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Pontiac GTO
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Comments
-Evan
I had a 94 Z28 that obtained $10k rear-ender damage when it was 3 weeks old (pushed under car in front too). I wish they had totalled it out - it took 3 months to repair.
Btw, I never heard anything about weak welds on GTOnaros before.
My 05s get a little lifter tap when cold. Or maybe it's piston slap. It disappears soon enough.
Best wishes, dude.
BTW, love the car, hate the GM service. Don't even get me started on that.
MJC
Guys.....Have this engine noise....goes /comes...think it is lifter tap? piston slap? Anyone having such noise??
2005 GTO 18,000 miles.
What does this mean?
what can be done?
What type of test should I ask the Dealer for?
Thanks Guys?
PONTIAC MADE A BIG MISTAKE IN LETTING THIS CAR DIE!
on your car also there may also be a "strut rub" issue - it will be obvious if the front tires have been contacting the struts. my 05 had zero evidence of strut-rub.
my 05 had the negative camber from factory - i noticed the tire issue at 15k miles before the factory tires were totally wrecked. i ended up getting 25k out of them, so you aren't doing too bad at 25k. replaced em with Toyo proxes - VERY happy with these tires.
GM service has been decent and good-faith for me, the alignment issue is the only significant problem the car has had. (also a bad blaupunkt and failed gas cap). pontiac insisted on paying for the alignment - the most expensive alignment i've ever heard of - $250 - took the dealer a week to do it and the printout showed me it was a tad out of spec after all that. i brought it back and said, "dudes if you are going to charge $250 for an alignment, it's pretty gutsy of you to give me a printout showing it's even 0.01 out of spec on any of the numbers - TRY AGAIN." so they realigned it for free, or at least manually edited the printout so it showed 100% within-spec. placebo effect works ok for me though.
if i were you i would not get it aligned anywhere but dealer or a speed-shop - apparently there are consumable bolts required for the alignment. pontiac might well pay for it no matter who aligns it - they are well aware of the issue and seem to be bending over backwards to make GTO owners happy, as far as i've seen.
as for the snow issue, your car and you and those around you are at serious risk if you drive GTO in snow/ice conditions without blizzaks or top quality snow/ice tires. do whatever it takes to avoid that, dude man. imho there is no such thing as an "all season" tire for a car like GTO although I have had some ok winters with *new* all seasons on VWs.
what should i tell the dealer about doing wheel alignment? Tell them to call Pontiac to get correct specs to prevent strut rub....or leave my car alone?
Please advise? :confuse:
Pedders alignment specs here:
http://www.peddersusa.com/images/PDFS/Pedders%20GTO%20Alignment%20Specs.pdf
Regarding strut rub... I went to 18" wheels (Holden CV8-R's) and was going to put on one of the 18" summer tires above, but lucked into a local set of 3200-mile takeoff stock Bridgestones (for $200!). Pretty happy with these.
I also changed out my front struts/springs and rear shocks/springs for Pedders Comfort Gas... the improvement in ride quality is fantastic (and my stock front struts would just collapse/were already shot at 18k miles). I also changed out the front and rear radius rod bushings, and lower control arm bushing, with SuperPro, and changed the strut mounts/bearings with Pedders (mount is their part, bearing is the same as the stock part). The handling improvement in my car is outstanding - there is very little body roll, and corners/curves which I could maybe take at 20-25 mph I can push 35-40 mph. Let another '04 A4 GTO owner drive my car, and he was blown away how much the upgrades (and alignment to the Pedders specs) improve the ride and handling. Really very happy with my upgrades...
At a minimum... all GTO owners should consider replacing:
1) the stock fluid-filled radius rod bushings. They're crap. One was totally collapsed, the other was leaking. I spent ~$120 for my SuperPro bushes from Autoform: http://www.autoformgroup.com/
2) the stock strut mounts and bearings. As mentioned above, Pedders has more severe-duty mounts, and the bearings you could get from them or your local Pontiac dealer.
I did the rear radius rod and lower control arm bushes because the stock parts aren't great and both could be easily done while all of the other work was in progress...
3) If you're running 245-width tires on 17" wheels, consider dropping down to 235's (the size that comes on the 18's, which gives more clearance between the tire and the strut/spring perch)...
