OK, the grand prix has been having problems with the tranny.
1. Slipping (badly) after coming to a complete stop.
2. Accelerates very slowly. (the engine is revving but no go)
Now this is my mothers car and she mentioned that the problems
go away after the car warms up.
I Took it down to the stealership and had them do their diagnosis.
200$ later. they told me they pulled 2 codes.
PO128 (T-STAT)
and
P1811 (high shift adapts)
They said they need to replace trans. electronics and flush the transmission.
Also need to replace the T-stat, it'* not bringing the power train to proper temp
for sensor functions.
So this is what they want to charge for
Name of work to be done -Pressure control solenoid-
parts needed-
Shift solenoids, TCC PWM
internal trans. harness
valve solenoid
gasket kit
fluid
total- 1350$
Name of work to be done -Thermostat change-
thermostat
coolant
sealant
total- 185$
name of work -flush and fill trans-
filter
fluid
total- 275$
So all said and done 1810$ .....
Now that i can just BARELY handle
What i can't handle is they don't want to do the work without the following
being done as well.
my mother told them it makes a scraping noise and sometimes a clunking noise
when she turns. So to them that means new Hubs all around! WTF?!
front set- 1,100$
rear set- 1,200$
and front tie rods because they are loose -435$
*cough* *WHEEEEZE*
4,500$ to fix this?!?! are you kidding me?!
How much is the car even WORTH?!
I just quickly looked it up in Kelly blue book *and i kid you not*
4,660-5,300$
Now i just replaced the front right hub when i replaced the brakes and rotors
so i KNOW it isn't bad. and i don't think any of the others are bad either. I've had bad
ones already in that car and in my bonnie so i know what they sound and feel like.
And the T-stat isn't a problem, that'* an easy install. It'* the tranny and tie rod
i want to know about.
Is there anyway i can perform this stuff by myself? I have duct tape mind you! ....and plenty of WD-40

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Rubix

P.*. if you made it this far thanks for reading the whole thing!
I'll give you a cookie the next time i see ya!

$180 for a t-stat swap???? What a joke.

that sounds a bit much, but about right for dealer pricing. You might want to try another, smaller trans shop to see what their prices are.

Tie rod ends are relatively easy to do. I don't know if you'd want to get involved in the extensive job of replacing the pressure control solenoid, however. If it is sticking, sometimes a can of Seafoam'* Trans Tune will free it up. Some have reported luck of correcting the 1811 code by installing a shift kit. If you can change your transmission fluid and filter, you likely could do this.

gtped@msn.com

ask him for ALL the parts you need.

If you know how to put a cam in you can fix the trans. Change 2 press solenoids, manifold press switch, and TCC. If not I know of someone that rebuilds 4T65'* for $800 or so if you pull it.

well i don't know how to change a cam so i won't be working on the tranny. I will be bringing it to the smaller tranny shops around here to see how wide the price estimates are. I'm also planning on running some seafoam through it to see if it helps any.

As for the T-stat. I don't know what the stock temp is but I'll go ahead and replace it with a 180. And i'm gonna have to double check on this because i think the guy meant to say inner tie rods. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the outer ones. Then again i'm no mechanic.

I had to do the entire right hand side suspension a bout 6 months ago due to my brother
playing a game of dodge the deer. He hit the curb hard and broke the knuckle. (i got pictures if you are interested!) After i rebuilt it i noticed a light knock every once in a while when you turned the wheel fully. But i didn't think much of it because it rarely happened. I was told about the tie rods being loose when i brought it in for an alignment and they said they wouldn't do it because of the rods.

when i get home in the morning i'll think about what else i need to do. but for now i gotta get back to work!

If the problem with the tstat is it isn't getting up to temp, I'd replace it with a stock 195* just to make sure. Should be less than $10.

As for hubs, it doesn't need hubs all the way around, no way. Especially since you say you just had one replaced. If for some odd reason you did need all the bearings (like i said very very very very doubtful) you should be able to get a low mileage used set complete for $200 or less (probably much less) shipped to your door from Ed morad, and with normal hand tools these are pretty easy to change as well. To check the hubs, jack the car up and grab ahold of each tire at 12 & 6 oclock and try to shake the tire pushing towards the car and away from the car, if the hubs are good it will be tight and wont move much, if they are bad it will move (will almost seem like the wheel is just loose and needs to be tightened). Just check all the hubs like this. To check tie rod ends you do the same thing except you shake it side to side (grab at 3 & 9 instead of 12 & 6). If it has much play it needs either an inner or an outer tie rod end, possibly both. By watching the tie rod while doing this you should be able to determine what is bad.

Tie rod ends are simple, doesn't matter if its inner or outer, you can do this in your driveway with a jack and normal hand tools usually. If you are unsure how, get a general repair book (like a haynes manual or something) from the local autoparts store and it should tell you how. Not sure about inners off the top of my head, but outer tie rod ends are ~$35 each for that car.

As for the trans, my suggestion is drop the pan yourself. Get a new filter and fill it up with new fluid. Don't get it flushed because you dont want to change all the fluid at once, that is not good for the clutches and whatnot. So just drop the pan, replace the filter, put the pan back on and fill it back up with fluid (will probably take like 6-8 quarts) with a pan drop, and put a quart of lucas transmission fix in there at the same time. At least see where that gets you. If that doesn't help then at that point I would look into it further, but worth a shot. Also, why do they charge you to rebuild the transmission, then they charge you another $275 to flush it after that????? Sounds like they are in it to make a quick buck...well i guess a lot of quick bucks....

Adding it all up I'd estimate that to cost you ~$350. (and that includes replacing the hubs all the way around which i can pretty much guarantee you it doesn't need) Sounds a lot better than $4500 to me. Should be able to do it all in a day, definately in a weekend, all depends on how comfortable you are with working on cars.

bah, well i haven't had enough time to mention what has happened. but the short story is.
i drove it down to cvs to see how bad it was and to my shock a bearing is bad. i haven't driven the car in
quite a while so i didn't notice. it was the one i got with the rest ofthe parts from morad to rebuild the suspension.
I also brought it down to a local shop here and had an estimate of 2600$ for 2 front wheel hubs and the tranny work.
They guy said the clutches are shot, which is what i thought it was to begin with.
the guy took a ride in it with my mother and explained everything. she was happy with the explanation.
I also noticed the temp doesn't read on the temp gauge in the dash
I'll try to change that out with a 195* tomorrow or the day after.

i'll also try to get a repair book and change out the inner and outter tie rods. Get a list
of any tools i'll need to do it too.

Thanks for all the help guys! I appreciate it.

Rubix