Happy day for Austin GTP

My car was taken into the shop due to an oil light coming on at a warm idle.
I just found out the motor is shot. Metal shavings in the oil, cam has been ground down, bearings are worthless.

Let me just say right now...
Nothing is for sale at this point in time.

that sux man, are you going to fix it or just give up?

i say fix it, but thats me

No, don't sale a thing. Get on the phone with Ed and get a lower mileage L67 (or L32 if you're daring) to drop in! That car is too beautiful to abandon.

NOOOO... NOT A CAR AS NICE AS YOURS take myn but not yours

WHAT!

What do you think happened? Age? KR?

When mods attack?

Damn bobby.

Did you have an oil leak or anything? Im so sorry to hear it, looks like youre in the same boat as me

Truly a sad day indeed...

Hit me up if you end up doing an engine swap. Rebuilds are never quite up to snuff I've heard from several of the old timers in the gp arena. Low mileage engine would probably be the best bet and would be my recomendation if you fix 'er back up.

Sorry to hear about the bad news....hopefully you get her running better than ever!

yikes! sorry to hear.
Your replacement motor at morad's awaits you, and sits about 10 minutes from me.

That blows.

Here's to a strong rebuild.

Hmmm...I hope there is some more explaination soon or other warning signs you could mention.
Hope you don't give up on keeping the GP alive!

Bobby, you gotta build that thing back up. Perfect time for upgrades. Cam it.

Dude that really, really, REALLY SUCKS, man! Hope you get her running again....

....hopefully before TMS.

Sorry to hear but there's always an upside I wo'nt make any suggestions give you some time to mull it over but you have several options .Chico(pops)

Sorry to hear the bad news. Any idea what happened?

Good luck with everything, hope to hear she's running again really soon.

Man, that GTP is one of the nicest Ive seen, I think it would be worth the rebuild.
Just my two cents.

The only warning that was given was the oil light that came on at a warm idle, other than that she was running fine. No oil leaks.
The wife is thinking used car, I'm wanting a new motor so I can get my car back.
I've rcv'd a few bids on some used engines, from an 89,000 mile engine for $1200 to one with only 38,000 miles for $1600 to a rebuilt engine with 3 yr/100,000 mile warranty. The rebuilt engine will be done at the shop that has the car and for everything that I owe up to this point plus the engine and swap out will be $4900. I know the $4900 price tag is a bit much, but the shop that has the car is one of the highest hourly rate shops in Austin. They've been around forever and their customer service is top notch and well worth the money, that's why I take my car there. They know who I am and they will not sell you something you don't need, I know because I've tried top get them to do some things in the past because "they were already in there". They wouldn't do some of the things because they said it just wasn't needed.

I'll be passing along more updates as they occur, my goal is to still make TMS on the 24th... in something.

my engine was like $4000 but if you think about it its like be a new engine and has a warranty and a 3yr warranty is real good i only had a year

i can get you a lower milage L67 for $600 with the supercharger and everything

that sux... if you think it's worth it drop the change for the rebuild, but if you have the money for the rebuild but just don't want to, i'd go with the L32...

GOSH i love your gtp its so amazing this is a sad sad day

1200 bucks for just a motor is a rip. Just get the bottom end and throw your top end on it

wow that sucks man, hope to see you fix it

we could always get a bunch of jersey guys together and help out

BRING HER BAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thats quite a drive down to texas

Were those prices from Ed? I got my whole engine and tranny setup, 110k miles on it for $1400 shipped!

Sorry about the lost austin. I say fix it because when you get another car, you are going to hate yourself for making payments. Im regreting that now with the gp but its well worth it plus I only have one year left to finish my car payments.

No, prices are local.
I sent Ed an email earlier today while at work. I never heard anything back.
It looks like I will be getting the remanuf'd engine with the 3/100k warranty.
I'd like to have a lightly built motor, but it was either a new (used) car or the reman'd motor.
I don't want a different car.

