Recent content by jjcom

I'm a big fan of the Grand Prix of that era. The 3100, once the intake is fixed, normally trucks right along for a long time. The 4T60-E transmission, provided it's maintained and not abused, normally does the same. The engine doesn't sound terrible if you try to open up the exhaust a bit...

I had a set of the Altimax RT43 on my 07 Grand Prix. I had a suspension issue that promptly chewed up the front tires, but before that issue, they wore great. The rain didn't bother me and they were pretty respectable on snow. They rode great down the highway, but they felt a bit soft if thrown...

It's hard to see for sure, but that looks a lot like standard NM wire. I've seen folks run the neutral to a screw in the box to make it appear grounded. While it tricks the tester, it is not a safe configuration. I would check for that. I've also seen folks splice NM behind the box to cover up...

I've got an 2007 Grand Prix about to cross over 204k miles. It's been an great car through the 5 years I've owned it. Around 140k miles the coolant elbows blew out while on the highway. Not great, but the parts are cheap. I purchased new ones at the dealer, since the quality was much higher...

I wouldn't worry about trying to get the thinnest 30 weight in there, I'd keep doing exactly what you're doing. Pennzoil Ultra is an excellent oil and I doubt any other oil would gain significant engine life. With regular oil changes, I wouldn't have any worries of hitting 200k + on that motor.

I would look over for a leaking exhaust manifold, but it's certainly possible you have a sticky lifter on your hands. The easiest way I've found to look for exhaust leaks that are hard to find is use some seafoam. Pull off a vacuum line and slowly let the engine ingest some seafoam. It'll...

If I remember right, GM has made a revised valve cover with a slightly different PCV/baffle for those engines. You can try cleaning it and see what happens, but if it doesn't fix it, I believe there is still hope.

I don't know anything about the Federal tires, but I agree with the Starfire idea. Those are my go to tire for a budget decent tire. Cuts through the snow/rain without much trouble. Might be a little louder than name brand, but not much louder.

I've got about 19 quarts of Pennzoil Platinum 5-30 (got for 3.99/qt), 8 quarts of Napa synthetic 5-30(got for 2.99/qt), and a few quarts of various Mobil Super grades around. When Napa had a good sale on it's synthetic a few years back I had 36 quarts of 5-30 and 36 quarts of 10-30.

First thought sounds like a broken input shaft. That would leave everything dead in the water like that and I believe also would give you the false overfull reading on the dipstick. Sounds like it's time to pick a transmission shop.

I think you've got a good plan with the Challenger right now the way it is. I wouldn't change anything there. You've got a good synthetic in there that offers great protection for the harsh driving conditions the car sees. I doubt Amsoil will reduce consumption considering the conditions and if...

This isn't the first time I've heard about something like this...and oddly enough it was also on an HHR. When the head was pulled, it had a burnt exhaust valve. I believe the cause was that cylinder running too lean, likely from a slightly plugged injector.

There's quite a few cars on the road that seem to have more trouble with oil consumption. The GM 3.5s were/are bad about using more oil than they should. Not all of them are too bad...but I can think of several off hand that used 1qt/1000 miles while under 50,000 miles. I remember one customer...

If the transmission is still shifting ok, I don't think I would worry about adding anything right now. Just keep doing your drains every 100 miles or so until it cleans up. I'm guessing after 3-5 drains it'll look decent again. At that point, I'd probably leave it alone for awhile and service it...

You shouldn't need to perform much of a break in. I would just drive like normal and not beat on it for a 500 miles or so. My general rule of thumb after doing any internal engine work, head, intake, etc is change the oil 500 miles after doing the work. If there's any coolant or anything left...