Just so you know, you don't have to upgrade to 18" wheels to drop the tire size to 235's... you can put that size on your 17" wheels. If you want to upgrade to 18's for aesthetic reasons too, I completely understand
i've gotten at least 15 of those ABS errors on starting the car - there's gotta be a code stored for it. i just turn the car off & restart it until no abs error.
bad news #2, they crunched the long plastic running-board/rockerpanel under the drivers door. they admitted to it via paperwork but not verbally. when i dropped it off the service chick checked it and wrote no dents, no damaged. when i picked it up there was a note on one of the forms saying damage near fender. so they pointed me at the damage via the paperwork. seems like they were hoping i was not a nitpicking vehicular hypochondriac who reads all the paperwork. now i get to get some body shop estimates and decide whether to have them pay me cash or fix the car. to someone with good color vision, probably the color of new panel after painting will never match, so they'd probably have to repaint the entire side of the car. ugh. hammen2, any guesstimate on the $ value for such damage, assuming the panel has to be replaced & repainted? plastic parts can't really be repaired, can they? it's cyclone grey, btw. i wonder if there is undercarriage damage too.
my understanding is that the idea with changing to 235s goes along with getting factory-sized 18" wheels too.
in other news, dealership stepped up and is ordering a new drivers side rocker panel and will paint/bake/install it for free, although they went all "CSI" on the damage and showed me why they think it was crunched by another customer in their parking lot - not on the lift their shop. something really low must have impacted VERY hard to have crunched the rocker panel so much without touching any other spot on the car. anyway, i can now be happy buying my next 5 cars from them. the dealership jowner probably has a boat paid for entirely by me.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/uncle-sam-gives-tyre-defect-claim-the-boot/2007/- 09/13/1189276892000.html
NHTSA isn't doing anything about the tire rub/failure.
I really appreciate u for taking out ur time n reading this post:
I'm planning to buy an used car 1999 Pontiac GrandAM GT coupe black 2dr which has 67000 miles on it. and they r askin me for $4100.00
the ad owner posted:
1999 Grand Am GT. I drive it everyday and it has about 67,000 original miles on it as of now. This car has PW,PL,PS,moonroof, cruise control, cd player, leather,keyless entry, and controls on the steering wheel. New alternator, water pump, serpentine belt, plugs and wires, and both door window regulators. This car is very reliable ands sure to have lots of life left in it. The car is a 1999 so don't expect anything brand new but it does look nice. interior is very clean, Car has a clean title but has been in an accident and could use a passenger side airbag (just sitting in the dash right now)
Does any body have carfax subscription i can provide the VIN number of the car and could u guys please suggest me with an wise advise wheather to take this ride r not..
If so for how much can i ask them for this vehicle:
the VIN - 1g2nw12e9xm889908
And my main problem the owner is asking me to pay cash only, but iam planning to take an auto loan from any of the bank, but do the bank guys agree for getting me an check which i could deposit in my bank and pay the owner cash..?? iam planning to take loan from capital one and the minimum they will b gicing me $7500.00 and can i do this stuff..
Will appreciate ur fast responses n replies, u can mail me at buds3000@yahoo.com also.
Thanks a lot again..!!
This car is near or at the point where a lot of people have intake gasket problems.
Did 99's have passenger side airbag? I don't remember.
How is Capitol One going to give you a car loan at $7500 for something that doesn't cost that much? What backs the loan? I don't see this happening.
Being that it was in an accident, does it have a salvage title?
Should I do a wheel alignment after putting on new tires?
What specs. should I tell the dealer to use to prevent tire rubbing"?
Have 2005 GTO with 17 inch wheels ,should i go to 235s to prevent this tire rubbing?
Is there a "special TSB' for dealers to use when doing alignment?
Thanks guys................elias...robert...etc..etc...
wheel alignment is a good idea any time you get a new set of tires. given how bizarrely expensive and difficult my GTO's alignment job seemed for the dealer, i wouldn't be sure which shop could do the alignment properly. if tire wear seems ok, i might not go for another alignments. i hear some clunky-clunk noises from left front suspension on low speed turns though , maybe i need some new parts in there by now. (40k miles) .
are "consumable bolts" really required for alignment - that's what the local dealership said - and it delayed the work for many days.
i have a the dealer's alignment sheet in my GTO's trunk - i posted the #s somewhere in this thread way back when, if you wanted to see those.
i do understand that pontiac tech-services/factory-techs do have a 'revised alignment spec' for the car. sorry i cannot be more clueful for ya... i'll need new tires by next year and will have to consider these questions too..
No answer from Robert .
PONTIAC putting their monies into the "new" G8...........................bye bye 'Little GTO".
Looks like the "Last Muscle Car" will be the new CAMARO.
Too Bad........
