90 TGP- help

[MOTORHEAD]

umm heres what man said abt the TGP-
The car runs, drives, turbo works but brake light is on (haven't looked into because of head gasket as per below). The car got too hot and blew it's head gasket, I changed the head gasket. It ran and worked well but I didn't fix the root cause (radiator) and blew it again. Now radiator has been rodded, new heater core, battery 1.3 years old, tires less than 1000 miles (H rated 245's).


and i took it for a test drive........... when pressing the gas, the rpm is revving pretty high to around 4500-5000 and the turbo barely hit, like 1 or 2. its not like a STRONG PULL, i mean the car is moving pretty slow but hitting high RPM. i suspect the lower intake gasket BAD?? my friend thinks so too.. so any ideas what it could be? also the brake were acting funny, hard to apply, the harder then all of sudden the tires screeched. could it be related to bad gasket or?

[MOTORHEAD]

anyone??

[talon2swords]

Uh, no expert here, but have you tested your brake booster? maybe it or the vacuum hose is busted.

[94GPGTP]

TGP's are not vaccum brakes.. They are Hydrolic assit.. Most likely your ABS and Brake Lights are on.. The pedal is firm because either 1 your pump isnt working or 2 bad accumlator.. If your lights arnt on someone before pulled the bulbs.. i would check to see if they are there if they dont light up...

Make sure you have vacuum hoses connected and they are in the correct spot.. Any wierd noises when engine is revving and barely a pull?? Trans isnt slipping?

[Joseph Upson]

High rpm and low speed = slipping transmission. The transmission fluid is cooled by the radiator fluid unless the TGP is an exception with an external cooler. If it got hot enough twice to blow a head gasket twice then chances are very good that the transmission is burned up internally and it usually happens in that pattern with a severe overheat situation where the replacement motor or repaired motor reveals the next weekest link from the incident, the transmission.

I'm surprised the turbo wasn't damaged and that could also explain why boost is not climbing very high, reduced engine load due to slippage.

As for the brakes I would check all of the vacuum lines from proper install particularly the one that feeds the booster. A leak at the intake would not go unnoticed by the ecm, if it's big enough a code will set.

[RedZMonte]

I would do a few checks. if you blew a head gasket it could cause other serious problems.

* Compression test.
* Also have you checked the plugs? Coolent on the plugs would jack them up.
* Check for boost leaks. Loose clamps, bad couplers, plugged intercooler.
* Unhook wategate vac. hose. WATCH you boost levels. if it raises when the W/G is disconnected then you may have a bad wastegate accuator. BE CAREFULL if you do this you don't want to over boost... It should have a fuel cut if you overboost.
* Could your cat be plugged? if your HG blew coolant into a hot cat it could cause it to go bad. that would give you poor spool up, bad boost levels and slow acceloration....

I would assume the intake gasket leaking would cause a bad idle... Atleast it allways does on the DOHC's lol. there are only a couple things that would cause a turbo not to spool or hold over 2psi.

[RedZMonte]

The transmission fluid is cooled by the radiator fluid unless the TGP is an exception with an external cooler.

If i remember correctly my '90 TGP had a external trans cooler on the passanger side of the car behinde the bumper cover w/ a cooling duct to it.

S

[94GPGTP]

If i remember correctly my '90 TGP had a external trans cooler on the passanger side of the car behinde the bumper cover w/ a cooling duct to it.

S

yes you are correct!

[gpse3400]

one thing to watch out for, the gauge clusters on those cars can and do go out of calibration. If you arent slipping at the trans then the cluster is grossly lieing to you

[krenzy]

Ok, as a TGP owner and addict, here's my two cents:

BRAKES:
- Bad Accumulator is extremely common, and extremely expensive to replace...same symptoms as you mentioned.
- Pump may be going bad, but accumulator is more likely.
- Brakes are not vac controlled, so a vac leak won't cause bad brakes.

LOW SPEEDS, HIGH RPM'S:
- Hate to say it, but it DOES sound like a tranny on the fritz. Only a W-Body 4t60 trans will bolt up, not one out of a j-body or Beretta, as some have asked. And it needs to be a 4t60, not 4t60-E. So pretty much 88-90 W-bodies.

Like Joseph Upson said, if the car blew head gaskets more than once, there's something more serious going on. RedZMonte lists some great ideas to check before racking up a large repair bill!

[gpse3400]

I have had what i belive the torque converter clutch would slip...Also while Power braking the engine would continually wind up, makes me think the converter was stalling but the input clutch was slipping....Talk about slap worn out...I guess if I didn't horse around with the car I wouldn't've found out these things....

[MOTORHEAD]

thanks everybody but now heres what the owner replied abt this TGP----

"First issue that started all of this was a heater core that leaked. I thought I could make it home. It started blowing antifreeze on floor and I shut it down but too late, got too hot and head blew gasket. I replaced the heater core and head gasket thinking all was good. Had head resurfaced, they checked the rocker, springs, all the components that could be changed like seals from the head up were changed. You could see the cross hatching on the cylinder walls so the rings are in great shape. Put it back together and it ran fine, no white smoke, etc. but would get too hot. I needed it for work and wasn't far so I drove it for a couple of weeks. It barely would get hot enough to open the thermostat before I got to work or home so I was ok. Then I let my wife drive it further, on a 92 degree day. She did not pay enough attention and poof white cloud out the back (aka head gasket blew). This time I wanted to get rid of the root cause so with a
lot of internet time and calling people that know cars, I figured out it was the radiator (but new water pump and thermostat in addition to be sure). Over time, the radiator had almost completely blinded off. I had it chemically treated which didn't clear it out so the guy physically rodded it out then chemically cleaned it. So the heating problem should now be fixed. But the head gasket needs to be changed again.

Troubleshooting the concern you have should be done after brakes are bled and the head gasket is replaced.

The engine is fine, the tranny is solid. The car has physical blemishes but I am selling a $600 car not $6000."


thats all he said about the TGP and yep $600, fender n driverside door need replacing and front bumper (small crack) and few hail dings on front hood but overall - WOW no tears interior, no stains, nothing, got cd player in it(factory)

im going to get this TGP before july 12th, will make it run or other way

[94GPGTP]

was this tgp on ebay like 2 weeks ago? and is it black?

[MOTORHEAD]

I don't know I found it off craigslist, and its only 20 miles from my house n hey that's my TGP haha

[MOTORHEAD]

No clue