BIG problems

T

turbowannabe

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2001
Well I'v got problems. I just bought an 86 GN 4 days ago and i think the motor might have seized up. It has 116,000 miles on it and has been professionally rebuilt from what i'm told. I'm still in the process of gettin all the documents on the rebuilds of the tranny, motor and turbo. The car has ran great up untill what happened tonight. I haven't even really done a whole lot of driving in it today because i was at work from 8-5 the i had some other work to do from 5-7. I took it for one drive before i took it on the drive that did it in. Car started up good and everything seemed fine. I drove down my driveway, everything still good, as i accelerate up a small hill slowly, because it was night time and no one comming up behind me, i get a little ways and it starts clunking loud. I imediatly pull over and shut the engine down. I wait a few minutes panicking expecting the worst and go to start it up again but the engine wont' even turn over. So i'm pretty much thinkin i'm screwed. Well i just left it parked there for the night until tomarrow. But i'm guessing it's gonna be bad. Does anyone have any info they could share with me on what they think coulda happened? I'm thinkin the oil pump might have went out. It's got enough oil and i had my digital temp gauge on my scanmaster on and it was normal. I didn't however check my oil pressure because i just wasn't thinking about it. It's been running fine the last couple of days so i didn't think anything like this would happen. I don't know what i'm goin to do. If you got any info please let me know. I know how helpful turbobuick.com is so i decided to come on here and share with you all. :confused:

thanks
dan
 
sounds strange....


When you went to re-start the car did you hear the starter engage?

Did you check the oil to see what it looked like or if it had any metal shavings in it?
 
Four days after you bought the car,this happens?I'd be having a word with the guy I bought the car from.Professional rebuild?Somebody pulled a fast one from where I'm standing,if what you're telling me is correct.
 
You need to go back in the daylight, and gather more info, before we can be of much help. It sounds like it could be a number of things. However, as TurboRegal84 asked, can you hear it trying to turn over? Does the fuel pump prime? Is there a puddle of oil on the ground? Is there a hole in the side of the block?:eek: Does it have fuel pressure? Where did the clanking sound eminate from? Did it sound like two metal pipes being whacked together?

These are just a few of the questions you might want to investigate and answer. Sorry to hear it Dan. It's got to be disheartening! Give us some feedback, and maybe we can offer some advice. However, if you paid any sort of fair price for the car, then I think you've got a leg to stand on if you have to go legal with it.
 
Might be a main bearing if the tolerances werent done right on the rebuild. Sounds like you might have a good lawsuit brewing. We will help if you can get a little more info
 
Yes when i went to start the car i could hear the starter engage but it makes a little noise and that's it. I checked the oil and it looked fine. I'm goin to go check it again here after i get off here. My brother was out there with me after this happened and he said that it had fuel pressure when i tried starting it. I looked for a puddle of oil but it was dark and i couldn't see anything. The clanking sound sounded like it was comming from either the motor or tranny, but the tranny engaged fine when we pushed it to the side of the road so i'm goin to say it was comming from the engine :(. Well i paid $7200 for it and i'm only 16, I don't have the money to be paying for any major repairs as i owe my dad a sum of money already for him helping me purchase it. The guy we bought it off of seemed really cool. He knew what he was talking about and said if i had any problems to let him know. I sent him and email about it. Blackbuick87, He said the reason it was rebuilt originally was because the owner before him had the main bearing go out on him so he had the motor tranny and turbo all rebuilt. He told me he is working on gettin the papers for the rebuild from the owner before him, but that guy is in training for the army or something. He gave me the previouse owners email address so i'm goin to contact him too. I'm goin to go check on the car right now but i think i might cry. I'll put more info on here after i get back

thanks
 
i just got back from checking on the car. The starter makes noise when i go to start it but nothing happens. The oil looks fine, it has no metal shavings in it, but the oil level is about the gratings on the dipstick, the car is on uneven ground though. It has fuel pressure. There's no oil on the ground, no hole in the block. I'm taking it to a mechanic later today and he's goin to tell me what he thinks, which i'm guessing isn't goin to be good. The egine and everthing look fine, but it wont' even turn over. So i'm thinkin it's goin to be something internally like a main bearing or oil pump. I emailed the person i bought it off of and the previous owner before him. I can't believe this is happening, it's ran fine the last couple of days. Thanks for your help

dan
 
Dunno, sounds like a rod or maybe a snapped crank. What did you do buy it through a third party or dealer? I dont know why the guy you bought it from cant produce anything

Good luck and let us know what the mechanic says. DO NOT let just anyone try to rebuild it or the same thing will happen, if it is rebuildable
 
