to see all those connectors dangling around. I should add the car runs great, shifts smooth as butter, and I have no check engine light or codes. I'm new here, and this looks like a pretty knowledgable community. Hopefully I can get some feedback.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BillBoost37]

Hi and welcome. Based on your first picture (supercharger in picture) I'll move this out of the non-charged area and into the charged area.

You bought a modified car.
First picture - Blue seal is EGR connector, red connector is evap soleniod connector. Both appear to have been removed from your car.
Second - Technically passenger side is the right side of a car, you determine side by sitting in the driver seat. That connector is likely for the coolant level sensor in the radiator.
Third - fog light connector
Fourth - That is connected and it's actually a fuel pump hotwire kit bypass. What is does is puts the fuel pump in high speed mode all the time. Originally there is a resistor in the right fender behind the washer tank that it would have connected to,

All these things lead me to the observation that your car was modified to have the EGR blocked off. Fuel pump has been rewired wtih a thicker gauge wire which is a good thing. Sensor in the radiator has either been unplugged based on it being annoying or because a different radiator (larger) that didn't have a place for the sensor was put into the car.

Do us a favor.. take a picture of teh exterior of the car, tell us where you bought it and take a few more under hood pics as well. Maybe we know the history of the car.

 

[hewta]

Hi and welcome. Based on your first picture (supercharger in picture) I'll move this out of the non-charged area and into the charged area.

You bought a modified car.
First picture - Blue seal is EGR connector, red connector is evap soleniod connector. Both appear to have been removed from your car.
Second - Technically passenger side is the right side of a car, you determine side by sitting in the driver seat. That connector is likely for the coolant level sensor in the radiator.
Third - fog light connector
Fourth - That is connected and it's actually a fuel pump hotwire kit bypass. What is does is puts the fuel pump in high speed mode all the time. Originally there is a resistor in the right fender behind the washer tank that it would have connected to,

All these things lead me to the observation that your car was modified to have the EGR blocked off. Fuel pump has been rewired wtih a thicker gauge wire which is a good thing. Sensor in the radiator has either been unplugged based on it being annoying or because a different radiator (larger) that didn't have a place for the sensor was put into the car.

Do us a favor.. take a picture of teh exterior of the car, tell us where you bought it and take a few more under hood pics as well. Maybe we know the history of the car.

Wow thank you for the quick response! Meant to say GTP not GT. Apologies for posting in the wrong forum.

I also have a nissan maxima that i did EGR and EVAP deletes on. I figured it was emission equiptment removal related. On my maxima the EGR spewed exhaust gas right into the UIM causing buildup on the TB and UIM. Wouldn't deleting these on the GTP cause some check engine/SES lights to pop up?

One of the things I focused on when looking at the car was if the previous owner did any performance mods, Which would lead me to believe they beat on it and redlined often. I don't think this was the case. Seems to have stock pulley, 195* T-stat (oem i think), stock headers and exhaust, still has "u" bend and resonator, hot plugs etc. So I don't think he was into modding much.

Here's the only pic I have currently:

Bad pic from the craigslist ad, will take better ones when it gets light out. Purchased from a younger guy near Minneapolis MN. It's the "special edition" with hood scoops and the strips on the roof, Bose, climate control, black leather interior, tinted tails and debaged trunk. Ring any bells?

Seems to have stock radiator as well. As for the coolant level sensor, There's a socket of some sort near the top of the radiator I take it? I'll go out and have a look in a bit.

As for the fuel pump bypass, I can't see why he would up the fuel pump pressure/speed on an otherwise stock engine. Is there any benefits/cons to having the constant high fuel pump speed?

Thanks again and forgive my arrogance. Just came from a world of imports.

 

[hewta]

Also, guess this is a good place to ask about my Driver Information Center. The screen is completely dead, and the buttons flicker with light like a dying lightbulb, except it does it on all the buttons. I've tried moving the working bulbs around but the screen is still dark. Also tried shining a flashlight on the screen and couldn't see anything. Fuse is good. Anything else I can try or is it just shot?

 

[BillBoost37]

Sometimes modded cars get returned to stock. Been there, done it myself. If it has stock exhsuat manifolds, there's no reason I could think of to pull the EGR and evap. No codes are being popped, because these items have been set to no report in the tune. Meaning..it's had a tuner or aftermarket pcm as well.