I will keep this short and sweet. Had to get a new battery about a month ago things seemed fine...this morning had to jump my car AGAIN well the first time since the new battery. It seems to be connected to moisture...both times there has been major rainfall. Does anyone know of any problems like that?
2004 LS1
first # is min. second # is max.
primary angles
caster left 6.5 9.0
caster right same
camber left -0.7 0.3
camber right same
FRONT
toe right 0.00 0.15
toe left same
toe total 0.00 0.35
camber left -1.7 -0.4
camber right same
toe right 0.05 0.35
toe left same
toe total 0.05 0.75
thrust angle 0.2
front ride height 0.8" 1.6"
rear ride height 1.6" 2.4"
What is up Robert?
What is up Elias?
Come on guys....please do not tell me fans are getting excited over thos G6s/G8s.............Pontiac just gave up on our cars but we should'nt....The GTO is a great car.... I am still getting stares and people asking me about my car. Look at the excitement the new Dodge Challenger is starting-up????From a company going bankrupt...............the Pontiac guys were stupid.....
Anyhow, I got some questions for the group. My car needs tires....city driving...22,000 miles . I am trying to get Bridgestone Potenzas 245/45/17s because you guys say they are not as large as BFGoodrich KDWS....for the strut rub issue.........do you believe somepeople want $235,00 a piece ??? And they are hard to get...Anyway what tires do you guys prefer bet. the two[2]?////Do i need a wheel alignment.....I do not have any tire-rub problem????
Next, at 22,000 miles.....what type of service should I get?New air filter/fuel filter?
Come on guys ...lets keep talking......it is a great car :shades:
easy 25 mpg on southern fuel/drives, lucky to get 21 mpg northern.
some mild G8 excitement from me but not much due to no 6-speed and no integrated satellite radio. maybe they'll fix both those things for 2009. i only saw one other GTO all the way to FL & back on I95. And one SRT8 charger.
As for alignment, i think any car needs one after 25k miles.
tires, mine has 17s too - i like the toyo proxes and would buy another set of those. as for service at 22k or 25k, i don't think there is much of anything - whatever it says in owners manual! i use mobil 1 extended and change it every 10k or 15k.
ps - happy new leap year - if you are on salary you are working one day for free..
Is these the "revised-pontiac-factory specs" for the GTO?
Is there a sevice bulletin out on GTO Alignment? Can my "tire -dealer" perform this alignment ....or is it wiser to have it done at my dealership since
Any "new" stuff coming -out on 2 year old..3 year old GTOs?
Hello Robert?
Can not wait to see our cars on "Barrett-Jackson" . Wonder what our 2005/2006 cars are going you?
for all I know, there are double-secret re-revised alignment specs from GM by now. good to check with tech center. my GTO will need tires soon so I gotta consider whether to realign and who to trust doing the realignment. the 2nd set of tires are also wearing inner edges first, i think it is due to the continued but less-than-factory negative camber but the know-it-all tire store dude disagreed. i had tire dudes rotate side to side to balance the wear and get another 5k or 10k miles out of the tires - thatrequired dismount/remount/rebalance due to directional toyo proxes.
i tihnk the Pedders dudes advise a different alignment and are suspension gurus so i doubt you could go wrong to find an official pedders shop
ps - my GTO is too dirty to sell on BarrettJackson, they would slap it to the curb, parked with the taxis outside. (i wish it was "yellow jacket" but it is road-grime-cyclone-grey.)
NOTE:
MY Tire Shop 2005 Pontiac GTO "printout" was the same as given in message#4267..........as Pontiac finally got it RIGHT ? :confuse:
new V8 program cancelled, hey, the current V8 seems awfully nice.
What should now do??
1. Is there a "SECRET" Tech .Service bulletin on GTO tires,I can tell my dealer about?
2. Wheel alignment at dealer?
3. Should I tell the dealer to call" Pontiac" ...asked for Jorge? since i see his name mentionned on various "forums"
4. Tell then to replace "radius rod bushings" ?....since they are known to leak
Thanks
with the latest pontiac settings posted 271828 posts ago, the inner edges were over-wornout compared
to the rest of the tread after 15k miles, but nowhere near as bad as with the factory settings/tires. even so, to ensure another 10k out of the toyo proxes, i had them rotated side to side (dismounted/remounted/rebalanced.)
also the rear tires inner edges get munched just as much as the fronts, if not more, despite very rarely losing traction, really.
yes mparis1 this inner-edge tire wear is an inherent issue and the solution is to monitor tire wear very closely and not expect more than 25k out of a set of tires, even with optimal rotations.
ps - i've been driving it for most of the winter except during/after the big snowfalls. 20 mpg isn't quite so bad compared to 40 mpg diesel, when 87 octane is 2.97 and diesel is 3.50 . (i think GTO gets equal or better winter mpg with 87 than with premium octane - try it if you are in really cold climates!? same for LS1 & LT1 Z28s...)
mparis1, regarding your tires/alignment, strongly suggest you make a trip to a Pedders dealer. Being in NYC my guess is your closest one is Rocksand Racing in NJ. They can do a free 28-point inspection of your car and let you know if you have any failed bushings/components.
