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Time Running Out Klms Need To Know Things

GAGT+GP-OWNER

GAGT+GP-OWNER

New member
my car 2007 GP base model NA 3800 series III.... klms warranty ticking down. so i need to hear EVERTHING that has and can or possible go wrong with these cars and engine. tell me everything you heard or know of or experienced from bumper to bumper. thanks troy.....

on the grand am websites i learned a ton of things , even things i had no clue were going or were going to very liklely go. i had so so many things replaced under warranty with my 2000 GAGT sedan.
 


to be honest. the only thing I can think of that I have helped replace is the steering shaft(makes a clunk noise)...when they are a little worn in.

also the assisted steering Rack and pinions.....sometimes have some problems.

those are the only 2 that I have seen/felt go wrong.
 
sorry yours is a 2001 . correct . so they should not experience the same thing. but i did hear some where about a steering clunk when turn to very hard right or left or both ????
 
This is being based off my friends 04 GTP. He had a hard time turning right...left it was perfect..but when he turned right...it acted like it did not have power steering.


the steering clunk from the steering shaft...they have a quick fix(tube of grease) from GM, or it might just be simpler just to replace the shaft. takes less than an hour. when you turn your steering wheel left or right you would here a clunk.......
 
do you hear the clunk ONLY hard full hard turn left and right . or anytime as your turning left or right. i thought once or twice i had heard a not so loud clunk ,when turning right but at full turn hard right. and i would think you would hear some amount of clunk on any car if turned full turn hard .
 


you should just be able to move the wheel left and right in quick motions not full turns and you should be able to hear and/or feel it. And GM is now replacing steering shafts, they have done away with the lube kits.

Overall grand prixs are the car I see the least in my shop for anything over than LOF's(oil changes).

Power steering racks go on occasion, I've seen one or two hub bearings, some problems with the DIC/6 disc cd player, if you have the onstar antenna right above the windshield in the middle of the car I've seen that cause a minor water leak onto the traction control switch causing your trac to be disabled and a light on the dash comes on (easy fix). I maybe have had like 2 trannys come in that needed replacement but they are few and far between. Like I said theres not much, those are only the ones I could think of.
 
are you a gm mechanic or service advisor . or other. i know the run of a body style of a car use to run as much as 8 year or more ??? now they run 3 to 5 ????

my body style of grand am ran 1999 to 2004.5 but they had/have a host of problems. but for now i do not hear much about 2004 to 2008 gp's .

so why stop a good run if the car had a very good track record for quality etc etc. is it pressure from consumers for something DIFFERENT LOOKING or from the import competition.
 
Yea GM wants to make pontiac into a performance division which is why you see less of the 'old people' cars such as the bonneville. This also started the GTP and GXP editions of most pontiac vehicles. The 2 door grand prixs were replaced by the GTO and the grand prix is phased out by the G8. Which has its 6.0 Liter V8 as well as an available V6 which in my opinion is no slouch lol. the V6 is rated at 260 HP which is as much as my GTP and thats with the supercharger. Versions of the GXP are out for the solstice which is turbo charged and theres one coming out for the G8 which im sure will be bad ass.

They couldnt get away from some economical cars though, which is were the G5 and Torrent mainly come in. As far as the G6 I believe it falls in between cause those little cars with the V6's are pretty quick.

GM also needed newer looking cars as well, I mean no offense but even your body grand ams look like they are from the 90's.

And yes, I am a GM mechanic lol.
 


okay so last night on my GP , i moved the steering wheel back and forth , and not to full turn either , but it rather quick motion. i heard and felt a clunk it appears when moving left. now it's nothing too too loud.

my grand am did and still does this alot worse. with my ga i also had a zipper like noise at the same time.

i showed both problem to them while plenty of warranty left. they fixed the zipper noice , same noice i even had in my 1998 ga. they replaced a seal i believe. but the clunk was still there. when i asked them about it they said it was withing gm tollerances.

i hope now they were BS ing me. and just did not want to replace rack and pinion. because now that would cost me huge. they did show /print there finds and fixes etc on a receipt . if i infact do need that on my ga i would love to be able to use the paper work againest them these few years after.

buddy of my with a 2004 ga had either the clunk or zipper noice,9 not sure which or if it was both ) on his and the gm dealer accross town replace the rack/pinion. WHAT's YOUR THOUGHTS on all this. is ther such thing as a tollerance level with these systems.
 