 

[BillBoost37]

Someone with experience on your little lego block display gizmo of a DIC will holler up. I'm not the expert on that thing. Gimme a real gauge/display or not at all.

 

[hewta]

Sometimes modded cars get returned to stock. Been there, done it myself. If it has stock exhsuat manifolds, there's no reason I could think of to pull the EGR and evap. No codes are being popped, because these items have been set to no report in the tune. Meaning..it's had a tuner or aftermarket pcm as well.

Yeah makes sense. May have had all the modifications removed. Just hoping it wasnt beat on TOO hard. Trans was rebuilt 5 years ago so hopefully it will hold up.

 

[glendayle]

I didn't see this referenced in Bill's response. The last pic you have is the ambient air temperature sensor.

 

[dbextreme]

^^^ correct. You should have a Temp reading on your rear view mirror and dual climate control?? Not sure about the climate control, or if this sensor has anything to do with that but I thought I read somewhere it does... :-/

All else is correct. Looks like the car might have had HID's on it, I see a couple of butt connectors/pigtails behind the ambient temp sensor hanging...

Also might have had headers, looks like the trans dipstick is tucked way over toward the brake booster, hard to tell though. Or I could be crazy..

Also, what are the big unions on the Fuel Rails for??? Makeshift moded rails for intercooler at one time?? Are they in the front also?? I'd first say patch, but both side by side like that and painted??

*** sorry I jacked your pic ***

 

[FoSHO99]

Join and post it up on MNClubgp.com , they should know whose it is if it came from somewhere near MN.

 

[hewta]

^^^ correct. You should have a Temp reading on your rear view mirror and dual climate control?? Not sure about the climate control, or if this sensor has anything to do with that but I thought I read somewhere it does... :-/

All else is correct. Looks like the car might have had HID's on it, I see a couple of butt connectors/pigtails behind the ambient temp sensor hanging...

Also might have had headers, looks like the trans dipstick is tucked way over toward the brake booster, hard to tell though. Or I could be crazy..

Also, what are the big unions on the Fuel Rails for??? Makeshift moded rails for intercooler at one time?? Are they in the front also?? I'd first say patch, but both side by side like that and painted??

*** sorry I jacked your pic ***

Yepp has HID's, I have no temp reading on my mirror. The dipstick is certainly tucked waaaay back in there. Hard to get at the stick with the strut bar in the way. Looks like it may have been bent a little bit. Likely to accommodate headers?

No idea what the big joints on the fuel rails are for. I figured it was stock. I'll take better pics of the bay tomorrow as it's already dark here.

Kinda bummed it was modded previously. Means it was likely beat to ****. May have been the first owner. The guy I bought it from bought a new toyota corolla 1.6L so i cant imagine he was much of a speed demon Seemed like a pretty honest guy. Told me about a few quirks I would have not otherwise noticed immediately.

Im 100% comfortable rebuilding the engine from the block up. But an automatic trans is the one thing I have never touched. Sure I could do it with a service manual and some guidance online but id prefer not to. The guy said the trans was rebuilt in 2008 and I think its safe to say it was considering i have 165k on the clock. Do these trannies have a chance in hell to last more than 165k? especially on a suspected modified car? from what I gathered we are lucky to make it to 120k on the factory 4t65-hd. Again im still very new to domestic cars.

So far I have: changed fuel and air filter, changed to mobil1 synthetic and wix filter (wix is god filter in nissan land), changed plugs, Flushed cooling system, flushed PS system, supercharger oil and planning on doing a pan drop and fluid refill, but am highly considering a shift kit too before I do so. Also considering filling with dex VI. I hear good and bad things about switching to VI but more good things than bad.

I have a small shudder going from 2nd to 3rd above 3k rpm. Think a shift kit, filter and fresh dex VI would help/cure the hard shift? Open to any suggestions, again forgive my lack of knowledge. This is my first auto trans.

edit- foSHO99, Will do, Thanks. Nice to see a local forum. Not surprised considering every 3rd car on the roads here is a pontiac lol

 

[dbextreme]

HID's in your fogs would explain why you have the spare plug hanging. The signal to turn on your hid's come only from one plug, the other is left unhooked and tucked away so no biggie there.