Did you ever scan the car Bobby, or have a gauge in the car for running that 3.4. I wonder what caused this.
I think you can do better than $4900, I know you don't have the time to do it yourself or other means, but that seems awfully high. Don't settle for that.

Sorry to hear the bad news, Bobby. Hope everything works out for ya, and you get it fixed soon!

I do have an aeroforce scan gauge. I keep it on boost and KR.

As for the price, like I posted above I know it's high but it's high dollar labor. The shop I take it to has been in the same spot forever and well trusted and I don't mind paying the extra grip for their reliability. It's kind of like picking full synthetic oil over conventional.

Aight.
Since they know you, they hooking you up at all?

what are you doing with the old motor ?? by anychance ??

Old motor will be used as a core return.

Check out Pace performance a crate engine complete is around$4000 and a factory replacement long block is $2600 .Chico(pops)

bobby!!! sorry to hear that bro.. thast exactly teh same symptoms my last engine had... warm idle the low oil pressure light would come on and or flicker.
get her back runnin again
BTW i got that race block sitting in my garage lol just trying to lighten the mood
sounds like just a tired engine.... im sure you babied that thing everyware u went ... and never floored it

Bobby,

Sorry to hear...... Can't wait to see what you venture into on the road to recovery with the GTP...

Might I ask what motor oil you use and what your maintainence schedule for oil changes are?

Good luck man. Jsut don't give in and get rid of it. You must rebuild.

A moment of silence for another fallen 3800...

*bows head*

For the most part I've used Mobil 1 5w30, the past year or 2 I've switched to Union 76 full synthetic 5w30. Changed when oil life reached less than 20% on the DIC.

Call him, or send it again

X2, and lets have a engine swap party! Forget the shops $4900 price tag for a simple swap that can be done in a day.... (I've taken mine in and out a few times and got it down to less then a days work)

Calling Ed would be better.

def get that beast up and running again i think ed would be good but haveing a warrantly no matter what cost is worth the comfort sometimes

x3

Recommend giving him a call directly.

This is the perfect opportunity to get a Gen V motor! I bet real money he will have one with low miles and at the same price or less plus shipping. He's the most respectful vendor I've ever dealt with. It will add a couple days off but it's worth it. Just give it some though.

The extra cost you are paying in labor is well worth it in my opinion. It is very hard for me to find a good mechanic. I'd pay more for less headache also.

5w30?

Aren't we supposed to use 10w30?

I scanned through but didn't see it....

Bobby, How many miles was on the engine that blew up?

crap wrong austin, for some reason i thought it was the austin from jersey...woops lol

130k

Won't make any real difference. Both are 30 weight base (at normal temps, they're 30 weight oil), but when its cold out, the conditioners in the 5w make it thinner. You would only notice it when its cold out and even then, it would just help with startups. After that, it goes back to 30 weight as the engine warms.

Still if the engine was designed for a thicker start-up viscosity I'd imagine it'd have some effect as to the long term wearing of engine components.

There's a reason why GM designated that particular viscosity for that engine.

Damage to bearings usually occurs during cold startup this is when it is important to have a good quality oil that leaves a nice film after shutdown,I would'nt say using 5-30 would cause damage but I certainly would'nt recommend it in the south I always use RP 10-30 and after every oilchange cut open the oil filter to check for debris it your finding any metal bitsyou have a problem that needs to be addressed,low oil pressure is a classic sign of excessive bearing clearance and nothing will save it .Chico(pops)

When you get the new engine, I wouldn't recommend changing it when it hits 20%.

I change mine at 40-50% but never under. This always equated to 3000 miles on my car. The more numerous changes is worth it.

Ey Bobby, I haven't seen this post, but I can't believe something like that happens to a car as your which is so cared.

Hope she gets well soon!

Yeah my DIC just hit 50%, but it's been about 3 months and a couple days and about 3,400 miles since my last oil change. Most of it is highway miles so it's not that bad. I will probably be changing it this weekend though.

I'll use my $50 gift card that I got at work for being employee of the month! YAY

....now I gotta look at some rotors/brakes.

First off, sorry Bobby about your engine, I hope whatever you decide will last you the life of the car this time!!

