New to the whole GN thing!! Have some questions!

[Matt37]

Hello,

Well my son (17 years of age) surprised me last night when he pulled up in the driveway in an 87 GN. He had all the money and never really told me he was going out to get the car.

Now, I am a big car guy. I have had 10 vettes, and currently have a 69 GTO Judge, 67 Big block vette, and a 63 split window vette. So I am not as mad as some parents would be. Because I have to admit It is a pretty awesome car.

But my wife on the other hand.. . Anyway, a couple things concern me with this car and hopefully you guys can help me out.

1. he is going to be using this as an everyday driver. Is this car gonna last??

2. The turbo- I hear a lot of horror stories about things going wrong with the turbos on these cars. Is this car gonna be a up keep nightmare??

Thank You,
And it is good to be on turbo buick!

 

[Otto J]

! They are great daily drivers as long as normal mantenance is kept up with,Fuel filters and oil changes on a reg basis. And always run premium fuel ALWAYS. Make sure the vacuum hoses the run the wastegate are in good condition also,Overboosting would be the most normal cause of any failure.
Turbos last a long time with the right maintanence. if the turbo fails in the near future it may have been on its way out already.

Tons of info on this sight and others,Use the Search feature for more info

 

[machinegun]

Well just to say welcome to the board. Now for answers.

I have driven my daily driver GN for the last 2 years with no issues other than a coolant temp sensor and a ignition module go bad. Never stranded me just kept throwing the SES light. This car has 130,000 on it runs 11's and is mostly stock save for some boltons. It is really fun to to put a whoopin on the GTO and Cobras. These cars are actually very reliable from a mechanical stand point. Keep up regular maintenance. After 7 years of racing and street driving I have only had one turbo fail and that was after a thrus bearing failure put trash in it. I would not fret. If this was a good car to start, then upkeep regularly based on the guides at www.gnttype.org and you will have many happy years with it.

 

[salvageV6]

How many miles on this car and what shape is it in?

What mods. if any? What turbo?

My stocker turbo started leaking oil at about 90K miles and drove it to about 120K before changing it.

Turbo center sections are about a $300 do it yourself repair if you are mechanically inclined. Housings bolt onto the rebuilt core.

Factory service manual in book or CD form is the most important tool for working on the car.

I'd keep a reserve of $1K in the bank for a slush repair fund, should keep you in parts and running fine after the normal initial tuning things such as plugs, wires, spring cleaning, and small initial mods., tires, that may or may not be needed depending up the condition.

They make a good daily driver.

 

[kh440]

I don't drive mine every day, but pretty close to it. Oil change every 3000 without fail, fuel and air filters regularly,and let the car get up to operating temperature before going for heavy boost and you should be fine. I would agree with KLHAMMETT; turbos rarely just fail. Lack of maintanance (clean oil) and overboost are the most common causes.

 

[scottyb]

I drive mine daily, now at 194k. As long as you do the standard car guy preventative maintenance, then it is as reliable as any other used car, IMO. I would suspect that the amount of modding/abuse would go hand-in-hand with decreased reliability, but that holds true with any car.

 

[TURBOTERRORV6]

Nice to hear about your son purchasing a grand national,at the same time pops being cool about it.As you knw,these cars are getting rarer and rarer by the day, which turns heads like a lambo. First of all,i've had my car for the last 7 years,driven it until '03 when i decided to drag race it more often. I have never had any MAJOR problem other than coil packs,oR fuel pumps burning out(heavy foot,lol).Like the past replies from our members,just keep it tuned out mechanically(oil changes,fuel filter services,spark wires/plug routines).One more things,if your son ,loves stepping on it light to light,well,problems are going to persist with our cars. Just keep it highly maintance,and enjoy the blast that whips others 17 years later!l

 

[2QUIK6]

I recommend getting a scan master for tuning to make sure everything about the settings you read on gnttype.org is correct on his new investment. Also, the factory boost gauge is notoriously inaccurrate, get a good high quality manual boost gauge and put it in the A-pillar along with a KNOCK gauge. This will ensure that when he does step on the gas that it is boosting properly and not overboosting and also that there is NO knock...overboosting and knock is the #1 cause of engine failure on these cars...you can't just allow it to boost more than 16# and nt be watching these things.

Also, since he's a novice driver, it would be a good idea to take the car out on a vacant road or parking lot and do a few WOT blasts once tuned to make sure he is used to the thrust once the turbo spools.....nothing worse than being in traffic and he punches it to get around someone and before you know it, the rear end is facing forwards and worse yet the car is crashed or someone is hurt...beleive me, it can happen very quickly from a 30 or 40 mph roll and a slick street.