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It's not a difficult repair, and if you search this forum you will find it discussed quite often.
I did it on my now gone 99, and have helped others (both Alero's and GA's) with the repair.
P/N 15359314 (I think)
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/
Thanks for the info, wherebouts in the car is this part located? Something easy to get to. I have a feeling its under the glovebox because thats where I saw the mechanic working the first time it was fixed.
I prefer to do jobs myself rather then take it to a shop...i'm pretty new at working on cars since all of my cars are out of warranty now.
Thanks
Bill
Thanks for the info, wherebouts in the car is this part located? Something easy to get to. I have a feeling its under the glovebox because thats where I saw the mechanic working the first time it was fixed.
I prefer to do jobs myself rather then take it to a shop...i'm pretty new at working on cars since all of my cars are out of warranty now.
Thanks
Bill
I have looked at previous grand ams. Thats not true pontiac changed the roof style. In previous years the roof was in sections or there was seams at the window. In 2004 they went and tried to have a single piece look. For a company that has so much experience they did a real crapy job with this design. Since my neighbor pointed it out to me I can now see it from across the street. This problem should have been caught on the production floor and fixed. I work in manufacturing and if we were to put this kind of quality out, we would not be in business.
You make the statement that to see the wavy sheetmetal you need to "bend down and look at eye level it appears to be wavy" which is true, but then "I can now see it from across the street". Which one is it? Or does the lighting have to be just right to see it from a distance? I suppose this could be the case with a dark color.
Also, if your worried about resale, your in the wrong car. These cars aren't known for it. You better figure on driving it until it drops if that's the case.
I wouldn't expect anything from Pontiac about this. It's been that way all along, and isn't unusual with welded and filled roof seams. Would you rather have a completely visible seam like in the older body style? Or a cheap looking piece of trim put there? These are all other ways that seam is done.
Now I know why these cars have no trade value. I have looked at simular cars from other manufacturers and they don't seem to have a problem with there's. Or is it that nobody has really put the screws to pontiac to get it right. I guess I am going to give it a shot. I have already opened an ad in this weekends newspaper to locate local owners. From there we will see a lawyer to see how to proceed. This car is way over priced to have a body flaw like it has. My car is Maroone or Sport Red.
Also kinda strange no lumbar support in a grand am GT without the 6 way power, I don't know if the 6 way power has lumbar but I expected that car to have it when a Sonoma Pickup has an adjustment... I had never noticed this until taking a road trip to Wyoming, and just getting back yesterday to CA
Thanks for not making me feel like I was the ONLY one who had a problem with this.
I have flushed out the Dexcool and refilled with another well known make and the problem has now gone.
There is no loss of coolant, but it sure seems strange for an anti-freeze to sludge like this.
The engine makes some weird noise under acceleration (sort of a roaring noise, but not real loud), and at least once when I tried to accelerate, the car actually slowed down instead of speeding up. It sure seems to me to be the classic symptoms of catalytic converter failure. (I had a converter go bad on my little 89 S-10 pickup, and the way my son's car behaves is just like the S-10 acted then.)
There are no "check engine" lights or anything.
I did a search in here on "catalytic converter," and it seems there was just one case of someone having problems, and that was on a 99 model with 85,000 miles on it.
Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be? Think I might be right in thinking it could be a catatlytic converter failure? Have you guys heard of many catalytic converters going out at about the mileage my son has on his car, 77K?
Is the converter under warranty until 80K?
I will take it to a GM dealer Monday, but I would appreciate any info you guys can supply in the mean time.
I'll be sure to let you folks know how this turns out, so you can benefit by our experience.
Thanks.
Tom
I guess it can cause warped valves, melted plug wires, and other nasty things from the extreme heat build up when you drive one too long with a stopped up converter. I was lucky on my S-10 and even though I drove it until it just wouldn't run any more, I did not do any damage to the engine.
I only discovered what the problem was very late in the process, and the truck gave up the ghost an eighth of a mile from the muffler shop. I had to push it the rest of the way! That would have been bad enough, but the road was slightly up hill from where I was to the shop.
The truck had about 150K miles on it at the time, so no warranty in that case.
I don't know whether to take a chance and drive my son's car back to the dealership where I bought it, which is about a 25 mile trip, or whether to take it to the nearest GM dealer, about three miles from here. I really like and trust the service department where I bought the car, but I might do some damage by driving that far.
