Pac Man

Hello all, old member returning as I have recently bought an 02 TA w/ A4 and 110k miles... 7 years after I gave up my 01 WS6 that I bought brand new. I hated buying a used muscle car (almost like buying used underwear), but the car seemed to have been in exceptional condition inside and out. Very, very little wear and tear... it seemed as tight and solid as my 01 did 7 years ago with half the mileage. It had 2 previous owners, the 2nd owner drove it from 46k-110k 7 years. It was bought and sold at the same Pontiac dealer in Florida and was serviced there as well. It is from Port Richey Florida, where a lot of retirees reside... so that was another good sign. Overall, the car showed no signs of being beaten on or owned by a careless kid... so I pulled the trigger.

Now I am beginning to notice some issues popping up and hoping that they are not contributed to abuse... as they seem premature for a car with only 112k miles. Maybe some are just normal.

First, sometimes the car does not start with the first turn of the key... it just cranks and cranks. Second try, it starts right up.

Second, there seems to be a slight rumbling/clunking type noise from the rear end when I let off the gas to let the car cruise or am making a left turn. It does not whine. Also, when cruising at 65-70 mph+ and I take my foot off the gas, I get a slight vibration for a very short moment and then it smooths out. It is definitely a drivetrain vibration. Is this normal? I don't remember this on my 01, but it had an aluminum driveshaft that may have had different characteristics.

There seems to be a few tear drop oil leaks underneath the car... one may be coming from the rear axle as it is in the rear. The other is towards the front, near the transmission area. I guess leaks are normal, but usually I don't see leaks from a car until closer to 200k miles. The engine also has some oily residue/gunk around various places around the valve cover areas and under the air intake inlet... but no traces of an actual leak from the vc gaskets. Lastly, the rack&pinion seems a little wet looking too with some slight oily gunk towards the driver side, but no drips.

There are a lot of tiny paint "bubbles" in the roof bar that separates the t-tops from the back hatch. My rear quarter panels also have a few small waves/creases along the top that surround the power antenna area.

Engine idle seems ever so slightly "lumpy"... I can feel it in my seat, but I think I remember my 01 being the same. It's been 7 years, hard to remember certain characteristics. It certainly doesn't hesitate when driving... it is as smooth as silk accelerating and cruising.

Otherwise, the car has performed flawlessly... transmission shifts butter smooth (I can barely feel the shifts), AC blows ICE cold, engine has been reliable and seems strong, the car body seems to have the solidity of a bank vault and absolutely no squeaks or rattles from the interior or body.

When looking to see if an LS1 or Fbody has been driven hard, what are some signs that you guys look for?

Here is a pic of the car:

Pac Man

Also adding that it has cross drilled rotors installed by one of the previous owners. The brakes were one of the archilles heel of my 01, rotors kept warping and brake fade was really bad. This car definitely stops much stronger and smoother!

NightwalkerLS1

iTrader: (2)

Very nice looking TA, gratz. Only thing I noticed from the pics is you can tell some dipwad tried to jack the car up using your fender tabs. Hence the reason your right front fender is bulging out on the bottom. Luckily it is an easy fix. See link below.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/paint-bod...-gap-pics.html

I had the same start issue you did and turned out to be a dirty MAF sensor and my IAC valve was gunked up pretty good. Owner before me had way over oiled the K&N air filter that was in the car. Both simple fixes with a ton of threads on here about how to fix em. Once I cleaned both up realy well start and idle issues went away immediately.

I also recently bought a trans am with exact same mileage and had similar leak issues. Rear pinion seal in the back, cheap enough fix was about 130 bucks.

I am going to bow out and let someone with more experience than I chime in on the oil leak and other issues you mentioned.

Pac Man

Thank you for the reply and link! The starting issue was the biggest one (to me), so I will tackle that ASAP with a good cleaning of the MAF and IAC sensors. Upon further inspection, it is the rear pinion seal leaking... seems to be common so no worries, I'll get it fixed this week and try to pin point where the other leak is coming from. Perhaps the rear will quiet down with fresh fluid.

Btw, my 01 WS6 wound up in Atlanta after I traded it in back in 06 with about 68k miles... so if you've seen a red one running around, it could be it. I'm tearing my house apart trying to find the original window sticker and paperwork that I kept to get the VIN on it and run a carfax.

JLFIII

iTrader: (1)

While I hope a dirty MAF is your problem, I recently had a similar issue with my car not starting on the first crank, but started on the second turn every time. I soon discovered it was a bad fuel pump, which left me stranded when I "ran out of gas" with half a tank! (aka the pump finally kicked the bucket while I was driving)

Pac Man

I've heard 3 different possibilities... one being a relay of some sort, the other being the dirty sensors and then a possible bad fuel pump. It is definitely intermittent, but it still usually takes a bit longer to turn over than other LS1s I have heard start. I'll try to get a sound clip uploaded tomorrow as well as some more pics of engine bay, underneath and interior.

Today when the car decided to crank and crank, I just let it keep cranking and it eventually started after about 4 seconds.

Also discovered today that the passenger side of the car sits about half an inch lower than the driver's side.

JLFIII

iTrader: (1)

Well, of the 3 possibilities you listed the fuel pump could leave you stranded. Much like yours, mine would occasionally start on the first try, or if I cranked it long enough (much much longer than "normal") it would sometimes start. I would have it checked, mine died at a rather inconvenient time!

