1998 grand prix loud rumbling/roaring noise especially 25mph+

[worb4me]

I think I may have reached 30mph. Skeery stuff. I know, whel bearings, bald tire, etc. Just bought the car for 300$. They didn't tell me any of this. It gets loud, afraid to go even 25, though I drove the thing 10 miles home. There is also steem from under the hood. Could a manifold leak be that loud? I hopeit isn't tranny related, but just so happens I have a spare in my dead 2001 Venture. I believe it's a match.

 

I realize it's frowned upon, but I'll be tempted to throw some copper Barr's stuff in the coolant tomorrow. But if the leak is that loud ... Have't seen any puddles of coolant anywhere yet, though I have had to top it off a few times. The seller sa8d it needed to be flushed and I dumped a botle of Prestone flush in the coolant before Ieft. Been running it some through the night as I'm not sure of the concentration and it's cold, heat works good, no excessive steaming from exhaust. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Motor or tranny mounts also occurred to me, but I doubt that. Don't have a Hayne's manual7 yet, wouldn't know where to look. Did change a front one on my mommy's Honda in the summer.

 

Forgot to mention, front tires are pretty bald, rears are much chunkier. You really start to hear low rumbling immediately or almost so. I ran it up to maybe 20, threw it in neutral, and noise was still there. Of couse I'll investigate what I can tomorrow - like putting crap wheels on the rear for starters. Also no overheating, therm opens up, at idle temp near first tick passed 185 (mid point between 160 and 210).

 

Last detail of the night, road were wet, possibly even icy. Didn't even know it untilIpulled into a parking spot.

[Euro]

I'd try with the simple to diagnose stuff first.  If you have other wheels/tires, I'd throw them on first.  A bad tire can be loud as hell and make noise at really any speed from what I've seen/heard.  Other thing to try is the wheel bearing(s), those have the same sort of symptom.  Other possibilities could be the c/v axles.

 

Does the steam occur at all times?  My Regal is being a brat and I'll see a little bit of steam come out from the front grille every blue moon while sitting at a stop light, but I cannot replicate or trace where it's coming from (other than the radiator)

[Bolt_Crank]

Check the brakes, too, if there's no pad left, steel on steel can make some noise, and one pad is usually always touching a rotor.

[worb4me]

Mind you this is loud. And I know my paragraph breaks won't be visible though I keep trying.

 

Car is definitely drinking anttifreeze. I'm nearing the end of the bottle I bought last night. I'm thinking it *may* be drinking oil too. I put in upwards of 1/2 a bottle of water before I left last night. Granted the thing was low. But the overflow bottle is still near the tippy top.and yes you can smell burning? Coolant sometimes, even in the passenger compartment, though rarely. Wondering if there's a serious i movement in the cooling system.

 

Looks like I got my work cut out for me. Too cold today to bull wheels and whatnot.

[worb4me]

Ok definitely got a gasket issue. I spun it around the place whereI have it parked, nearly up to 40 mph, and have consistent steaming, even drips visible from the plastic engine cover. I want to get some Barr's, have seen it work wonders, though I realize it isn't a permanent fix. Can't do a gasket job for a week and a half at least. Any objections . . .

[mfewtrail]

Ok definitely got a gasket issue. I spun it around the place whereI have it parked, nearly up to 40 mph, and have consistent steaming, even drips visible from the plastic engine cover. I want to get some Barr's, have seen it work wonders, though I realize it isn't a permanent fix. Can't do a gasket job for a week and a half at least. Any objections . . .

Park it until you can repair it properly. Stop leak eventually leads to more issues such as clogged heater cores, clogged passages in the radiator, etc. What side is the steaming on? Coolant elbows leaking are super common on 3800's.

[worb4me]

Passenger side. Yeah I thought it could be something stupid like a small hose or whatever. Tomorrow won't be as frigidandI'll investigate a bit. Truthfully though if you don't have the time, money or place to replace gaskets, Barr's could very well do the trick. I haven't had any of the problems you mentioned. Anything is possible, but probably unlikely. I'll be back . . .

[1979lee]

Park it until you can repair it properly. Stop leak eventually leads to more issues such as clogged heater cores, clogged passages in the radiator, etc. What side is the steaming on? Coolant elbows leaking are super common on 3800's.

X2 on NO stopleak. 3800, a fine engine once the qurkes are worked out

[mfewtrail]

Passenger side. Yeah I thought it could be something stupid like a small hose or whatever. Tomorrow won't be as frigidandI'll investigate a bit. Truthfully though if you don't have the time, money or place to replace gaskets, Barr's could very well do the trick. I haven't had any of the problems you mentioned. Anything is possible, but probably unlikely. I'll be back . . .

I see these issues often from stop leak. That said in most cases I would hazard a guess that people are adding way too much to the coolant system in the first place. Remove the plastic engine cover and look over the passenger side of the engine really well after warming the engine up to operating temperature and then shutting it off. Alternatively, rent a pressure tester(get your money back when returned from autozone, advance, etc) and pump up the system to spec and locate your leak quickly. Since you say passenger side, my money is on the plastic coolant elbow being cracked and leaking. They're about $10 tops and available at every parts chain on the "Help!" rack. Even if you are a novice using hand tools it should not take more than an hour to swap them out. Other possibilities are the water pump/gasket, timing cover gasket, or lower intake gasket in that area.

[worb4me]

To follow up on this thread, I replaced the pass side wheel bearing and noise is gone. Thanks be to God. Now I have to do the other side, look over the brakes and other suspension components, get cheap tires somewhere (including a real spare), and call it a day as far as lower part of car is concerned. Oh and change oil, maybe trans fluid 3x. Maybe hunt flea markets for jugs.