I bought the car from the third owner. The guy i bought it from said that the previous owner before him had all the documents on the rebuild, he said he knew him personally. I just recieved an email from the owner before the guy i bought it off and he said he doesn't know if he still has the documents or not. The person i bought it off seemed very trustworthy so i don't know what to do. I don't know what i will do if it's goin to cost alot of money to rebuild it because i just don't have the money to get it done, I told him i didn't have money to make any major repairs too. I guess i shouldn't have bought a rebuilt car in the first place. But i thought since it was all done "professionally" I woudn't have to worry about it. Four days after i buy it it does this to me, that's definately not a good thing. I'll find out later today or tomarrow what's wrong with it. :(
 
Dan,,, you're doing the right thing by taking it to a mechanic. However, do not let him begin any work on it before he can show you some proof or solid explanation of what may have failed. Then come back and post it to everyone here, and let some of us analyze the info, before you make any repair choices. Now, in saying this, I mean if he says the motor is toast or something to that effect.
Yes, it could be catostrophic, or it could be much smaller. No need to stress and worry until you have some real data to work with. Then we'll help you in whatever way we can with advice and parts locations, etc.
You say you're only 16? Good gosh, I cannot imagine having a GN at 16. I would've wrapped myself around a tree within a week, or been in jail for racing my own shadow at every stop light. ;)
I hope you can get it back on the road reasonably easy. When I bought my first TR in 1991, I thought I had it bad when my motor went buh-bye after only a year. However, it was my fault... Keep us informed, and best wishes...
 
Well the mechanic is my boss so i'm pretty sure he's trustworthy. We took it up there today and he looked at it a little later but won't be able to tear into it till monday. He told me that he took the serpentine belt off to see if the altenator locked up but it was fine, but he said he couldn't turn the crankshaft. There's a number of things that coulda went wrong, but my dad said he said something about a rod breaking, but nothing is for sure. This is just my luck to have something like this happen to me four days after i get the car. I haven't even went through a half tank of gas yet. I'v been working and not had time to drive it much. So as you can imagine i'm in a pretty bad mood. If it has to be rebuilt i'm just either goin to go to a junk yard and look for a low milage engine or buy a new block. I dont' want a engine that has been rebuilt 2 times, i dont' want to have to worry about it messing up again. I'm goin to owe my parents for life after this one. By the time i get done i would have had enough money to buy a relatively low milage car in really good shape. I wasn't even gettin on it AT ALL when this happened to. The first time i have a girl in it that's what happens. I'm tryin to be gentle with and and not mess it up but something still has to happen. I'm goin to put a post on here to see if anyones got a block to sell me. Thanks for your help i keep you posted

dan
 
I wouldn't go looking for spare parts just yet.Find out what went wrong and take it from there.There's lots of guys on this board that can usually help,one way or another.Take your time and rebuild it right and right doesn't always mean lots of money,but usually does mean effort.You'll get it,hang tough.:)
 
Dan:
No need to go block hunting yet. Even if it is a rod or crank, depending on what it did or how it failed, needs to be determined before replacing the block. I've done two rebuilds on a block before, and so have many others. They will bore out to .040 over, but I would certainly not go further than that. And,,, it has nothing to do with bad luck. There's no such thing! Things happen for a reason, and you're a victim of a situational circumstance, that will have happened per a logical failure.
It's just a bummer to have to deal with it this early on in your possession of it.
I just had to buy a crank for mine, and it cost me $250 for a low mileage used one. They are out there. I would also think that if you work for a mechanic, you will be able to save alot in the rebuild, per labor, and you'll learn alot while doing it too. I realize it's not a fun situation, but you can remain down and bitter about it, or you can use it as an opportunity to improve it and have your hand involved in building your toy. If your parents can help you with it, that's great too! You'll return the favor to them someday I'm sure. Oh yeah, I hope you at least got a sympathy kiss from the girl, per your dilema...? ;)
Keep us posted, and let us know what you need, once the data is in. I'm sure many of us can help you save money, by knowing what to get and where to get it. Hope it goes well for ya'.
 