Suspension is a weak area on our cars, stock. In particular, the fluid-filled radius rod bushings, as well as the stock strut mounts, are weak and should be replaced. Either one of these could cause camber variations, which would make your alignment move all over the place while driving, thus causing irregular wear issues. The rear springs are also subject to sagging (if your car looks like it's riding on top of the rear tires, that's probably the issue).
You could push this issue with a Pontiac dealer and try to get either of these items covered under warranty. However, the replacement parts are the same as the stock parts, so you won't really be solving this problem for long.
I put ~$1200 into my GTO's suspension back last June (did both front and rear radius rod bushings, inner control arm bushings, front struts, springs, strut mounts and bearings, and rear shocks and springs) and I couldn't be happier with the car. I installed SuperPro bushings, the balance of the parts Pedders, and switched to their Comfort Gas struts and shocks. Not only has the ride quality improved dramatically, so has the handling. There is virtually no body roll, brake pedal and steering feel has improved, and I know I can take corners at speeds 10-15 mph faster than I could before.
I used the aggressive Pedders alignment specs http://www.peddersusa.com/images/PDFS/Pedders%20GTO%20Alignment%20Specs.pdf
but I'm not seeing any irregular tire wear with a set of takeoff stock 18" Potenza's I installed on my CV8-R wheels.
Suspension mods didn't kill my powertrain warranty and are something I can enjoy every time I drive the car (power mods, not as much, though I hope to get headers/catback later this year, as well as do the X-member bushings and install a diff insert and complete the suspension work). Highly recommend this if you love to drive your car aggressively...
Did the new bushings/changes increase noise or harshness.
I want to make sure my car stays farily quiet.
The suspension on my '06 loosened up at about 1400 miles to where the '04's was.
If ride quality/comfort/lack of harshness is what you're looking for, the Comfort Gas shocks and struts are for you. If handling and cornering prowess is what you're looking for, the Gas Sport Ryders (GSR's) are the way to go, unless you're autocrossing the car, at which point I'd go for Big Bores...
The GTO is history....amazing tha Ford can dwarf General Motors.......I guess it is over for Pontiac ...what do they have to offer a Pontiac G6/G8....................detuned old GTO styles in 4-doors......please
Cadillac performance car is a 4200 pound behemoth with a ZR-1 corvette engine....please stop.
And Chyrsler /Dodge Challenger / is going out of business...giving up dealerships/ worker buyouts ....so who knows who will be building those cars with smelly tuna -fish sandwiches in the back-seatand who will sell them or services them . Imaging the first-year problems..and no one to fix them..
So hats off to the Mustang ...it is the only muscle-car standing to takeon the Tonka Hot Wheel Toys from Japan.
A sorry situation
Both of my GTOs have been great, with the '06 being the better built of the two.
My car rides great, handles well, etc. but it is no Camaro with a beat you up ride and flat cornering. It is more of a GT car.
You need to spend some time with the car before you label it a lemon.
With proper alignment none of my GTOs have eaten tires, etc.
For instance I had my '04 alignment fixed because of a factory camber alignment issue and then put BFG KDW tires on at 8800 miles. When I turned the car in at 31K miles all tires had completely even wear and they had been rotated only once. The normal with the GTO is that once the accumulate a few thousand miles the sharpness in the steering goes away. If all I have to do is bushings, I can live with that.
If you want me to go back and talk about the front alignment design issues with the FOX body Mustang we can do that too.
i really miss satellite radio but I might drive the GTO into the ground even without it. GTO is so great for road trips and feeding dust to drivers of pseudo-fast vehicles like non-shelby/non-gt500s, just for example.
that new knight rider show looks good, i missed the pilot though. maybe it's downloadable from slowercarsthatsellmorethanGM.com .
If you have the camber correct in the GTO the tires don't rub.
Do you know of any Pedders dealers in the Washington DC area? I looked at their website but didn't see any. The closest seems to be PA.
Any ideas?
Chris
P.S. Still loving the car.