What I did so far, What could still be wrong (long)

[MommyTaz022200]

I know I've been asking alot of questions so this is a quick explination of what's going on with me and my car. Last summer after I bought it the engine had many problems so I decided since I had the money I'd rebuild it right away so it wouldn't break down when I was broke. My soon to be ex-husband and I took the engine out. We brought it to a machine shop to get the valves reground, polished shaved... all that stuff. When we got it back the heads were put back together with the cams & all in them. They weren't on the block.

 

Now I want to let you know at the time we decided to rebuild the engine, I had taken my 85 Cavalier engine out and put a different one in, so I wasn't completely clueless when it came to engines. I knew what the parts are and what they do (more then many women know). Of course the 3.4 is different then the 2.0 but I figured the only way to learn about the 3.4 is to go get greasy.

 

While the engine was out we used Simple Green and cleaned all the parts we'd be reusing and the engine bay. At first we reused the starter, altanator, power steering pump, transmission, all the sensors (since the check engine light had never came on my ex said they were still good), the coil packs and the plate they are attached to (ex said to), and probably a few others I can't think of right now. I also replaced the front struts, CV half shafts, inner and outer tie rod ends, and added my alarm system.

 

Halfway thru putting the engine back together my school classes started so my ex and his uncle finished. Then when we tried to start the car it wouldn't start. After a few days my ex figured out he had the timing wrong. He reset the timing and we got it to start, but it ran really bad. A friend of my ex's who is a mechanic said he'd set the timing so my ex told me he'd follow me in my other car to his shop, a 45 minute drive from us. I got the car 2 miles and all the antifreeze poured out. It came out of the oil cooler, because my ex didn't tighten the hose down enough. After it was tightened and had more antifreeze it would start but wouldn't stay running unless I kept my foot on the gas. I got mad and told my ex I was not driving the car like that because I didn't want to ruin the engine. So that night his friend towed it to his shop.

 

After his friend (Randy) checked my car out he called and told us that because of the timing being off at first, and it still was off, the valves had gotten smashed. A few days later he called again and said the EGR Valve was shot. A few days later he said the timing tensioner broke. A few days later he said it was fixed but was leaking antifreeze and he couldn't find the leak, the starter was drawing way too much power when it was starting, the altanator was very noisy because the bearings were shot, the IAC was shot, and the rear main seal was leaking and oil blow by were both leaking. He said we should replace the broken parts and bring it back when I had another $400 and he'd fix the rear main seal.

 

About a mile away from the shop the antifreeze started leaking alot faster. I stopped at a gas station to call Randy but there was no answer. The person at the gas station let me take a bunch of their plastic jugs out of the recycling dumpster and fill them with water so I could make it home. As I was pouring the water in the radiator I realized the leak was coming from the hose for the overflow tank, which didn't have a clamp on it. (made sense since the leak was worse as soon as the engine was warm)

 

When I got home I put a clamp on the hose and the leak was gone. (I'm not sure how Randy missed that) I bought a new IAC, and got a starter and altinator from the junk yard because by then I was real close to being broke. The engine still made the rattling noises and didn't run any differently then it had before I replaced the parts. I did the idle relearn and still no difference. I bought a new power steering pump because I believed and still believe the power steering was making the noise. The noise gets louder when the steering wheel is turned. I got a timing light and checked the timing and found that 2 of the cylinders were't sparking sometimes. If I moved the wire around they would spark steady then moved the wire and they would stop. So I exchanged the wires. I also bought a transverse spring because mine was breaking. My ex said he would chane the spring.

 

A few weeks later I told me ex the brakes were making banging noises. He went out and checked them. He said there was nothing wrong with them. I left to bring my car back to Randy's and about 50 feet from me getting on the highway the brake caliper fell off and got wedged between the control arm and the rim, locking up the front tires. A week or so later A friend of his told me he had told her he had taken out a life insurance policy on me and my son and if we both died in a car accident he's get $1,000,050 because it was double if we died in an accident. I called his job and they verified he had added life insurance of $500,000 on me and $25,000 on my son. Two days later when he came home I told him I wanted a divorce and he needed to move out.

 

Luckily, since my car hasn't run well enough to drive it around since I bought it I hadn't registered it yet, so it isn't marital property. But I also have no idea what is making it run so crappy.

 

Besides the loud power steering, which I am working on, when it is running the RPM's are steady on about 800 in drive. The whole car shakes very badly. The check engine light does not come on. After I get to 60 mph The car will not accelerate unless I floor it. It seems like something is holding the car back and won't let it pull the car.

