New to the Grand Prix

[Hex6168]

Hi, I picked up an 04 Grand Prix, N/A with 160k miles. Car was fairly well maintained (no rust, spotless interior, that kind of thing) but with it being that old I'm sure I'll need advice and help doing repairs under the hood. No modifications have been done to it as far as I can tell.

Noted issues:
1) Intermittent stall on ignition, preventable by giving any pressure on the gas pedal at all.
2) Front suspension...right front tie rod and hub for sure, as old as she is, probably more.
3) Valve cover gasket
4) The cover for the engine is missing!

Here she is, as of yet unnamed (I'll give her a name after I do some work on her):

And under the hood:

 

[tzerilli]

thing is clean man looks like my car when I have dreams that the previous owner wasn't a flipper and it didn't get into a bunch of small accidents haha but for the noted problems first off the cover being gone is a plus. less wieght, less things to take apart, looks better imo. also for the tie rod get moog lol learn from me and the hub I have a Timken eco and a Detroit axle and both have been great (think I have some random brand in the back right its been fine too) valve cover is pretty simple rear will require new coolant and front gm does for free as a recall:th_thumbsup-wink: im no help on the first one though haven't had that issue

 

[TheRiGuy]

Hi, I picked up an 04 Grand Prix, N/A with 160k miles. Car was fairly well maintained (no rust, spotless interior, that kind of thing) but with it being that old I'm sure I'll need advice and help doing repairs under the hood. No modifications have been done to it as far as I can tell.

Noted issues:
1) Intermittent stall on ignition, preventable by giving any pressure on the gas pedal at all.
2) Front suspension...right front tie rod and hub for sure, as old as she is, probably more.
3) Valve cover gasket
4) The cover for the engine is missing!

Here she is, as of yet unnamed (I'll give her a name after I do some work on her):

nice car! looks awfully similar to my 2007 GP. This is by far my favorite color that these cars came in and at least in my area they are quite rare in this color.

I am by no means an expert on diagnosing stalling issues but I will recommend you try cleaning your throttle body as it may be your issue. They tend to get all plugged with carbon which restricts the air flow into the engine causing it to run rough at idle or even stall. I can almost guarantee you will find it dirty and it will at least help if not solve the problem. There are tons of youtube vids on how to clean it and i'm sure there's a write-up on here somewhere, its not very hard to do but you do need to be careful with the MAF sensor.

I have a bad control arm bushing and clunky sway bar end link on my front driver side and decided to just go all the way with a Moog front end kit from Rockauto which also comes with the inner and outer tie rod ends. Once the weather warms up I plan on installing the kit and hopefully I don't have anymore front end issues for a long time

Like mentioned above the valve cover gasket will be replaced for free at a dealer because there is a recall out for it. Not sure if they do both or only the front, they are not that hard to do though I changed both before I knew there was a recall.

The engine beauty cover can be found at almost any junkyard, I see them all the time.

 

[Hex6168]

Thank you guys for the warm welcome!

I ran the VIN immediately through GM and the NHTSA to check for recalls and couldn't find anything open on the car, that was done prior to purchase as the light oil leak was the only thing I could find wrong with it under the hood.

I'm going to be cleaning the TB and MAF tomorrow after a business meeting and hope that fixes the stalling issue on ignition.

I'll be getting the gasket for the rear valve cover in 2 days, will probably do that fix next weekend when I have my kids. They love watching me work on cars.

I'm in Rockford, IL and the potholes are even worse than usual this year. The right front isn't in danger of falling apart just yet, so I'm going to put that off for about a month as to not immediately damage new parts. Thanks for the hint on doing the whole front end kit - question though, did it come with CV axles as well?

Love your car, btw. The last 3 I've had have all been that color...seems it finds its way to me.

 

[Elementsoffire]

Welcome to the club bud That is a beautiful car! Maroon and white are my favorite colors for this car. I think it's more of a refined elegance I'm certainly no expert, but I'll be happy to chat about any repairs you need to do if you need a confidence boost. A few repairs later on my 99,:th_nervous: I'm pretty comfortable under my hood. (PCV valve, vacuum leak repair, both tie rod ends, sway bar links, lower control arm passenger side, rear valve cover gasket, water pump, belt tensioner, shift kit and more..) Yours is new enough it has the hardened 4th gear spline, so you got it good transmission wise hopefully anyway. I'm here lurking around somewhere if ya like.

 

[Hex6168]

Thank you, Elementsoffire.

I cleaned the TB and MAF sensors a little bit ago and then went joyriding. Idles at a significantly lower RPM (~650 vs. ~1250), sounds better, drives better, and I haven't had any ignition stalls, so I think that might have done it. The MAF had a bunch of dust inside of it, and the throttle valve took half a can of cleaner to get the carbon off of it. I did a TB relearn afterward due to how significant the build up was.

Now I need to take some time to think about what her name is.

 

[Bronco Boy]

Welcome. Nice car.

The starting issue could also be the fuel pressure regulator (FPR). For over a year I put up with crank, start, die unless I put an ounce of weight on the throttle. Swapped the FPR and she starts on her own and like a champ.

 

[TheRiGuy]

Thanks for the hint on doing the whole front end kit - question though, did it come with CV axles as well?

unfortunately the kit doesn't come with the CV axles, it comes with:

-both front complete lower control arms with ball joint and bushings
-both front inner and outer tie rod ends
-both front sway bar end links