Failed Inspection

[SkiBum1229]

My mom took her car through NJ State inspection today and they failed the bonnie for having bad motor mounts. I dont know how they determine this (they check the lights, horn, wipers, brakes, suspension and emmissions) The car has just under 36k miles and she is the original owner and does not beat on the car at all. I will look at the car this weekend, but could one be bad already? The dealership put in a new trans last year, could they have damaged something while doing that job?

Thanks for your input.

[99bonnieSE]

the car only has roughly 36,000 miles, and you just put a tranny in last year?


sorry to threadjack

[1fatcat]

The NorthStar front motor mount is probably more known to break than the 3800 SC cars. Not a big suprise if it is broken, even with very low miles. The thing I ask is, "why does that make it fail a safety inspection?" The mount is designed in such a way that the engine would never "fall out of the car"! It's something that could cause further damage to the car if left unchecked, but it only poses a danger to your moms check book if ignored too long. Not saying that is an acceptable solution, just saying it poses no danger to anyone.

[SkiBum1229]

In December 2008 i brought the car into the dealership to have the intermediate shaft looked at (the car is on number 4 now) Since the warranty was expiring in Jan 09, i wanted in it to have everything looked out. The car would make a click at exactly 14 then 13 mph when slowing down. I thought i was an issue with the Int Shaft. They said it was ok, but it said it was the front pads so they did a complete brake job. I told them that i had just put on new pads a month before. When i was driving home (with my old parts) the car continued to make the clicking noise. I immediatly went back and it was determined that the trans was not shifting down into first properly. SO the fix was to rebuild. They had the car for over 1 month. The rebuilt it and it was still making noise. The orderd the wrong parts first (for the 4T60 trans) then had to get the right ones. Finally GM stepped in and said just put a new trans in since the cost of my rental car and the ay for the mechanic was quickly adding up. So yea, they put the new trans in. It shifts fine now with no noises, although it still seems like the Int Shaft should be replaced. Besides that, the car is great. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow and see if they can do anything. The trans warranty ran out 2-3 weeks ago, but its still worth a shot to see if they can do anything, plus shes only put on about 5k miles on the car this year.
She is going to have the car fixed rather than just drive it, besides for the inspection, but we usually keep our cars a long time. (My first car was a 93 GP SE with the 3.1 and it has about 260k miles and runs strong) I dont drive it anymore since i have newer safer cars, but you get the idea.

[00Beast]

Off-topic, grease your steering shaft, don't replace it.

[CMNTMXR57]

Yup, real easy to do it the hillrod way. Works just as good too!

[SkiBum1229]

We got the car back last night. The did the 30k mile service and replaced the back motor mount. They said it didn't fail from the transmission work last year. Also, we were told there was carbon buildup on the throttle body and thats why it was idling rough. I keep telling my mom that this is a performance car and that she needs to drive it like so. I have no problem getting on it and blowing the carbon out
So i get in the car to see how it feels before we leave the dealer and the car feels much tighter, the car really felt like it had 136k not 36k, amazing what a new motor mount can do. Anyways, when we switched drivers I put the car in park with the parking brake on and she got in, when she put it in gear i could immediatly hear the car sounding like there was a miss. We went back in told the service writer to document it, and that we would be in again in the next week or two to drop it off. I am hoping maybe it will a couple days of driving to clear things up in the intake, if in fact that is the problem. They said the plugs were all fine, so maybe a coil pack??

[99bonnieSE]

They said the plugs were all fine, so maybe a coil pack??

Coil pack, or plug wire. Something simple either way most likely.

[00Beast]

They said the plugs were all fine, so maybe a coil pack??

Coil pack, or plug wire. Something simple either way most likely.

On a GXP, nothing is simple or cheap...

[CMNTMXR57]

They said the plugs were all fine, so maybe a coil pack??

Coil pack, or plug wire. Something simple either way most likely.

No plug wire on a Northstar. It's a one piece coil pack module that when bolted down and torqued to spec, there is an adjuster spring in the electrode end of the coil that adjusts (compresses/expands) to fit to the plug.

If it is a coil. It could be a number of reasons. Bad coil itself. Bad electrode spring, bad wire connection in the plug from the wiring harness. Did you check this? If it was an intermittent problem. I would start looking at electrical connections first! it could be a basic/simple as a when they disconnected it to take it apart, they pulled too hard causing seperation of the electrical terminals on dissassembly. From experience, GM doesn't give a lot of spare wire slack in the harness (which is very stiff in and of itself, so it doesn't "give" much), coupled with the fact that they're hard to disconnect, so you do have to get a little rough with the plug to work it loose.

Plugs fine? Even a hairline crack can cause an issue!

[99bonnieSE]

ohhh ok.

[SkiBum1229]

We took the car back to the dealer on Wednesday. They kept it for two days. The service writer told me they took one of the injectors out and let it soak overnight with hopes to "clean it up" They also put a new coil pack on. Car runs great now and the best thing is that they didnt charge for the fix and washed the car.

Now to get the transmission cooler lines to stop leaking...

[msb7144]

Took my GXP in today for yet another motor mount. This is the second one in about a year and a half. I love my car but come on already this is crazy!

[bonneville dan-o]

my gxp needs a rear mount too... only 55,000 ish.... what did they charge you? just outta curiosity

you'd think they'd last a little longer...

[00Beast]

Can we get a Bulletin at the top of all Mechanical Sections that says in big red letters:

Don't Dig Up Old Posts!!!


No offense, but unless you have something useful to add, or are the OP, it just clutters up the forum.


/rant

[CMNTMXR57]

While not a fan of digging up old threads, he was at least on topic with the fact that he's commiserating with the O.P.

[obis88]

FWIW, I have replaced the front motor mount 3 times now and the tranny one once. Unfortunately,this has become the most expensive car I have ever had on maintenance issues. Tranny rebuild, oil line leaks, new exhaust because of bad cats, leaking coolant by the intake manifold requiring a new gasket, water pump, steering shaft, fog lights, and electrical issues. Some of this stuff is regular wear and tear and needs to be done, but the cost of working n this car is crazy. The labor hours for a Northstar powered car seem to be double anything else. And the parts can be ridiculou as well. Even the battery is well over $100. I heard the rear shocks can be extremely expensive too if replaced. Anyone know about that?