• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

noob from southern pa

dazedandconfused

dazedandconfused

New member
Hello, Shane here from southern central Pa. just bought my "new" 97' gtp grand prix sunday with 179,xxx miles, a smaller pulley, and a tune. engine/car is stock down to the stock airbox and all that and the guy says it makes around 14psi of boost. common boost number with a bit smaller pulley than stock? car seems solid barring the normal noises/rattles associated with a car that has nearly 180k miles on it. only issue i can see is 3rd gear (drive) seems to only engage when accelerating. hopefully with synthetic tranny fluid and/or lucas additive this will fix itself. overall i think i got a solid car for $1,600. can't wait to bring this car home and do some stuff to it i've been reading up on, like hai, the downpipe upgrade and possibly a shift kit. I'll try and avoid the common noob questions as i'm on several forums and those repetitive questions get old!
 


Welcome Shane...

That guy might have messed that car up if he is on 14psi with as much stuff stock as you say. Figure out what pulley size is on there so we can let you know how bad it might be.

In the meantime, read the link in my signature for more info on the right way to mod a 3800.
 
I'm about 2 hours west of Bedford. That's actually where I catch the TP when I head east. I go 68, to 220. Been through there many times.

As for your car it sounds like the previous owner didn't have a clue. If you really are making 14psi and the car is stock other than a pulley, then your engine is in trouble.
 
Explicit_Spade said:
Welcome Shane...

That guy might have messed that car up if he is on 14psi with as much stuff stock as you say. Figure out what pulley size is on there so we can let you know how bad it might be.

In the meantime, read the link in my signature for more info on the right way to mod a 3800.
Click to expand...

I've read this thread several times already, thanks lots of great info there. i don't think the engine is hurt. i've been around boosted engines a bit and this engine doesn't knock or does it "ping" under full boost so he has it tuned decent at least i think. i'll figure out what size pulley it has soon as i havent been by to actually pick the car up yet.

CTKGP09 said:
wlecome to the forums, i know people in the altoona area and went to college with a guy from bedford, come check out our fb page! Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More
Click to expand...
Thanks I'll check it out!
 


Don't take it WOT if you like the car or you'll be replacing the motor soon after. Assuming you have a 3.4 on it you should at the very least have an open cone and ubend delete.
 
hey dude, we have a great group of people around your area. Im about 2.5 hrs away from you.

We have a W body meet on Sept 17th in Tyrone, PA, Prolly gonna see around 25-30 cars there.

Get the pulley off ASAP if the car is stock
 
just so your aware, you CANT hear this KNOCK that we all talk about guy.

when the pcm/knock sensors sense that kr is accuring it pulls massive amounts of timing to try and save the motor from killing it self.

sure you cant hear whats going up, but your car is hurting really bad and soon to die if you keep it the way it is.
 
2003 SSEi said:
hey dude, we have a great group of people around your area. Im about 2.5 hrs away from you.

We have a W body meet on Sept 17th in Tyrone, PA, Prolly gonna see around 25-30 cars there.

Get the pulley off ASAP if the car is stock
Click to expand...

What time is that meet? looks like the 17th is the day i'm actually gonna be picking this car up. i'll baby it till i get all the crap figured out only ran it wot about 2 times to date. tyrone is about an hour an fifteen from me i think. oh sh!t i just remembered i have a damn wedding the 17th (not mine thank God)
Fivefingerdeathpunch said:
just so your aware, you CANT hear this KNOCK that we all talk about guy.

when the pcm/knock sensors sense that kr is accuring it pulls massive amounts of timing to try and save the motor from killing it self.

sure you cant hear whats going up, but your car is hurting really bad and soon to die if you keep it the way it is.
Click to expand...
i guess i meant the pinging part. i'll keep from honing on it till i figure all the pulley/tuning things out. yeah my first mods are gonna be a cone and the downpipe asap. i might even take the stuff to do the cone before i leave the guys house:)
 


2003 SSEi said:
no problem on the meet we have get togethers on a regular basis.

for the price of a Downpipe you can buy headers
Click to expand...

If this guy has this car tuned is it easy to pull the tune and get it tuned correctly or do I need a new pcm? Can I get a flash tuner and mess around with diffferemt parameters to see what works the best or with a tune am I stuck with that tune and only that tune?

Will you be at that meet in Tyrone? If so I'll try my best to make it down so you can look my car over and see what u think.
 
I'm more familiar with tuning diesel's and the options that go along with the plug n play tuners available such as Smarty, ppe, and sct to name a few. I know to write a really good tune for a forced induction gas vehicle it pretty much takes a laptop and some really good software. What all is involved in tuning my car? I see on here get a tuned pcm. Well how do I know That's the best way to go?
 
Measure the pulley with a ruler.

Post up the measurement.

Then we can decide.

If it making 14psi it is probably somewhere around a 3.4" with no other supporting mods and it is probably knocking like a b1tch.

Get headers...like in the link in my signature...tells you everything you need to know...if you've read it then you know how bad it could be for your motor to be running a smaller pulley with no flow mods.
 


dazedandconfused said:
If this guy has this car tuned is it easy to pull the tune and get it tuned correctly or do I need a new pcm? Can I get a flash tuner and mess around with diffferemt parameters to see what works the best or with a tune am I stuck with that tune and only that tune?

Will you be at that meet in Tyrone? If so I'll try my best to make it down so you can look my car over and see what u think.
Click to expand...

ya i will be at the Meet. Bring the car by. I do all the tuning for the locals with my HP tuners. it has way more abiliy than the handhelds that are available for the Diesel's
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top