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Pontiac Grand Am Service Engine Soon / ABS / Trac Off

101 messages,  Last post on Oct 15, 2009 at 5:46 AM

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#78 of 101 Re: 00 grand am misfire [micwilliamsjm] by jimsmith2354 Dec 23, 2008 (8:03 pm)
Replying to: micwilliamsjm (Dec 03, 2008 4:14 pm) I can't offer any suggestions to fix the hesitation, but the ABS and Traction lights are controlled by the ABS brake computer and the $100 readers at Auto-Zone and others will not see the codes. You need to go to a dealer or a better repair shop as the ABS readers cost many hundreds of dollars.   My ABS and many other lights were ON in my 2003 Grand AM and the ABS reader said both front wheel speed sensors were bad. I also had one wheel bearing that was noisy after just 50K miles. The Grand Am wheel speed sensors are very cheap and water gets sucked-in and corrodes the wires and the bearings. When I tore apart the old ones it was obvious that water had gotten in. I replaced both front wheel bearings and used silicone RTV to seal out further water problems.   You should get the ABS fixed as soon as possible because an intermittent ABS can so some very dangerous things.
#79 of 101 Re: Too Many Problems At One Time [dsudelta] by jimsmith2354 Dec 23, 2008 (8:21 pm)
Replying to: dsudelta (Dec 23, 2008 6:56 am) Wow, two dangerous problems at once. First you should have a competent mechanic find and fix the gas leak under the hood. It could be fuel rail, the pressure regulator, an injector, or a pipe / hose fitting. A leaky injector would also cause poor idle and performance.   I assume by a wet trunk you mean wet with water, the trunk seal on my 2003 Grand Am was not installed correctly from the factory, but it was easily corrected.   The fuel pump for most new vehicles are pretty standard so I think the pump should be OK, but it sounds like the mechanic didn't re-install the float correctly to make the gas gauge read correctly. It's a big annoyance but also some work to correct. I'm in favor of only paying a mechanic half until you see if he did the right thing - can you tell I don't go to a mechanic very often...   The ABS and Traction lights are controlled by the ABS brake computer and the $100 readers at Auto-Zone and others will not see the codes. You need to go to a dealer or a better repair shop as the ABS readers cost many hundreds of dollars.    My ABS and many other lights were ON in my 2003 Grand AM and the ABS reader said both front wheel speed sensors were bad. I also had one wheel bearing that was noisy after just 50K miles. The Grand Am wheel speed sensors are very cheap and water gets sucked-in and corrodes the wires and the bearings. When I tore apart the old ones it was obvious that water had gotten in. I replaced both front wheel bearings and used silicone RTV to seal out further water problems.    You should get the ABS fixed as soon as possible because an intermittent ABS can so some very dangerous things - but so will an engine fire...
#80 of 101 Re: Too Many Problems At One Time [dsudelta] by dsudelta Jan 05, 2009 (10:57 am)
Replying to: dsudelta (Dec 23, 2008 6:56 am) FOLLOW UP: I finally took the car to a reputiable mechanic. They worked on my car for two days, only to find out that the 2003 Grand AM's have one of the most complicated engines ever made. The "misfire" that the computer was reading was the the result of the bolt holding the Tension & Timing Belt in place. The only way for the mechanic to find out if any damage was done by the "floating bolt", was to take my entire engine apart..$2,000. However, the bad news is that there could be more damage done and they would not know until the engine was fully taken out. Well as luck would have it, a 2003 Grand Am with 1,000 miles was totally wrecked this past Friday and the mechanic called to say that he could install the new engine in my car for $1500.00. I will now have a 1,000 mile engine in car that actually has 103,000 miles.   I would suggest to anyone, have your mechanic check with local salvage/junk yards, before committing to doing the work.   I will keep you posted on how this works out. Replies to this message: burdawg (Jan 05, 2009 12:25 pm) jimsmith2354 (Jan 05, 2009 7:34 pm)
#81 of 101 Re: Too Many Problems At One Time [dsudelta] by burdawg Jan 05, 2009 (12:25 pm)
Replying to: dsudelta (Jan 05, 2009 10:57 am) I think I would tread a little lightly here. I don't don't see how a problem with the tensioner bolt (what's a "floating bolt"?)could cause a misfire, nor do I believe a 1000 mile car of the exact same type just happened to get wrecked right when you have been convinced you should swap out the engine Also, the statement that the 2003 Grand Am has one of the most complicated engines ever built, either the 4 or the 6, is interesting. With either engine it's not even close.