Nicky98T/a

iTrader: (10)

is it throwing any codes? Ive seen a bad crankshaft position sensor cause a starting issue of that sort

Pac Man

No lights or stored codes. Dropped the car off at the Buick/GMC (former Pontiac) dealer after work and told them to fix the leaks (they lifted it and said the rear is leaking where the Ujoints connect to the axle) and they think that the engine leak might be rear main seal, but they'll diagnose it further in the morning. They are also going to diagnose the starting issue (it acted up for the tech, thankfully) and fix my driver's side headlight motor that sometimes wouldn't work and make a grinding noise after closing.

They said the rear end rumble at low speeds and left turns is normal and is a characteristic of the particular axle? They will change out the gear fluid oil after the seal replacement and said that might quiet it down.... but unless it whines, it is fine.

Don't know when it will be ready, but as soon as the car is fixed and I find out what was wrong, I will report it back here.

TAvsGN

Right after I bought my 98 T/A I noticed kind of like a grinding noise in the back of the car, especially when I made turns at lower speeds. Its been awhile, but I believe it was mostly left turns, if memory serves. I bought mine used, and the dealer said it was rusty brake rotors. They replaced them at no charge, but it didn't go away. Back I went, and got the same answer. Took it to another dealer where I knew the service guy. Within an hour, they called and said it was an issue with the rear diff, something about pins that were broken and letting stuff move around inside. Basically got a new rear end out of the deal on GMs tab since there was a month left on the manufacture warranty. Don't know if your issue is the same (hopefully not), but worth keeping in mind I guess.

Pac Man

Yeah it is mostly left turns and when almost coming to a stop... sounds like a "rumble/grinding/tumbling" type noise... hard to explain. Sometimes it does it a little louder than others. I tried a search, but most people only complain about the rear end whining... this one has no whine of any sort. While accelerating and cruising at speed, it's perfectly quiet.

raynor139

The bubbling on the sail panel is because of GMs crappy glue they used. You can have it repainted but it will just come back. Only real fix is to replace the sail panel. 6litreater sales replacement ones.

NightwalkerLS1

iTrader: (2)

Yeah I had the similar oil leak as well it was the rear main seal. Although, for me it wasn't a huge deal since I was having the clutch replaced I had them replace the rear main seal along with the slave cylinder all in one shot.

The fuel pump scares most people because technically you have to drop alot of crap to get to it, however if you are not a purist you can get at it from the top easily enough. Here is a link to what I mean.

http://www.gonicd.com/intankinstall/...mpinstall.html

There is so many little things with these cars that will have an impact on how it acts it is hard to say sometimes what exactly the issue is. I am firm believer in go the cheap route first and work your way up.

Pac Man

I had to spend the Labor Day weekend without my car, dealer called Friday to tell me that they were still trying to figure out the starting issue, but everything else had been fixed. I miss it so much...having some serious Fbody withdrawals.

TAvsGN

Just curious what the rear end noise turned out to be?

'99REDTA

iTrader: (1)

Kinda sounds like a little play in the pinion, after I did the seal on my mustang it had a little play in it and clunked a bit here and there but I just let it be since after all it was a mustang

Pac Man

They told me the rear end noise was "normal" and not to worry unless it starting whining. They said it might quiet down after the fresh gear oil. I may have to take it elsewhere and get a second opinion on that one.


No call from them today.

Pac Man

Well the car is still in the shop. The front oil leak turned out to be a rear main $eal. I went to pick the car up and as I was driving home I noticed that the car was making a whining sound and my volt gage was deep in the yellow zone. I could tell that it was struggling to power the accesories. So, I turned it around and headed back for the dealer and it began to rain. The windshield wipers could barely move and aI was just praying that I made it back! Next thing I knew I was getting wet! Water was coming in from the edge of the A pillar where it meets at the windshield and headliner. I made it back to the dealer and they replaced my alternator and are now trying to solve the water leak. Also, they did not fix the starting issue and are supposedly working on that again. What a mess.

Pac Man

Ok, a new rear pinion seal, rear main seal, oil pan gasket, speaker, headlight motor,alternator, a new windshield and an empty wallet later, I finally have my car back home. Oddly enough, the starting issue seems to have solved itself (knock on wood) They said that they couldn't find anything and it has been starting right up everytime. It's been fine for me so far. They did say that maybe it was linked to the alternator going bad. I'll give it a while longer before I shoot off the fireworks on that one.

Now it seems that my spoiler 3rd brake light is out (both bulbs).

Pac Man

Just an update. I spoke too soon regarding the starting issue...it returned shortly afterwards so the car is getting a new fuel pump this weekend. I also went to change the 3rd brake light bulbs and realized that they were no bulbs in the sockets! That was strange...but I put new bulbs in and it is working fine. Maybe previous owner had something else plugged in there.

As far as the rear axle, I got a second opinion and apparently the u-joints may be worn and I may have a bad pinion bearing. Sheesh.

I'll have a brand new car after all is said and done. I still LOVE this car and the engine, interior and body are near flawless...so hopefully it will be smooth sailing after these initial issues are resolved.

I AM beginning to think that this car was driven hard and just kept up cosmetically...but the engine and transmission (4l60e) perform like new so I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it.