Second, I'm not trying to start a different subject on the oil change meter topic, but we change our oil when the meter says Low. That usually amounts to around 7k miles on the change, although we do have to add some oil during the oil changes! The motor has 175k i think on it or close to it. It might blow up tomorrow now that I've said that, but I was just stating our method on the oil changes. Many people hate Quaker State, but we have always ran that in all our cars the majority of the time and that is the same for the GTP, 10W-30. We have ran some high mileage Valvoline for a few oil changes, but back on the QS.

I never wait that long, my oil light has never even said "low".

Every 3k or 3 months

I'm a proponent of changing oil based on how the motors used. Stop and go no short runs every 3k. If it's all highway 7k. I did this long before I had a car with an oil life monitor and I have to say that the monitor on these cars falls in line with my thinking. I changed my oil before I drove my car from Maine to CA (roughly 3500 miles) and my oil life meter was at about 45%. Since my wifes been using it to commute to work and school it says low at about 3k.

low with 3k? wow.

The one thing I'd waste my money on is changing oil every 3k even though its not needed.

Given, Austin's engine may not have died due to oil. Could have been coolant, unusual wear in one location, etc.

Austin: Keep us tuned on your decision. Look behind you. That 100 guys that got your back aren't the Verizon network. Its just us. Chillin.

In the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi...

"If you should strike me down, I will rise to become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

130k...thats scary Bobby, especially since mine just turned over 128k I do know what you mean about a mechanic you can trust, so I hope you get it running again soon. I can attest personally to what nice car you have and I thank you for that experience.

May the Force be with you...always.

That's a scary thought.

I think Bobby's is all oil pump related. I've seen people abuse the heck out of their cars and neglect oil changes and they don't puke with over 200k miles (wonders of modern lubricants). I think it was a mechanical failure.

So Sorry to hear That, Austin...Man, I Imagine You must be pretty Confused & Hurting, I know that I would be...since that really Suxs!

But, maybe due to the Nice looking Body, You should just go for a Heart(engine)Transplant or Rebuild, as HercMan suggested & in the process do some wanted Upgrades...if Anyone can, you are the Man.

And, I am Sure that all the Guys closer to You would Gladly & Wlllingly give You a Hand, unless You are just really BUM on GPs, now.

My motor has arrived!
I stopped by and took a look at it during lunch. It was still in the crate so I'm guessing they just got it this morning.
They are expecting to have it swapped and completed mid-late next week.

I planned on taking a few pics of the motor but like I said it was still in the crate, wrapped in a bag.

Nice!

nice dude! take some pics and put em up for us!

Hey Austin, i may have missed it but where did you ultimately end up getting your engine from? I have 155,000 on my '97 GT and "knock on wood" all i've done is changed my alternator, tensioner/coolant bypass. I bought her used in '99 but going to be doing cam swap and turbo w/IC and figured instead of putting all on a tired engine i'd go ahead and get a new or lightly used engine. Thankx Oh yea my oil pan is leaking too and the damn bolts are hidden underneath that cradle, real PIA

Oh yea its great to hear you decided to stay with your GP. Now hurry up and get it together so you can go test beat that ol' girl

Not exactly sure who rebuilt the engine. The shop that has my car is using whoever they use for rebuilt engines. The engine was rebuilt when ordered. It wasn't anything they had sitting on the shelf waiting to be shipped.
The only parts of the engine that were not replaced with new parts are the block and head cores and possibly the crank. If they could not machine the crank to oem specs, then a new crank was used. Everything else was replaced with new parts.

Does that mean you're keeping your mods or no?

No I'm not being a vulture, I'm just wondering.

All of my mods were external to the engine, nothing was internal.
So to answer your question, yes I am keeping all of my mods.

good.
whats the total damage $?

The estimate was $4900. For that I get a newly rebuilt motor (3 year warranty), plugs wires, belts, oil, oil filter and I think new coils and injectors, along with 8 hours of labor.

wow man. thats more money than i ever care to spend on that.