Tom
I took a chance on driving it the extra distance to get it to the dealership where I bought it, but I made it OK, and they even said I could drive it back home and then come back with it when the new converter comes in. I HOPE they are right... would sure hate to do some damage to the engine, but I trust these guys, so I'll go with what they say.
Tom
Tom
Tom
I don't believe gas mileage is hurt by supercharging, and it could actually go up.
Someone smarter than me should jump in here. (Shouldn't be hard to find someone that meets that qualification).
Tom
2) Keep in mind that the addition of the supercharger will effect any GM/Pontiac warranty still left on at least the engine/trans. Will also effect any extended service policy that is transferable or that you purchase.
3) As an aftermarket modification, it may even effect your car insurance. Check with your company or agent.
4) There may even be state emissions testing implications.
5) You may also want to think about how the first owner treated the car with the extra horsepower.
1. it does require premium gasoline (which really sucks)
2. the supercharger is a gm part and was put in by a pontiac dealership and therefore warranty is not affected
3. the car has extended warranty till 2007 so ill be safe for 3 years.
4. as for insurance it will affect it.. however what the insurance agent does not know cant hurt him
5. im from canada so we are pretty lax about emissions over here
and lastly.. that car really flies... i have a 2003 3.4 gls alero... and there is no comparison.
i think ill be making an offer pretty soon and see where things go from tehre.
by the way is $18000 CAN($13500 US dollars) for the car a good deal? it has 24000km (14900mi) and is a 2002 grand am gt 2dr with sunroof with a magnasupercharger and an extra 3 years remaining on warranty.... let me know
thanks
I reckon the cable has streetched and needs bringing in.
Thanks in anticipation.
So, hopefully, I have replaced all obvious maintenance items and will get another 5 1/2 years of flawless driving.
Note: some of the items were normal maintenance items such as the belts, coolant, hoses etc.
However, I did not expect the A/C compressor to give such a short life of operation.
Thanks.
Ian
For example: Our 95 Grand Am had the compressor replaced in 2001. My now wrecked 99 was still working OK till the wreck on 3/31/04 at 93,000 miles. I don't know how much longer it would have lasted, the compressor was getting noisy. My 85 Suburban, now 19 years old, is on it's third compressor (replaced again in spring 03), but remember it's an R12 system. Contrast this with our old 1980 Mercedes 280 (R12) which has the original compressor, and actually the only AC repairs to it in 25 years has been replacement of the high pressure hose (at least in the sealed AC system). Go figure.
As far as the intake manifold gaskets, that's a known problem with the V6 (actually, many aluminum V6's) and has been discussed here quite often before.
I suppose a power steering pump failure can happen that early, but I would need a little more reason than just a "strange noise".
One thing though, why was the water pump changed? Was it leaking?
After my 99 was rear ended (hard), I took the settlement and bought an 04 Grand Am GT. I did the same cost/value assessment, figuring in the same repairs that were done on the 99, and found it to still be a good bargain over the higher priced competition, as long as you don't plan to sell it or trade it within a few years.
My Car coolant temp from the gauge on the dashboard runs from 200-205 Normal load No harsh conditions other than being the summer.
Any car Ive ever owned never ran this hott, 180-190 seems the Norm.
The car is now running perfect again but it was disappointing to have to lay out $2,500 on basic non-maintenace parts. I feel GM just has a very low mean mileage to failure standard. Hopefully, my car will be maintenance free for the next few years. Anyhow, my idea of trading for the G6 has been on indefinite hold.
Does anyone know if the A/C fan can be lubricated to eliminate this noise. Also, will some oil in the steering wheel crack correct this steering noise?
I saw the aiming bolts, those were torx head, I removed larger hex head bolts. Do I have to remove a large plastic cover to gain access to these clips. There is a plastic cover that spans the entire width of the car that has access holes to the aiming bolts as well as the bolts I removed. This cover is not shown in the picture in my manual.
It really isn't so bad compared to changing the lights on the current Jetta or an older Mitsubishi I used to drive.
One simple line in the manual would have been nice - remove black plastic cover, then ...
And the picture in the manual is taken after the unmentioned step!!!
Oh well, It will be easier next time.
I don't think you can do this with the 99 and up Grand Am, though.
Anyway, I liked the DRLs when I had my 96 Grand Am. It was the only thing in the car that never broke down