candie

my 96 4cyl. grand am acts like it has hydrolics! When I stop the front lowers and when I take my foot off the brake it comes back up???? I also have a soggy right front and rear floor and my radiator needs replacement fluids accordingly. What kind of gremlins do you suppose are lurking in my car?

Ridenour

Welcome to the forum. Weight transfer to the front of the car is normal when stopping. You may have bad shocks or springs, which would accentuate the effects due to your front end being softer, it would go even lower. If you have original shocks, I would deffinately get them replaced. That may very well solve your problem.

As far as the soggy floor; there's several possibilites. Do you have a sunroof? If so, one of your drains could be blocked. If you don't have a sunroof, it could be one of your doorseals, or the seal around your heater core - it's common for water to enter around the heater core when the seal goes bad.

As far as your radiator; are you saying you're loosing coolant? Is it leaking visibly, or is it mysteriously dissapearing? Could you give more symptoms? You could simply have a bad hose connection, or you could have something severe as a leaking head gasket. More information is needed to determine this.

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candie

Thanks for the quick response and the welcome! I have no sun roof. The floors wetness seems to coincide with the loss of fluid in my radiator but there is no smell of coolant on the floor. After a certain amount of fluid is lost the radiator stops losing fluid and the floor dries up! I am also looking to change the spark plugs but exactly were are they??!!

Ridenour

No problem. Now from what you've said; it actually sounds like your radiator overflow tube is leaking into your cabin. I'm not sure how it's routed; but it sounds like it's overflowing into the interior. If it's not that; it's your heatcore actually leaking. Is your radiator stock size? When was the last time you had the fluid changed / flushed? Do you ever have overheating issues?

The spark plugs are located under your Integrated Direct Ignition module. Under your engine cover; there are 4 coil packs that mate directly with the tops of your spark plugs. You cannot access your spark plugs unless you remove the cover / packs.

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candie

An articulate real mechanic how pleasant! And so young!!!! I'm not sure about the radiator I've had the car a year and it has high miles. Should I be concerned about changing the plugs myself or is it more complicated than usual?? Anything I should really take care with? Thankyou

Werm9

worn out shocks are likely the problems with the front of your vehicle. push on it and if it keeps bouncing up and down then they need to be replaced. the soggy floor could be caused by a blocked AC tube which removed the humidity from inside your car, which is causing it to back up making your floor wet

Rigidkitchen

Hey, my grand am is doing the same thing, I had it looked at and they said that the runoff valve for the windshield was leaking or had a bad seal. So every time it rains a lot it fills up quite a bit on the driver's side and in the back as well. A really expensive fix for a minor problem too.

mgdguy

also check the cowl area under the steering rack there is a pinchweld that catches water and rusts out especially if you live in a area that uses a lot of salt on the roads water will get in there and puddle up on the floor