The clunk noise when turning the wheel quickly would be tie rods. Or at least I would start checking there. Could be ball joints or LCA bushings as well...
 
Could also be the steering shaft going into the rack. Those are known culprits of making noise in late model GM vehicles.
 
so those last 2 replies would be directed towards my 2000 gagt . yes ?? another question for you.

this on my 2007 gp....say i lock all the doors and then interior light goes out . but then i flip up the drivers door handle. should the interior light come on. if it is the correct item i see on our center dash monitor, the i have it set at ON .so i thinking the interior light should come on in that situation. it does with my gagt..

something esle my gagt does that it appears the my gp does not do . which is when i get out , lock the doors. the horn alerts and the front and rear light flash to indicate car is lock.
 
the zipper noise i had in the 2000 gagt . i remember now they replaced a seal in the steering shaft so that noise was fix .

. so the clunk i both here and feel , if i remember this happens only when car is parked and car is on so that you can rock the steering wheel left to right back and fourth quickly NOT to full turn either .

i don't think it is there if i rock it when driving. so does this help indicate which of those possible causes is the problem???
 


If its a steering shaft itself you would hear it everytime you move the steering wheel as long as its loud enough. Mostly all GM cars and trucks are known to have steering shaft problems up to the new year models.

Since it's still under warranty I would take it to your dealer and tell them you feel/hear a clunking noise in your front end and that it also happens when turning and as long as they are not a crappy dealer they sould diagnose it and to be honest they are really easy to diagnose once you get in the vehicle.
 
the clunk in the gp heard and felt , very lightly only at full fast turns, might just be starting to go ???, yes the gp has warranty ....




the clunk in the gagt heard and felt loudly while fast rocking of steering wheel and without having to go full turn back and fourth and while car on and sitting .

DO NOT believe it is noticeable while driving or even while driving if i rock it back and fourth fast .

the GA GT no warranty they said that clunk was with in specs / not bad enough for work i guess they ment. would this be related to the anoying and well know clunk we get with the front struts when say going over spped bumpers etc. i learned from GA websites that type of of clunk was because of the upper mounts .


what did you folks know about the interior light topic above and locked doors lights and horn alerting us 2004 to 2008 GP onwers ?
 
this on my 2007 gp....say i lock all the doors and then interior light goes out . but then i flip up the drivers door handle. should the interior light come on. if it is the correct item i see on our center dash monitor, the i have it set at ON .so i thinking the interior light should come on in that situation. it does with my gagt..

something esle my GAGT does , ( but it appears the my GP does not do ). which is when i get out , lock the doors by touching the lock button on the door panel. the horn alerts and the front and rear light flash to indicate car is lock .

now when you do this with my GP it just just a door chime then locks no horn no flash of lights.... is my gp lock/warning system working 100% correctly.
 
it appears at any speed of driving with the GP if i rock the steeering wheel back and fourth either slowly or quickly , there is no noise or clunk. that's good. but still have to test the car at full hard turns left and right.


again for my GAGT the clunk is heard and felt loudly while quickly rocking of steering wheel and without having to go full turn back and fourth ,and while car is turned on but sitting .

DO NOT believe it is noticeable while driving or even while driving if i rock it back and fourth fast .

the GA GT no warranty they said that clunk was with in specs / not bad enough for work i guess they ment. would this be related to the anoying and well know clunk we get with the front struts when say going over spped bumpers etc. i learned from GA websites that type of of clunk was because of the upper mounts .
 
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