 

Randy said the engine needs to be broken in and I have to drive it and it will start to run better as it's broken in. I'm not really sure I believe him because he missed the antifreeze leak and told me to replace the altinator to make the noise go away and it didn't.

 

I know I need to change the rear main seal. I also need to change the inner and outer tie rod ends. I found a bunch of gaskets and the tie rod ends when I cleaned out the garage so it seems my ex decided to say he changed them and really didn't. He had also told me the machine shop was suppose to put the main seal in, so I am not sure if there even is one in the car now. I also need to change the spring. If anyone know the easiest way to do any of the things I need to do it would be greatly appriciated. I'm also looking for any ideas on what is making the car run so badly. I don't have the money to bring the car in to be fixed and after what Randy did I'm not sure I trust anyone to work on it anyway. He charged me $$2,300 for the work he did last time, and for that I would think the car would run perfect since I also spent $1,300 at the machine shop, $1,400 on parts, and $1,100 for the car. That's $6,100 and I still can't drive it.

[jeremy]

I know I've been asking alot of questions so this is a quick explination of what's going on with me and my car.

 

if that is a quick explanation, I would hate to see the long version....

[supreme_style21]

:shock: So he's tried to kill you, basically, by supposedly fixing the bad parts in your car and sabotaging other parts. What an asshat! If I were you, I'd be MORE THAN HAPPY to see that bastard in court. I don't think you'd have a problem getting your money back from him.. and then some. :x I wouldn't dish out another red cent until you've talked to a lawyer.. thats some deep stuff.

[Dirty Rockstar]

THat really sucks.. You still have the Cavy to drive I hope.. Anyway, does the gas pedal feel the way is supposed to? I had a similar problem in my Lumina when I bought it and it turned out the cable wasn't set up right.. And that shaking is definately the tie rods, since you know they need replacing.. Aside from that, I don't know much about the 3.4 (I graduated from a 2.5 UP TO my 3.1, lol) One thing I would do is see if there is a way you sue the guy at the shop that missed the clamp on the hose, and so on.. THat behavior is unacceptable from any person running any kind of auto repair shop.. Check your local laws on that sort of thing.. Good luck on your endeveaur..

[supreme_style21]

THat really sucks.. You still have the Cavy to drive I hope.. Anyway, does the gas pedal feel the way is supposed to? I had a similar problem in my Lumina when I bought it and it turned out the cable wasn't set up right.. And that shaking is definately the tie rods, since you know they need replacing.. Aside from that, I don't know much about the 3.4 (I graduated from a 2.5 UP TO my 3.1, lol) One thing I would do is see if there is a way you sue the guy at the shop that missed the clamp on the hose, and so on.. THat behavior is unacceptable from any person running any kind of auto repair shop.. Check your local laws on that sort of thing.. Good luck on your endeveaur..

It sounds like it was her ex-husband that did all that stuff.. not the shop.

I wouldn't feel safe AT ALL driving it after you found that stuff out. Who knows what else has been done to it. Take the assjockey to court and make him responsible for any and all repairs and maintainence that needs to be done to make it roadworthy and SAFE for you and your child.

[MommyTaz022200]

I'm in kind of a no win situation as far as getting my ex to pay for the car to get fixed. It's not concidered marital property because it's not titled in my name yet, so he can't prove it's my car. He told me flat out if I try to get him to pay for the repairs he will get the car because I sent him to get the parts so almost all the recipts say his name on them, and because I didn't admit I have it on the financial disclosure paperwork.

 

He also has a lawyer for our divorce, I don't because I can't afford one. When he left his disconnected the electric and phone, then when I got them hooked up in my name he got them to put his balance on my bill. I found out he hadn't been paying the electric bill for awhile, and his balance they added onto my bill was $712. He is trying to get me to drop out of school or beg him to come back so I can stay in school. The judge seems to go along with whatever he has his lawyer ask for. He owes over $1,000 in back taxes from before we got married so I wanted to file seperate from him so my financial aid don't get messed up and based off his income, but the judge ordered me to file with him because otherwise he will owe another $2,000 for this year and he can't claim my son unless he filess with me (he is not my son's father).

 

I don't have a job because school & homework takes up most of my time and then the little bit I have left I spend with my son. I get financial aid and loans and after my bills I have about $300 a month left for food and anything else.