I forgot what all the temp sensor works with, just the mirror comes to mind off the top of my head. Have to research it if you are interested, but that is what the sensor in the last pic is.

If the trans was rebuilt 5 years ago, it could be shifted over from a snag in the install. Again it could also be from headers, depending on the brand of headers used. If the previous owner kept the stock exhaust, then the original manifolds and downpipe could easily be put back on. Due to the EGR delete, I'd lean more toward headers but it's still 50/50.

I'm wondering if the rear O2 sensor was removed along with the other stuff. Others can chime in, I am still learning, but removal of the EVAP and EGR won't really gain anything other then cleaning up of the engine bay. When I had my car tuned I left the EVAP in place, but I did have my EGR removed just because I personally did not want hot exhaust gas flowing back through the supercharger. I'm trying to keep the air as cool as possible. My logic may not be correct, but ehh.... LOL It does have to be tuned out or you will throw trouble codes and other then a couple MPG loss on the highway you won't now the difference.

The joints in the fuel rails aren't stock. I've used those unions on my plastic fuel and evap lines. Why they were added, I'm not sure. could be something simple that the previous owner tried to removed the rails, pulled on it to hard and bent them right there. Instead of buying other rails, he fixed them. No big deal I wouldn't think, just something I haven't seen. More pics of the engine bay will give us a better idea.

As for the trans and fluids, it's alllllll greek to me.. LOL I have my fingers crossed mine will hold up for atleast a year with my build.. I'll baby it, uh huhh.. I have heard as many good stories as I have bad with the trans. As for flushes of fluids, I wouldn't use chemical flushes/cleaners when doing fluid changes on higher mileage cars, but that's just my personal preference.

 

[hewta]

HID's in your fogs would explain why you have the spare plug hanging. The signal to turn on your hid's come only from one plug, the other is left unhooked and tucked away so no biggie there.

I forgot what all the temp sensor works with, just the mirror comes to mind off the top of my head. Have to research it if you are interested, but that is what the sensor in the last pic is.

If the trans was rebuilt 5 years ago, it could be shifted over from a snag in the install. Again it could also be from headers, depending on the brand of headers used. If the previous owner kept the stock exhaust, then the original manifolds and downpipe could easily be put back on. Due to the EGR delete, I'd lean more toward headers but it's still 50/50.

I'm wondering if the rear O2 sensor was removed along with the other stuff. Others can chime in, I am still learning, but removal of the EVAP and EGR won't really gain anything other then cleaning up of the engine bay. When I had my car tuned I left the EVAP in place, but I did have my EGR removed just because I personally did not want hot exhaust gas flowing back through the supercharger. I'm trying to keep the air as cool as possible. My logic may not be correct, but ehh.... LOL It does have to be tuned out or you will throw trouble codes and other then a couple MPG loss on the highway you won't now the difference.

The joints in the fuel rails aren't stock. I've used those unions on my plastic fuel and evap lines. Why they were added, I'm not sure. could be something simple that the previous owner tried to removed the rails, pulled on it to hard and bent them right there. Instead of buying other rails, he fixed them. No big deal I wouldn't think, just something I haven't seen. More pics of the engine bay will give us a better idea.

As for the trans and fluids, it's alllllll greek to me.. LOL I have my fingers crossed mine will hold up for atleast a year with my build.. I'll baby it, uh huhh.. I have heard as many good stories as I have bad with the trans. As for flushes of fluids, I wouldn't use chemical flushes/cleaners when doing fluid changes on higher mileage cars, but that's just my personal preference.

Not sure about HID's in fogs, The fog's dont turn on at all. The switch works but no response from the lights. Fuse is good. Maybe just bad bulbs?

Heres some (poor night pics) of the bay. Red cable coming from battery was installed by me for a subwoofer and inverter.

The bay:

Looks like the evap parts are still in place? At least thats how the evap looked on my last car.

Charger and fuel rails

Pulley:

Look stock?

Little better look at the fuel rail joints.

Oh and as far as "dual climate control" I meant theres driver and passanger side settings. Think it's called seperate or individual climate control in other cars.

