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Here are the symptoms:
Car 1: 2000 Grand Am. Its a 2.4 litre twin cam 4 cylinder.
Has a back fire issue.
Scanned. Code reads as follows PO171 (system too lean Bank 1) and also PO300 (Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected) Replaced the fuel filtre, all 4 spark plugs, and the coil pack. Not sure where else to start looking at solving this issue as its my sons car.Car 2: 2000 Grand Am. Its a 3.4 litre V-6
I need to keep adding coolant to this car. Doesn’t seem to be a leak or a leak that I can see anyway. My oil looks normal (not milky). Replaced the coolant reservoir and cap, top coolant hose, thermostat, water pump. Had it pressure tested about a month ago thinking maybe the head gasket and it came back normal so mechanic said.Not sure where a person should start to look for these problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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It’s usually been about a six hour job for me. The pressure test might tell you about a leak. At least make sure the cooling system is full before you pressurize it or the test is a waste. Realistically, look at the ends of the head on the rear bank and you’ll probably find a leak trail without even using the pressure tester. The ends of the head on the rear bank is where they most commonly leak.
How much more work is the head gasket if I end up doing the intake gasket should a guy do the head gasket.
Quite a bit actually….You have to remove the exhaust manifolds, fan(s) shroud assembly on the front, power steering unit, alternator, front engine mounts, ac compressor, , etc., Not to mention taking the heads to the machine shop to be tested and resurfaced and then cleaning the mating service at the block and re-torquing to proper sequence, etc., I’m not trying to scare you, just be realistic and honest. If the heads were leaking, you’d almost certainly see milky oil. It is better to do this test, than perform all that labor for no reason.
So at this time I am gonna leave this intake gasket as I am not sure if its leaking. If there are more symtoms then I will change it. I had the car out again this morning and had this car started command start and it ran until it shut off. I then took the car down town and it was still blowing cold air. The temperature went just above 90 than dropped to just below 90 and at that time had a little bit of heat. Why is this happening? Bad Thermostat which was just changed 2 months ago. If it is what happens if you don’t run a thermostat in the car?
sometimes an air pocket will become trapped in the system, even with set up where no bleeding of the system is possible.
So I pulled the radiator today and looked at it as it was a little wet on the driver side. I think the leak is coming from the radiator hose as it was hose clamped on not the original radiator clamp. I think there is a bit of a crack in the bottom radiator but not sure if its leaking. Crack right at the bottom of rad at the mounting bracket.
Having problems adding a picture.
Yea, unfortunately the inlet and outlet of the radiator is plastic. It tends to degrade over time and then easily cracks.
Honestly I dont think it was the rad. I had another rad here had the same markings what i thought were cracks. But i cleaned it all up and blew the rad out and the shit that came out of it surprized me. I replaced the top rad hose and clamps from hose clamps to the actual rad clamps ( not sure if the hose clamps were part of the problem) Guess will run it for a few days and see if the problem arises again.
So today I started pulling the intake manifold off to replace the gaskets and stuff to try to solve this problem of a small antifreeze leak. After trying everything else for the last month or so i finally figured its the only option left to try. So today I pulled it all apart and figured out where the problem was it was the intake manifold as there was a bit of milky puke stuff on one corner of the manifold. I then figured if I am this far i should look at the head gasket too. The head gaskets looked really good didn’t find any leaks or signs of leaks. So now tomorrow is the day I put it all back together to make sure that was the issue all this time.
My question to you guys is at what temp should the electric fans start up in this 2000 Pontiac grand am V6?
Thanks
Well you’re in there good now… You’re going need to round up a couple of torque wrenches and a torque angle tool. Be sure and replace the intake gaskets with the improved metal ones. Good luck with all of it…
Well I have a torque wrench but not sure what you mean by this couple of torque wrenches and a torque angle tool.
Please explain.
Thanks
You should be needing a torque wrench in ft lbs, and another in in lbs. And then, the angle gauge is for your new head bolts which will be torque to yield bolts. The spec for the head bolts will give you a torque in ft lbs and then it will tell you to turn the bolts for another specific number of degrees. Thus, the angle gauge.
Make sure you bleed all the air out of the coolant system per GM specs….
The GM Engineers designed the PCM so it will not turn the coolant fan(s) on until 228 degrees F. I know this is on the warm side, but it’s for fuel economy. When the A/C is turned on, the coolant fan(s) will be commanded on regardless of the engine temperature and coolant temp will stay around 195.
Well I have a torque wrench but not sure what you mean by this couple of torque wrenches and a torque angle tool.Please explain.
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