See the thing that makes me wonder is he said when the motor was rebuilt they put in new crank, camshaft, valve springs so i'm goin to have my boss check it out and tell me if they look lilke they have actualy been replaced. If not it may get more serious. I might do as you say and while i'm fixing it upgrade some things such as heads or gettin it bored. I was thinkin if i went to a junkyard and found a good engine with all the parts i could have a twin turbo setup made ;) but i doubt that will ever happen. I can always imagine. yeah i did get a kiss but it wasn't a sympathy kiss, it was all me :cool:

thanks
dan
 
Quote: "yeah i did get a kiss but it wasn't a sympathy kiss, it was all me"
That's funny! :D
Don't even think about wasting time and energy on a twin turbo setup either. The fastest TR's I've ever seen have all been single turbos with all the right stuff...
Be sure and find out if the block has already been bored, and to what degree. Typically people go .030 over, just for the sake that pistons are readily available and affordable at that spec. .020 over is still available, but usually harder to find or custom. Same thing goes for .040 over.
You won't find one of these motors in the junkyard, but you can find a good, low mileage N/A 3.8 with the same casting number, and use it IF need be. I'm not convinced yet that you will. I did find it discouraging to hear that your boss could not turn the crank. That sounds like a big woops! Be sure to get all the previous owner/builder info that you can, and stay on them until they give it to you or offer a reasonable explanation. Once you see what failed, you may want to consider Small Claims Court, if the guy appears to have sold you a lemon, or had any knowledge that destruction was eminent. Why did he sell it to begin with?
Keep up the pursuit. It sounds like you'll come out okay, aside from being a little further in debt.
 
I wasnt' serous about the twin turbo setup, but it'd be cool. He said when they rebuilt the engine it was rebuilt back to factory specs. So if it's bored or anything he lied. the thing that really gets me is that i didn't have much time to drive it and i only went through a half tank of gas before this happened. My boss said it was a good thing i wasn't gettin on it at all because it might not have done as much damage. He told me he was selling it because he just bought a new house, but the day we bought it he said that he bought a boat the previous night with his buddy. He knew the previous day that we were goin to buy it, so him and his buddy went out that night and bought a boat. I'll be finding out here within the next week what kind of work was done when it was rebuilt and if he was telling me the truth. If it's something spontaneous then it's my problem, but if it's something he couldn't known about or lied about then it'll be more than that. I'll keep you posted

dan
 
Something seems a little fishy here. Why would the second owner get the car without documentation? Why would the first owner not give it to the buyer? Can you get the rebuild documents from the mechanic or at least look at them. It would be interesting to visit his shop and see the types of cars he is working on.

Seem strange to me that he had to put in a new crank. If he did I hope he used a GN crank.

Keep us posted.
 
He said he knew the person he bought it off of personally. He told me he was goin to talk to the previous owner and get all the documentation but i talked to him and he said he doesn't know if he's still got all of it. He gave me the names of the places it was all rebuilt at so i'm goin to go from there and call those places and see if they have any documentation. He said the crank was a GM crank from when they still made them

dan
 
HOLD ON, WAIT A MINUTE, I'D LIKE TO CHIME IN!

i happen to be the previous owner who sold this car to dan (turbowannabe). first of all, dan, i think YOU may be jumping to conclusions a little too quickly here. yes, i said i was selling the car for the $$$ due to some projects at of my house. i also went to buy a boat with a friend 1 week ago (the day you picked up the car). i, however, have no monetary interest in that boat, i simply went along for the ride. please dont just jump to conclusions and make me look like a complete jackass on this board. now, the paperwork on the car. you and your father were both told that i bought the car from a private owner who i knew personally. i knew about that car for a few years before i purchased it. i knew he had the motor, turbo, and trans all rebuilt professionally prior to my purchase of the car. at the time i purchased the car i requested any paperwork he had relating to the rebuilds. i did not recieve any of the paperwork due to some family problems wade (the previous owner) was having and i didnt feel like sticking my head in between him and his father at that point in time. yes, its been nearly 3 years and no, i dont possess the rebuild papers. if thats a problem to you than i'm sorry. i contacted wade and got the ok to give you his phone # and email(which i did). what i dont understand is how i could have driven that car about once a week for the last two years and 8 months with NO mechanical problems. i never even had the valvecovers off of that motor. i dont feel that i should have to go any further into my defense, i advertised the car truthfully, gave you everything i said i would, and in my opinion, sold the car at a VERY fair price. i'm still willing to help you out although you might want to think before you speak this time. good luck, aaron
 
Aaron (eiuskoalman) is right, dont' start jumping to conclusions just yet. I got a little worked up since all this happened. I don't think he had any prior knowledge to any of this happening. It was probably spontaneous. My cousin told me that this happend to one of his friends and the timing chain broke. From what he told me it sounds like it could be it. The other car made the same noise, crank wouldn't budge and what not. Aaron has been nothing but helpful to me, he even offered to come out and take a look since no one would know as much about the car as he does after owning it over the last 3 years. I just needed to clear this all up, i realized that you can't be saying stuff like that without knowing anything for sure. **** happens unfortunately it happened to me. I'll be finding out tommarrow what exactly is wrong and i'll be able to see with my own 2 eyes what is wrong since i'll be working there when he's working on it. I'll keep you all posted

dan
 
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