One of the heads went on me friday evening. I was driving and I accelerated fast because I was trying to get over since the nissan sentra lady wouldn't let me over and I noticed alot of white smoke came out the back, then like 30sec after(est) I started getting a strong coolant smell. I pulled over and looked under the hood and the upper radiator hose popped off. So lucky me I was near a autozone and just got two clamps and put them on there real tight just so I could get home(I was only like 5minutes from home). My car isn't even paid off yet I have until December of this year to pay the car off(1700 left to pay on the car).

I don't know what I want to do. I have put alot of money in this car and it seems like something is always wrong with my gp. It does have 186,xxx miles on it and I figure the car would last me until summer of 2010 since I keep the car up real good in maintence.

I have a few options, I get a loan from my bank(Navy Federal Credit Union), Contact Ed but if I can get a engine and transmission and both installed for no more than 4,000 dollars, or just let my car sit to December until I pay it off and trade the car in for and nice used car for like 2000-3500 dollars. Like 80% of the people I asked think I should get rid of it because I've put alot of money into the car but I love my baby.

What do ya'll think I should do.

That's tough choice. I love my summer car. I don't have any payment on it. It was already paid off like 3 years ago. I think you rather have no car payment but more than $4,000 for repair them. I think it is best to get other car. Maybe get other gp?

I dont want another car payment but I will have a payment either way because I don't have no money saved and I would have to get a loan to fix the gp if I decided to keep, so I'm screwed either way.

I understand. No car payment is really nice. Good luck whichever your choice.

So a radiator hose came off. You sure the smoke out the back wasnt the steam pouring out from under the car? You sure there is engine damage?

Yeah, I don't see the problem, elaborate.

If it is indeed toast, I had the same problem in the late fall and got a new motor and transmission from Ed with 38k on each and had them installed with the grand total right at $4k. Without the Tranny it would have been about a grand cheaper. (well 900 or so.)

You should of just crashed, like you mentioned in the other thread!

JK, don't take this offensive.

Yah, how do you know if the motor or heads are shot?
If you like the car and what not, then spending money on another car with problems you don't know about is not good idea. Where you can have new engine in your car and you know its history.

I'm confused? A hose popping off doesn't mean that the motor is toast.

well if it comes down to it, i would sell the body for the car with the burned up motor, mention it has good trans. still and get what you can. then use that money get larger loan and buy an 04 or newer gp

Does the car start back up? If you put the hose back on and put coolant back in it, you should be good to go and will be able to keep it with no issues.

If it doesn't start, then yea, you'll need a new engine.

It all depends on the overall condition. If there is no rust and all the issues were with the engine, I'd go for a new engine and keep driving it. Else, I'd get rid of it only if the problems wrong with it are too great.

My mechanic use some type of device and put it down into the engine and there was pressure being build up from the heads and the pressure is what keeps blowing the hose off the radiator.

Thats what the guy told me, maybe not in those exact words but I tried to sum it up best as I could.

Herc, I thought the same thing about what you said but the white smoke covered the whole intersection.

I just feel that its too much money. I need another motor, tranny(been slipping for the longest), and some suspension work done to the car.(still on the stock suspension at 186,xxx miles)


I went to look at some cars today and seen a nice 2001 buick park avenue with the 3800 engine and has only 72,000 miles on it for 3700.

here is MY thoughts on this. your car has 186K on it. Dropping $4,000 (not counting suspension work) into it on a motor and trans will make it reliable again. HOWEVER, you will never get that money back out of it. No matter what, if you decide to get a different vehicle later on, everyone will be going by the KBB value.

My car has 160k on it, and I am hardly getting any replies on my for sale ad, at a price of $3450. WITH brand new struts at all 4 corners. And I even have the leather interior.

I'd say cut your losses, and go for something else. Even if you buy another grand prix, just get something with lower mileage.

You COULD do new head gaskets, but I have to wonder if that is worth it either. I know the bearings are not to fond of coolant instead of oil, or mixed. And then you'd still have an engine with 186k on it, and a slipping trans.

I know the die hard prix guys are like NO NO NO Fix that thing! but you have to do what makes the most sense, and to ME fixing it is not the way to go.

whatever you decide, I hope you get something figured out asap!

with the way the car market is these days you could probablyget someone to discount a car enough to cover lumping what you owe already in with a new loan for newer car and then just sell the GP for whatever you can get.

