another GTP

hey there, my freind recently (as in yesterday) purchased a 1999 GTP coupe, white w/tan leather and all options. he doesnt know a whole lot about cars (as of yet), and i have some knowledge and tools so i help him with most of the work he does on stuff. The car has 140,000 on it, and its mostly stock it has a K&N drop in and the resonator has been piped over thats all. he got a really good deal on it but it has a few of the common problems a lot of these cars have. The headlights are ugly, he was planning on getting a set of the blacked out housings off of e-bay. The fog lights are busted out he might get a set of the Hella Angel eyes or the other ones from PFYC for that. the driver window switch is busted but he already ordered a new one for that last weekend too. the interior pass. side upper entry light thing is missing the cover, and the driver side door hinge is wore out. Since we are good freinds and im am just as excited about him getting the GTP as he was im not going to charge him anything to work on it and i get discounts on parts so me and him can fix everything on it for prolly under $350 to make the car look brand new again. then we plan on changing the supercharger oil since it has prolly never been done, and doing basic stuff like oil, plugs and wires. with all that in lemme know what you think.

now on to the questions, the car has the Auto dual climate controls but the exterior temp always reads around 55 deg. no matter what the outside temp is, is there a common problem that causes this? the car has the ABS and Trac lights on and my Snap-On MT-2500 wont communicate with the ABS module although it does communicate with the PCM and BCM is there a common problem that causes this? and the biggest problem, the fuel pump takes like 45 seconds to prime the system enough to start the car (it runs and runs but the car wont start, if you let it set till the pump bogs and shuts off it fires right up)but the pump isnt weak because we took it for a test beat on the way home when we picked it up and it is def. at full power! I was thinking the cause was the pump resistor problem but it sounds like that causes a not running condition more than a not starting cond. Any answers are greatly appreciated, we hope to have much fun with this beast this summer on the street as well as the track (BTW about how fast should this thing go in the 1/4 as it sits?)

Only one I can answer for you is the ABS/Trac one. Ussually what causes this is a bad wheel hub, you'll have to have to car scanned at a dealer to find out witch one is bad, that should take care of that problem.

I remember a read somewhere on here about the climate control, ill see if I can find it.

The Fuel situation, I cant be to much help on that one, sorry.

BTW, WELCOME ABOARD!

http://www.grandprix.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007210;p=0&r=nfx

Here you go, There are a few topics about it... just search for "outside temp"

Welcome to the forum! The blacked out headlight housings reduce light output; maybe a set of headlight covers would be a better choice...

Fuel pump: Try the Fuel Pump Resistor fix first, and go from there. Check for a plugged/restricted fuel filter; it's under the car, near the driver's side rear wheel.

Hey, is that normally an expensive fix? For that matter, is it something the dealership has to do, or is it an easy fix too?

Welcome aboard, dude!

wheel hubs are pretty simple to replace as long as u have the correct tools about about 1 to 2 hours to change it depending one exp tools and what nots... price wise under 3 or so to buy

I got my wheel hub for $104.99. It took me about 3 hrs to change out but it was being stubborn. If I did it again it could probably be finished in less time.

Just need the $tealership to scan and then you can replace that one hub thats out. But like everyone here said, less then $120 for the hub and a few hours of yelling and cussing at the car.

Hopefully it's just a bad hub, and not a problem with the EBTCM (ABS computer). If so, you can get one from Ed Morad at Morad Parts Company , or contact him by phone or e-mail. Some of us have him on speed dial..

Depends.
If you're mechanically able and have the tools, it's something you can do in your driveway.

If you're too lazy to do it (like me), then your local neighborhood mechanics shop will be more than happy to do it for you.

With as many miles as you say I'd recommend just changing both front hubs. One is not much farther behind the other when they fail.

Outside temp. You need a new temp bulb. It's located behind the front bumper.

For the headlights stock the light output is horrible and the blacked out housings will only make it worse.

For the fuel I'd change the fuel filter and if that doesn't help out check the actual fuel pressure and be sure it's with in acceptable parameters.

