Sparky's Try at a 2000 GT Daily for $1.5k

[sparkydog]

I couldn't help myself! I just bought a white 2000 GT with 120k miles, a salvage title and several "issues" for $350. This is my 2nd GPrix. (The other is a 2001 GTP.) Join me as I attempt to coax it into a reliable daily driver for under $1,500 all in.

The first task is to investigate the true cause of what made the PO bail on it - overheating. Can any of you fine gentlemen give me your suggestions on what steps I should go through to understand what the PO meant by "it's overheating" and determine whether the motor is still OK? I will eventually pull the motor out and do oil pan gasket, mounts, UIM/LIM and valve covers. But first I'd like to try and leave the motor in, drive it for a month and get to know it better.

Car runs, drives. No codes. How should I go about investigating the overheating thing? Thanks for reading!

 

[timboku]

Replave thermostat first..cheap and easy, see what that does, checkncoolant level, check.oil make sure no coolant in oil indicating lim or hg failure, thats what I would do.

 

[sparkydog]

The plastic brake fluid tank on the master cylinder is broken/cracked. It looks like there is a inner clear plastic liner and an outer white-ish housing. The outer housing is all broken/cracked. Can I replace just the plastic stuff off the top of the cylinder? Or do I have to get the assembly - both the metal cylinder and the plastic housing? Another way of asking is - can I remove the plastic fluid tank off the top of the master cylinder?

 

[sparkydog]

Why yes Sparky you CAN just replace the plastic tank! They are held on with two roll pins. However in a Jyard environment it is easier to just pull the whole assy and buy it rather than separate the tank. Yesterday was the first time I've ever been able to find the entire list of parts on my wish list in just one visit to the Jyard. I came home with coolant o'flow bottle, fuse block mounting bracket, master cylinder & tank, strut tower braces, grille support bracket, washer fluid tank assy (the kind that goes inside the fender well), several feet of vac hose, wire harness and a few things that snuck into the bottom of my tool bucket.

The salvage title likely came from a hit to the front right corner as there are several broken items from this area. I quickly discovered there were s***-rigged solutions that I wasn't comfortable with that needed fixing before I could proceed with the main goal which is to work on the overheating. I even found that the vac line that feeds into the main harness down near the fuse block had been cut and then re-connected to the remains of the washer fluid pump. So that line was letting the manifold suck on the washer pump and the interior (probably HVAC controls?) was without vacuum.

Today I will finally focus on the coolant/overheating issues. I'll flush the cooling system and also do a compression test. I've pulled the Tstat (looks brand new) in prep for the flush. I've got black sludge all over the interior of the radiator. Stay tuned for updates.

 

[sparkydog]

My costs are now at $425 with the Jyard parts. Not counting the $0.63 in coins found during the initial cleanout of the interior. There's probably core charges on some of the Jyard parts that I may get back later on.

Didn't find any guns, drugs or money (hopefully all three at once!) hidden away yet. But I've still got the rear door panels to remove. There's always hope!

 

[sparkydog]

I have a leak in the transmission dipstick tube. Not the grommet but higher up - probably at the mounting bracket - which looks to be about 3-4" above the grommet. When I add oil some of it leaks out the side of the tube. So I want to repair this. If I remove the dipstick tube to repair the leak will trans fluid come out of the opening where the tube goes into the top of the pan?

 

[REDCRAPGP]

It shouldn't, unless there's still fluid in the dipstick tube then obviously that would come out.

Had to repair mine last week




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[sparkydog]

Thanks!