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[quote=”Flintiron” post=175428]My worst mistake, buying a used Pontiac Grand Am without even starting the engine. It wasn’t even my first car, I knew better, but it was the cheapest car I could find, and was excited to get back on the road again. The problem, dead oil pump, motor was running, but already trash. It seized a couple months later.[/quote]
It seems like every Grand Am I see around my town is always beat up in some way. Its pretty wierd.
One sign of a bad catylitic converter is a loss of power. Eric also has a video on how to diagnose a bad cat.
Yeah chief don’t go cheap with the filter. If you have to go cheap on anything go cheap on the oil (as long as you routinely change your oil).
The reason for going cheap on the oil is because even the cheap oils have strict requirements and standards that don’t exist in the oil filters. The cheapest oil filter I have ever gotten was a Motorcraft, but I have heard FRAM is ok. I myself like to use K&N oil filters but I understand being on a budget.
Bottom line: buy cheap oil, not a cheap oil filter if you are pinching at pennies.
I hope for your sake it isn’t the catalytic converter because they can be rather pricey to repair. I agree with jjohnson1 on printing out the codes.
The only other suggestion I have is taking it to a TRUSTED mechanic and have them diagnose everything for you. It would typically cost about $30. Just make sure that you aren’t just paying $30 for them to look at a diagnostic machine. Have them come with you to troubleshoot the car if you can and if the job is up to your speed you can fix it yourself to save lots of money.
Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful but without any of the codes it’s hard to diagnose anything. Hopefully all of the different codes are connected, or maybe their is something wrong with the electronics? Just try to give us more information and we’ll try to help.
[quote=”451Mopar” post=175328]I was so excited to try out my new high stall torque converter that I went for a test drive and forgot the hood was resting on the cars roof.
Luckely when the hood went airborn, it landed mostly flat with only minor damage to one corner and alot of scratched up paint.[/quote]Wow. At least there wasn’t like a semi behind you. It would have been one of those slow motion events where you see your hood get crushed and all you can do is watch in horror.
No codes that I can see. I rotated my tires and lubed my chassis today and it seems to have done the trick. It is likely that I need to look at the struts though.
[quote=”Fopeano” post=175254]First big job I ever did was was a water pump and AC compressor/condenser delete 16 years ago on my Jetta. It went off without a hitch and I was so proud of myself until a few days later when I was sitting in a drive-thru for too long in the summer heat. About the time I got to the window, I noticed a little steam coming out the edge of the hood. I thought “as soon as I get my food, I’m pulling right over in that parking spot to investigate that”.
A few moments later, the heater core blew open and sprayed hot coolant on my leg and leaking half into the car and the rest outside on the ground. It made a huge cloud of steam that fogged over all the drive-thru windows. I shut it off, squeezed out at the pickup window, and pushed the car into a parking spot. Turns out I had forgotten to plug the radiator fan back in.
Technically I’ve had way more actual embarrassment at work however, because anything big that gets botched at work all the other techs know about (and the boss).[/quote]
Hahahaha! That is pretty embarrassing!
The most embarrassing thing for me was when I was going to refill my gas can. I had pre-paid for $5 in gas (gas was $2.53/gallon and I had a 3 gallon can) I uh… I couldn’t get the cap off of the can… I sat at the pump for a good 15 minutes trying to open the damn thing and gave up. I went back in and got a refund and drove back home. The next day, I went to take the cap off and it popped right open. No hassle involved.
Apparently some assbastard genius decided that it would be a good idea if the only way to unscrew the IAC Valve was to unscrew the top of the engine block…
I ended up settling on some liquid wrench and an all purpose lubricating oil. Cleaned the old door right up. Next time I’ll try those other products.
[quote=”Evil-i” post=175038]There’s an aerosol product called Fluid Film. It sprays thin and runny, then it gels up and thickens.
It’s a bit pricey, but it’s a very good general purpose penetrating lubricant. A little goes a long way.
Make sure the squeak isn’t a case of worn hinge pins and bushings. With the door open, grab the rear edge and lift it. If the door rocks and wiggles around the hinges, the pins and bushings need to be replaced. The parts are cheap and it isn’t a difficult job.[/quote]
Yeah. The problem I was having was there were TOO MANY products to choose from. Many people just use a water dessicant for some wierd reason…
I cleaned out my egr valve with some carb cleaner. Tomorrow I’ll look into the IAC valve and let you know what I find. Thanks guys!