I suppose you will have a much more reliable car than i do in a few months, though

It was far better than my other choice of buy a used car, and I wanted to stay as far away from that option as possible and not to mention picking a used high mileage car over a perfectly good car with zero miles on a newly rebuilt motor would not have made very good sense.

Your right this way you have a car you know with a fresh motor ,if you bought another used car you could very well be buying someones headache.Chico(pops)

Gonna be rolling to TMS in the GTP, woot!!!

That's what the plan is.

Hey Bobby...Excellent Decision Maaaan! Buying a used car, wouldn't offer the Peace of Mind You will have now...at least for the next 3yrs.

Especially, not being Sure of what type of care it was given & how long it would be before...it ended-up Quiting on You too. If You Planned any upgrades, now would be the time to let them know what You want done Internally...before they put it all together.

Well, I am Sure You know better than I do...what & how You would like to have things done, it's just Great to know that You will be Rolling in Your GP...with Us again, Good Luck!

Congrats on the new motor. I thought about getting another car but I only have a year left on payments and I just dont want another 300 dollar car payment anymore so I will be putting in a new motor and tranny in the future.

But Im happy for ya austin and good luck with it.

you should have it well broken in by the time I come down again...maybe we can try and hook up in Oct when /if we come to Houston...hope you have her rumbling again very soon.

(nothin like some Texas white lightnin)

take some shots and post here of the new engine!

She's been released and I'm picking her up shortly!

Great! Go and be with your beloved GTP, I bet she missed you.

Don't forget the break in.

That's really Great, Austin...hope you are jumpin' up & down, about that. But, the best part about it all...is that You get to Keep that White Beauty!

I Think You made the right choice & by doing so, you will always be Glad you did, & you now have a Revived GTP, that would last for quite a Long Time...like if she had a "Heart Transplant" that save her life. I know You must be very Happy, & so are all of us here!

Glad to hear you are getting it back soon. I was thinking about selling mine and buying something else, but decided to go ahead and fix all the things wrong with it instead, just not ready to part with it yet.

Well, all is not without a few minor problems.
1) I'm having MAF issues, they're getting me a new MAF sensor tomorrow at their cost. I'll get that installed tomorrow night.
2) They changed my spark plugs to oem so I'll be changing those out with some cooler ones.
3) They installed a new oem T-stat, so I'll be putting in a new drilled 180* T-stat.
4) They took my fuel pressure gauge off because they said it was leaking. I'll look into that and get the gauge put back on.

All-in-all, I'm very happy to get her back and I'll be more than happy to handle the few issues at hand.

pics? i bet that enginge is pretty now keep it that way haha! congrats bobby!

I keep my engine bay as clean as can be and right now it looks like crap. It's been sitting with the hood up for about 2 1/2 weeks and there's some road construction going on where the shop is. It's about as filthy as it's ever been right now, so no pics right now. I'll be putting some elbow grease to it this weekend to get it all spotless once again.
One thing I did notice was they painted the engine black. It wasn't black when I saw it in the crate, I'm not too happy about that but oh well.

Congrats. Down the road you will see that you made the right decision of keeping your car instead of buying another used car with payments.

Two big thumbs up

...and we'll see you at the track

(just not this time)

Congrats!!! Now for a trip up to TMS!

You've got a week to break her in...

Are we meeting up in Waco or at the track?

Not sure yet... I'll let you know when I have stuff hammered out.

All I have to say for Austin is, "Tonight, we ride"!

Nope, tonight we start to clean. Maybe tomorrow night we ride.


...and BTW, zero, nada, none, nothing, no KR at all.

did you have any before?

They did hook the knock sensors back up, right? :p

I had zero KR in first gear and as soon as it hit second it would spike no higher than 4*.

Rook...

Damn, now you may not be able to clame cleanest engine bay on the board, oh oh!
Why would they paint it black, that is strange.

Odd. That's identical to what my car does, last time I scanned anyway. Zero knock until you hit the top of second, then it goes to 4*.

Probably need to richen things up right before the gear shift.