"Skipping"/misfiring (presumably) - definitely head gasket, or ...

[worb4me]

This is all preliminary. Ordered a scanner to read a "new" code. Still need to replace cracked elbow (1998 grand Prix gt 3800), stupid weather. Battery needed to be charged, but after got that taken care of, engine temp went up a bit above normal, after stupidly letting the thing idle, and threw a code, and skips or I guess misfires. I don't know how special these engines are, but am told a blown lower intake manifold gasket creates symptoms similarlar to a blown head gasket. But which? Or in general, regardless of engine/car, these 2 problems are similar. Sure, gook in oil, overheating. But what other symptoms are common? Anything I've mentioned? Holding off on the combustion leak detector (was thinking of fenagling one LOL to save money, great tool to own though, not particularly expensive).

 

Like the car a lot. Was cheap. A fun little beast. I can't seem to win though. Learning more And more about cars by the day. Which is a good thing. But the cost of discipleship is a bit high in my current circumstance . . .

 

And I forgot to mention . . . I left Prestone flush in there for over a month. Somebody has to make all the mistakes . . .

 

Whether it's the head gaskets or not, I'm thinking of trying stop leak products. Have a can of K&W and a bottle of Barr's intake fix on standby. What's the worse that could happen?

[White93z34]

Stay away from stop leak products first off, they will just make more of a mess that will later need cleaned up later.

 

Ok, so 98' GP GT - L36. Have the intake gaskets ever been done before? Look on the plastic upper intake for a date stamp in a little circle. if its "98" or "99" Its likely never been apart. Or if it was someone re-used the upper intake.

 

I don't exactly know what's going on with it, but check the basics here. Does the cooling system hold pressure? Is the oil all oil or is it all milkshake with coolant in it.

 

Misfiring - Skipping, that can be the cause or symptom of a few things It could be something in the ignition... coils, plugs, wires or ICM or maybe coolant is getting into the intake ports - though I imagine you'd have a pretty serious smokescreen out the back of the car.

 

the 3800s generally don't need head gaskets its usually all in the intake gaskets and upper intakes cracking.

[worb4me]

Lost a gallon of water driving it 10 miles home. Then reckless idling began. Maybe not the heads, I'll be as happy as anyone. Really like the car, albeit beat up exterior. Only 127k. Would love to drive it for an good while or keep it for family.

 

No significant smoking yet. Ordered a cheap scanner. We'll see what codes/s are present next week.

[digitaloutsider]

I would start by checking the very basic things that Chris pointed out above before I even bothered plugging a scanner in..

[worb4me]

It just threw the code in co junction. With a bit of overheating one day. Just saying. Would bad upper intake or lim gasket do that?

[Padgett]

BTW for OBD-II cars nothing is cheaper if you have an Android tab or smart phone than a $12 BT dongle from Amazon and $5 for the Torque Pro app. Amazing what it will tell you and can clear codes.

[worb4me]

I ordered the Autel Maxiscan MS3000 for 13$. Got 4.5 stars with thousands of reviews. Please don‘t order it direct from A*. I always use their secondary vendors.

[Padgett]

Sounds like a good choice if all you want to do is to read and clear codes.

 

OTOH

[worb4me]

You stuck a tablet in front of your cluster? Ok, whatever works. Personally I wouldn`t be monitoring all that all day. I`d hope the programming allowed for an idiot alert if something drifted out of the ordinary.

[Padgett]

That was just a trial way back in '12. Since then I do near everything with a Samsung Galaxy on a CD mount. 6 parameters displayed or music (several hundred albums) or GPS.

 

OTOH since the GTP is pre-OBD-II (ALDL) I use an OTC 2000 with a 93 Pathfinder cartridge. However for anything after '96 I use a dongle and my phone. Torque Pro can also be set to monitor parameters for an intermittent & output a .CSV file. Handy.