#82 of 101 Re: Too Many Problems At One Time [dsudelta] by jimsmith2354 Jan 05, 2009 (7:34 pm)
Replying to: dsudelta (Jan 05, 2009 10:57 am) I agree with all of burdawg's comments. First I do hope this cures all your problems, but I cannot fail to add that an engine swap in a FWD car is not trivial and could easily cost $1500 in labor and misc belts and hoses to make it all top notch. If you really did get a low mileage engine then this is a great deal... but anytime something costs more than a few hundred dollars, I automatically get a second opinion. In this case I suspect the mechanic found the real problem for the misfire and just made-up a complicated story - one good for $1500... After all $1500 for a new engine seems like a bargain against a $2000 repair for the old engine. Sorry for the skepticism, but I do hope all your problems got fixed.
#83 of 101 Re: Too Many Problems At One Time [dsudelta] by meatydojo Jan 09, 2009 (2:46 am)
Replying to: dsudelta (Dec 23, 2008 6:56 am) hi dsudelta. I had the very same problems you describe on my 2000 grand am gt. The smell of fuel was especially concerning to me. It turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator. It was a cheap and easy fix to boot. IOf you have any questions on how to fix this feel free to email me ###sniper04gmail.com&*%^^%. ttake out the funky characters.
#84 of 101 Points/Rotor/Floats/and wires... those were the days by big3cars Mar 21, 2009 (6:24 am)
My son has a 2002 GrandAm 2.2 that is driving me crazy and broke.   Early this year it the Service Engine Soon (SES) came on and I took it to my local service station. P0300 was the code for which they replaced the ignition control module, ignition coil pack, and plugs. total bill $667.   The SES light was off for three days then came back on with a P0130 code. Went back to the service station and they want to replace the exhaust manifold and converter for $1039. I said no and brought the car back to my garage and parked it for a couple of months and sent my son off to school without his car while I thought this over.   I heard an autozone commerical for OBD II testing and took the car there which threw a P0130 code that related to the first O2 sensor in the exhaust stream. For $150 for the O2 and special tool I replaced that and after 10 miles the SES light went off. Hurray... four days later the SES light is glowing again.   All the above brings me to today... I took the car to Autozone again and now its throwing P0130 and P0141.   The SES light it making me crazy and I'd like to know if someone can make sense out of this for me. The car itself runs well and has 86K miles on it so it's not a high mileage car.   Drop a line if you have an idea of what this could be... I have put alot of $ into this car since owning it and am trying to stick with American made cars but it's times like this that makes it difficult. Your help would be appreciated
#85 of 101 95 grand basket by gmccabe Apr 29, 2009 (7:12 pm)
got a 95 grand am in a basket . the car is coming along beutifully,except the abs light always staring at us and the rear brakes locking up.does anyone have the procedure to bleed the complete ABS ? Replies to this message: tobijs87 (May 03, 2009 12:58 pm)
#86 of 101 Re: 95 grand basket [gmccabe] by tobijs87 May 03, 2009 (12:58 pm)
Replying to: gmccabe (Apr 29, 2009 7:12 pm) this is a really common problem with early grand ams (before 99) and with cavaliers, sunfires, etc. it isnt a matter of just bleeding the brakes, the reason your light is on and your back brakes lock up is because your abs motor pack has gone bad, these are not incredibly cheap, usually about 200 for the part and then the shop bill if you cant do it yourself, I had this same exact problem with my girlfriends 97 cavalier. Good Luck!
#87 of 101 SERVICE VEHICLE SOON, TRAC OFF, ABS by tobijs87 May 03, 2009 (1:06 pm)
To all of you with these lights on, this is because of your wheel speed sensor wiring, the only thing about that though is that you cant just replace the wires, the wires are sealed in the hub assembly, so you have to replace the entire hub assembly. This is a major issue with grand ams, if you keep your car for a while you WILL have this problem again. I have had a 2001 grand am for 4 years now it now has 165,000 on it and i have had to replace the hub assemblies twice and need to again! These hubs usually last about 60,000 to 90,000 miles, depending on whther you buy the cheapos and how you drive your car. Replies to this message: 03grandampos (Aug 18, 2009 6:50 am)

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