For a quarter mile time stock GTPs have recorded from mid 14s to low 15s. Driver/track/weather conditions all play a big part in the over all. But I would expect 14.8-15.2.

Welcome!

ok, thanks for the response, as i said this isnt my car i'll just be the one working on it for the most part for one of my good friends and i havent had any experience with L67 engines, hes had the car for 2 days so i havent gotten a chance to put it in the air an check it out yet. Ive done a lot of wheel hubs on FWD cars but the previous owner said it had both front hubs done recently so i hope thats not the problem, or they might have screwed the front wheel speed sensor wiring up or something changing them but my scanner not communicating with the ABS mod. makes me think theres something else going on there. Its probably getting a fuel filter today depending on how much $$ the he has left over after the engine oil and filter. We found out last night on our first drive with it that it either has and over-cooling problem or someone already put a 160* t-stat in it the latter hopefully being the issue, the temp gauge runs just off the bottom . The prev. owner said something about her ex doing something with the computer and that "you can go as fast as you want and it wont cut out", so that and the fact that it has a 160 t-stat (hopefully) and a K&N drop in, im thinking it might already have a tuned PCM, we can only pray. If so the next issue will be which intake, 3 inch DP, and pulley to buy.

whats the supercharger oil change interval supposed to be on these?, i dont think this one has ever had it done. also do any of you run synthetic trans fluid, if so did you notice any diff. with it?

Usually every 30k-50k; here's an earlier thread on it: Supercharger Oil As for trans fluid, I've used Pennzoil Multi-Vehicle ATF (synthetic blend) with good results. Just don't let anyone flush the tranny, and you'll be ok.

alright heres the update, we jacked it up yesterday and found that the previous owners threw a non-abs hub assembly on the car and zip-tied the wire to the control arm so it wouldnt hang under the car, thank you #%@%#$^!@*(^$!#**@. we changed the oil to RP 10W30, the supercharger oil wasnt in stock so thats coming in today or monday and i have a waste oil vacuum pump so i dont anticipate any issue there. We got a fuel filter for it however i dont think the old one had ever been replaced and the threaded end could NOT be removed by any natural means so he is going to buy a compression fitting some line and a flare nut so we can cut the filter out and patch a piece of line back in, if anybody knows what size line that is what type of flare etc...or has a better idea on how to replace it that would be helpful. the K&N drop in was clogged full of crap so i just blew that out with compressed air since hes getting a CAI or FWI for it we didnt bother doing the whole K&N re-charge thing. Does anyone on here know what is supposed to hold the pressure from bleeding off when the fuel pump isnt on, even with the car off the fuel system should be pressurized but when i disconnected the quick connect on the fuel filter no gas ran out. i am convinced that this is causing our hard starting issue, if the fuel pressure bleeds off all the way to the pump every time its turned off it has to prime the entire fuel system before it gets enough pressure to start the engine. There should be some sort of one-way check valve to keep the system pressurized but i have no idea where. That is all for now ill keep ya updated on more as we get there.

I'm not sure about the fuel problem, so for this I am sorry.

But they way you can tell if you have a new PCM is if you drive the car pretty hard to get it up to running temp, the radiator fans should run for about 30 seconds after you turn the car off. The stock GP's don't do that.

yea, it doesnt have one, he found out the easy way on some back road the other day

For the fuel line & fitting, clean off any rust and try spraying some PB Blaster on it, and let it soak a bit. A 5/8" or 16 mm flare wrench, and a 19 or 20 mm wrench for the filter. I'm guessing that filter is plugged up if it's been on a while. Recheck the pressure after you've changed it, and go from there. With the key on and the pump running, the pressure should be 48-55 psi. If the fuel system drops more than 5 psi in 10 minutes, check for leaks in one or more of the following areas: Fuel pump check valve, flex pipe (part of pump assembly), valve or valve seat in the fuel pressure regulator, fuel injectors. Inspect the fuel lines for leaks or obstructions as well. Good Luck!

the fuel pump check valve is the type of thing i was waiting to hear. where is that located and how do i get to it?

My books aren't showing it as a separate piece: my guess is it's part of the fuel pump assembly in the fuel tank.