186k is lot of miles so at this point youhave to ask yourself is the rest of the car in good enough shape to invest in a newer engine/tranny. I'm sure I'll eventually get to this point with my ride and it will be hard decision to face given how much time and money I have invested in the car. I've often thought about just going ahead and selling it now while I could still get some change for it but then I'llbe back to square one with the mod bug...dont know if I can take that or not.
Good Luck and hope you get things worked out.

GrandPrix's are a great car. The 3800 is a solid motor. But the problems you have stated just happen to be the 3 most expensive part categories on any car.

For the amount you stated you could buy another grand prix with much lower mileage than yours.

My 2 cents

If the park avenue is in good shape, no problems go with it, sounds like a decent deal

I've decided to get rid of the car. As I calculate things, its going to take a least 5 grand to fix everything and I figure I could get another great used car with that money. I hate having to do payments again but another 1 1/2 years is not going to hurt. I was fortunate to have a great solid car to last this long. I had better luck with american cars than those other cars. I had a Volvo, Hyndai, and Camry and those cars did not last near the mileage this grand prix did and this was only the 3100 motor.

I don't know if I wanna get another grand prix but I will get something with a 3800 motor in it.

not sure what year camry you had, but the car I had before i got my GP was a 95 camry, with 340,000 miles on it! oddly enough, I regret selling it. Not that I think it is a better car, but because I was pretty much debt free back then....

that park ave is gonna feel like a rocket if your GP only had the 3.1 in it, lol.

I had a 96 camry and the engine and tranny went out at 145,xxx miles.

So your options are buy another used car or fix your Grandprix,well take a good look at the overall condition of your GP. interior,body,suspension ect. if it is in better than average condition I would say fix it or swap out the powertrain at least you will know what you have were-as buying another used car may be a chancy option and you may end up having to do repairs to your new ride,this is an opportunely to build your car that you want.Chico(pops)

I did a little browsing on autotrader and there are plenty of nice GP GTs and GTPs to be had for the kind of bucks your talking about...shucks I saw a few 04-up models I wouldnt mind grabbing up myself
If you grab another 97-03 body style you could de-mod your present car and save few modding dollars.

That is why I decided not to fix it because if I buy another low milege engine, the tranny will go out because the tranny is slipping and then plus I would need new shocks,springs, tie-end rods on the front. If I didn't have to get another tranny I would fix my gp but with the tranny having to be replaced, its just too much money for me. I figure I can put that money into another low mileage car. My mechanic is going to go with my to the dealerships to check out the car(s) that Im interested in.

Well guys, I've decided to keep it because I found a person to do it. To replace both heads he is going to charge 1000 for everything if the heads are crack. If they are not crack he is going to charge 800-850 to machine the heads. Ive just love the gp too much and that it would be nice to not have payments after december coming.

You should just drop an L67 in for that kind of money.

It would be too much for shipping and I had already estimated that and everything would come to 2000 dollars because of the shipping that ed charges. Im just going to save up and get a GTP by summer of 2010 if things go right.

Here is something to consider if you have any technical schools near you. At the school i go to the auto shop charges $5 labor and you sign a wavier and they do all the work for free. Same for the welding shop, paint shop, HVAC, and same for the electronics class i'm in. These guys have did several jobs for me with great results. From 3:73's in my mustang, tire rotation/alignment to a brake booster in my GP today. I've watched them rebuild the new altima pancake transmissions and complete motors. There could be a small wait but if money is a issue this might be something you would want to consider or look in to.

I don't know any schools that do that around here.

lol, don't ship an engine from ohio, get one from a local junkyard... some will even drop it in for you.

My local junk yard charge whole engine complete for $199.99 so maybe you might get lucky to see any L67 in your junk yard area. Good luck fix her up. Hopefully, it will never have any problem in future.

Ok palsut, I never thought about doing that from a junkyark. I will look into this.

Or find some local guys to help out.

Well I went to a junkyard today and they had a engine from the 2000 buick car, I forgot which model but they wanted 700 dollars for the engine and it had 103,000 miles on it. The guy start the motor up and everything and it runs real quick and no valve ticking but I just thought that was too much money. I thought that engine should be like 3-500 dollars, could I be wrong about this.

Well, I looked Ed Morard "3800 supercharger engine" on ebay. They asking for $699.99 plus shipping $??. I think it is safe that your local junk yard is cheapest. All I know Ed Morad is cheapest. Since they are same price for charge that engine.

Maybe someone will chime in if it is right price or too much.