 

I did get rid of the Cavalier (I had that in 1996) I got a 1991 Ford Escort after that cause it use to be my mom's and only had 66,000 miles on it. I've had it for 4 years now and it has 129,900 miles on it. The tires are shot, sometimes when I start it I have to turn the key 2 or 3 times because it won't start the first time, it don't want to stay running sometimes and the clutch is going. But it's not worth it to fix it because the body and frame is rusting badly, and the 1.9L engines don't last very long after 100,000 miles from what I've been told.

 

The police wouldn't do anything about anything, they say it's all a civil matter and I can't prove he purposely made the breaks fall off. They don't seem to care about much. I called them when he took off in my Escort for 3 days to run to the gas station, and they told me the car is marital property so he can do that but since he had no license if he got pulled over and the car was registered to me only I'd be fined for allowing him to drive it.

 

So pretty much I just have to figure out how to fix my Grand Prix on my own, and fix it. I'm happy to be rid of him, and I will not drop out of school or sell my car, or take him back, especially since that's what he is trying to make me do.

[MommyTaz022200]

Anyway, does the gas pedal feel the way is supposed to?

 

I'm not sure. I think it does but I am also use to driving a 5 speed so I don't know what it's suppose to feel like. Since I bought the Prix I have only driven it about 600 miles total, 280 after rebuild and the rest before. This problem was there before I rebuilt it tho, not sure if it was there when I first bought it because the serpimtime belt was shot so I babied it the 200 miles home.

[MommyTaz022200]

And that shaking is definately the tie rods, since you know they need replacing..

 

Can the tie rods cause the shaking when it's not moving though? When I said it does it in drive I was meaning when I did the idle relearn, in drive with the brakes on.

[Z34door]

shaking usually is caused by misfire or a lean condition....... check the plugs the fuel filter and the ICM and Coils

[musthavemuzk]

sounds like a mess.

 

anyways

my 93 GP LE sedan 3.1 3 spd has a little shake when at idle or idle in gear. when cold it accelerates fine, but when warm it accelerates pretty rough. is pretty gutless no matter what.

 

i have replaced the knock sensor to rid me of the SES codes. i have also replaced plugs and wires with ac delco ones.

swapped the IAC and TPS from my cutlass since the cutlass has the same engine and ran fine before the head gasket went.

runs better now then when i drove it home. but still not right.

 

from near as i can tell from reading and searching here i need to

look and test the coils and ICM

check to see if the cat convertor is fine or not

replace the fuel filter as i bought that right away but it was muddy and sloppy out so i have not done it yet.

possibly adjust the TV cable or replace mayb.

 

might be others but those are what come to mind right away

 

Monty

[Dirty Rockstar]

shaking usually is caused by misfire or a lean condition....... check the plugs the fuel filter and the ICM and Coils

 

I think I skipped a sentence.. How are the motormounts? You said that oil seal was leaking.. Unless you have poly mounts, oil will eat right through the mounts in no time.. And as for the Gas, it should be realatively stiff to push it down.. It'll feel like it wants to spring back actually (Wll, mine does, and I had it wound up in Oct.) Try goin to a salvage yard, and testing out a cars pedal there.. See if they feel the same..

[ShockTherapy]

i'd just swap out a full drivetrain out of an 04 impala SS in there, then kill this ass-jack of an ex-husband.

 

then marry me.

[gp90se]

Sounds like a douche of a guy ya tied up with, get up and get out.

 

Check the plugwires for aching, if the jackass slit 1 of the wires the car would run like you are describing.

 

best of luck

 

-Jeff

[DaveFromColorado]

.. I sent ya a PM, I'm in Minneapolis, MN and I'd be willing to help ya check out your car for free, at least get ya safely back on the road.

 

--Dave.

[Green96GTPchick]

He also has a lawyer for our divorce, I don't because I can't afford one.

 

get a lawyaer and make him pay for it. My bf's renst got divorced and used the same lawyer, she pretty much got screwed over cuz she couldnt afford her own.

[Slade901]

I would make sure the sparkplugs are fine (gap, no crack in the porcelain). Probaly the wires were deliberately cracked. Check the spark plug wires in the Ignition Coil or possible crack in the ignition coils itself.

 

The crankshaft sensor might be messed up or the wires rubbing. If the coolant reservoir is located in the top center of the radiator, the excess coolant might be dripping directly at the ignition coil/module (if its mounted in front of the engine).

 

Make sure you put a lock gas cap, you don't want someone pouring sugar in your gas tank.