Hoping the modding owner didnt go too ape****, but the car still pulls nicely, plenty of ponies left under the hood. But curious what you guys think was all done to her.

edit- Also the rear 02 sensor IS removed. It did not throw a check engine light, But i did pull a code for it with an OBD2 scanner. No check engine light a result of a ECM flash? or "pcm" i think it was called.

 

[BillBoost37]

Damnnnnit I was off on the temp sensor. I called it an FP rewire. Maybe the FP isn't rewired. Taht sensor technically should be up in front of the radiator.

 

[FoSHO99]

I may be totally wrong, but I it sounds and looks like you may have this car:

If you search Dykz34, you should find some more info. But basically, he did get a new trans from Harmon in 2008, demodded and sold in 2009. You may have gotten a special edition hood, but the car isn't an actual special edition from the looks of it (rims, etc.). Most of what was on it was returned to stockish form.

 

[dbextreme]

HID's in the fogs might have been removed.. may have had them at one point in time.. I just noticed pigtails/butt connectors hanging in that one pic

Also that is not a stock pulley. It's a modular pulley system, and looks like a smaller then stock pulley...

I figured the rear O2 was deleted since all the other stuff was. So I assume you have a custom. If the car runs and drives fine, have fun with it. It should pull a little harder then a stocker.

Other's can comment on the fuel rails, if it's a common mod for certain upgrades or a patch job...

 

[hewta]

I may be totally wrong, but I it sounds and looks like you may have this car:

If you search Dykz34, you should find some more info. But basically, he did get a new trans from Harmon in 2008, demodded and sold in 2009. You may have gotten a special edition hood, but the car isn't an actual special edition from the looks of it (rims, etc.). Most of what was on it was returned to stockish form.

Hmm very interesting. The guy I bought it from bought the car from his brother one year after the trans was rebuilt (2008) so those dates do match up. Tint looks a bit lighter in back than my car. I wanna say around 25% in back and 50% in front (mn law).

I dont have the full clear headlamps, still have the orange side markers. Rims are diff too. But that all may have been changed before sale.

If it was making 512WHP at any time, I see a full engine rebuild in my near future lol.

Anyone else have input on the pulley? if its smaller than stock I suppose I should check for KR, since there are no supporting mods for a smaller pulley. What is the best way to check for KR? A nice OBDII scanner?

 

[hewta]

HID's in the fogs might have been removed.. may have had them at one point in time.. I just noticed pigtails/butt connectors hanging in that one pic

Also that is not a stock pulley. It's a modular pulley system, and looks like a smaller then stock pulley...

I figured the rear O2 was deleted since all the other stuff was. So I assume you have a custom. If the car runs and drives fine, have fun with it. It should pull a little harder then a stocker.

Other's can comment on the fuel rails, if it's a common mod for certain upgrades or a patch job...

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a modular system? How does this differ from stock?

On my maxima the rear 02 did not adjust the A/F ratio, was just used for emissions. Is this the case on grand prix's? I take it a rear 02 delete is pretty common practice.

It def pulls hard. I ran a 6.1 0-60 in my last car and it pulls just as hard maybe harder. Haven't redlined yet. Waiting for full tuneup, just trans pandrop, shift kit and refill left then i'll let the pedal meet the floor.

BTW thanks for all the advice/help.

 

[dbextreme]

Tint (that you can see through) varies in light, unless you are like mine with 5% all the way around it just looks black.. LOL

He could have pulled the lights off to sale for a little extra $$$ and put the stockers back in. Those rims are not special edition rims, they are just standard ones. I actually have a set under my porch off my 99 GT.

If the car drives great, it maybe good to go for a while!!! Don't count out the motor yet..

Aeroforce!!!

Our Stock pulleys are press on.

See big black 3.8" pulley with no allen head screws holding the pulley on:


Modular pulley system is just a hub that is pressed onto the supercharger shaft. The allen head screws are what holds the pulley on. Pulley swaps are easy, 5 screws and the pulley falls off leaving the hub behind. Here's mine after I pulled the stock pulley off and put my modular system on with 3.4" pulley

 

[BillBoost37]

For all you know the car got demodded because the engine blew. At 512hp, I doubt you still have the original motor. A guy would feel that kinda power.

Likely the engine was swapped, he demodded and sold it off as a fairly stocker.