jasons96 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 I've only posted 6 times in this forum before having to say so long to my '96 Cutlass. Back during the summer of last year, I got some disturbing news. My Cutlass was hanging on by a string. I thought that I could save her but couldn't. After having my PassLock fixed for $800, T-Belt replaced for $1100, some vacuum hoses and wiring harness replaced for $900, brakes for $300, $250 for a new cat converter, she needed a Idle Air Control valve. I was going to get that fixed when they found oil on my coolant level sensor. She also threw a code for my transmission. The transmission code only happened once and we figured it was due to a sudden shift in temputure (rain turned to snow). The one thing I couldn't ignore was the oil in coolant. Most likely, a head gasket leaking internally. Now, mind you, I already sunk $3350 into it in 2 years, I figured it was time to let her go. I was able to trade her in a 2005 Saturn VUE V6 AWD in August. I know, some of you are thinking why a Saturn. The reason I picked it was for the Honda supplied V6. GM and Honda made a deal that I won't go into but the end result is that when I start my Saturn, it sounds like a Honda and gets very good gas milage.Do I miss my Cutlass? Very much. Had a lot of good times in that car. Been from Canada to Mexico and all points in between in her, but it's time to start new again. And also, I got a great deal on the Saturn. They were asking 16k, I got it for 11K and it had 30k miles on it. So, everyone, enjoy your Cutlass' if you can, before taking a drink, can you poor a drop to a fallen family member? WHenever I see a green Cutlass, I always look closely at it just to see if it is the one I regret giving up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Aww. You could have installed a high torque mini starter from a 3400 if you wanted your Cutlass to sound like a Honda when you started it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons96 Posted May 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 LOL, Yeah but that wouldn't have helped the head gasket. IF the gasket wasn't leaking, I would have kept it. But didn't want to spend more money to fix that, and keep having other things go wrong. ONly so much you can do before you realize that you spent 3 times what the car is worth in fixing it. Besides, the VUE does great in the snow and was fun to drive in Souther Calfornias Mojave desert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supreme_style21 Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 Don't own a cutlass, but we'll pour one out for a fallen soldier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 damn shame since head and headgasket failures wont cause oil in the coolant... it just needed a LIM gasket or the oil cooler adaptor had cracked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted May 16, 2009 Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 $800 for fixing the passlock :eek: A resistor doesnt cost more than $.08!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons96 Posted May 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2009 After all that work, not to mention other work I did to it, didn't want to sink anymore money in to it. I'm sure the head gaskey was leaking because I had to keep putting coolant in the recovery tank every other week. Found a lot of sludge in the recovery tank also. The dealer that did the passlock screwed me on that repair. They told me that they had to replace the whole system and made new keys. Found an old key later and it worked fine. Led me to believe they didn't change anything. I stop going there after they repaired the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venom Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 Well it sounds like after you would have fixed the lim/head gasket issue you would have had all the bases covered. But I can also see where you are coming from being frustrated after sinking a lot of money into it and stuff still breaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 $800 for fixing the passlock :eek: A resistor doesnt cost more than $.08!!! Sounds like they had to replace the VATS module... They do fail too, mine has had an intermittent problem for ages.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons96 Posted May 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 Yeah, my local Chevy dealers here in Washington had the car a lot. ONe dealer had it when it dead right in front of their store. So, I had no choice but to leave it there. Come to find out,$800 later, the spark plugs fouled out and was running on 5 cylinders. That was the first of many trips to the shop. I do admit, the 3.4 was a kick in the butt to drive . I was planning on giving it to my nephew when he got his license later this year . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Where about in WA ? im near Olympia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boymeetspavement Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Wow thats alot to sink into a cutlass, my ciera got about a grands worth of front end damage, thats a grand with me installing all panels and just paying to have the paint done, actutally after paint it would prob. be closer to 1200. After doing the math Im scrapping it, picked up the gp today and after stripping the ciera of all my toys shes going to the junkyard. Time to start over, the gp has more potential anyway..and shes alot more comfy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasons96 Posted May 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 Where about in WA ? im near Olympia. I'm in Tacoma I agree, that's a lot of money to sink into it and it needed more. On the flip side, I had the driver seat redone and the interior looked new again. The body was straight and the paint looked great. Who ever has it now got a pretty decent vehicle except for the stuff I mentioned earlier. I'm happy with my Saturn VUE but miss my "sleeper". Apparently, Sacramento county sheriff used the 3.4 coupe as under cover police cars for awhile back in the mid '90's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 I can't begin to say how much you could have saved had you done these relatively straightforward repairs yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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