help,help,help!!!!

I have a 98 GS-T with 87,000 miles on it. And i really, really love my car but i think i may have to trade it in for something else. Unless you guy's can help me that is... Let me give you a list of problems and you tell me what i should do.
1. The automatic transmision slips horribly. And when i floor it and start to accelerate and then take my foot off of the accelerator it acts like it goes into neutral and the revs drop. after about three or four seconds, the it slams back into gear.
2. If i leave the car running for more than ten min without driving it, when i go to drive it, smoke pours out of the exhaust for the first min or two of driving.
3. I think i am losing oil quicker than shit. I fill my oil up about every 2 to 3 weeks. fyi... it has a new valve cover gasket.
4. the "check engine" light has been on for about two weeks now. and my boost gauge is all over the place. I'll accelerate and what used to be a constant 10 pounds of boost is now spiking and drops from 8 to about 3 and back up over and over again very quickly.
5. Also, i have started my car a few times and it starts up and runs for a min or two and then bogs and dies. and i try starting it up again and it'll bog and die. it will do that for a couple of times and then it will start and stay start. that never happens when the car is warm though. only cold.
---so that is the majority of the problems. please... I am taking any ideas on what to do on this one. I love that car and i don't want to junk it. So any help is more than appreciated.
thanks,
Marc

Damn, this doesn't sound so good.

1) The transmission slipping isn't good. Your description is very good, and it sounds to me exactly as you said, the transmission is slipping. This isn't as big a deal in a manual because a clutch can be replaced separate of the transmission, but in your case one or more of many clutches are failing to engage, which will mean a rebuild is probably in your future.

Check all the simple stuff first; how's your tranny fluid level, and when's the last time you've changed the fluid/filter? Do them. Is there anything remarkable about the fluid, like a burning smell?

If you need a rebuild or opt for a new transmission, this could cost some money. I've talked with the guys at IPT and they're pretty cool, I'd recommend them. They even sell a do-it-yourself rebuilt kit and book. Sounds like fun, right? E-bay also sells used tranny's, but with the work involved for install, I'd hesitate to reuse someone else's tranny.

Try preventative maintainance, such as getting a tranny cooler. John from IPT has a write-up at dsmtuners (prolonging the life of an automatic) that's really worth a read. If you get a cooler get one that self adjusts to viscosity, like B and M.

2. I'd ask what color the smoke is (white may be coolant/water, blue may be oil), but with problem number three listed below, it seems that you're burning oil.

3. Check your fluids, it's hard to pinpoint a head gasket problem since there are so many potential manifestations of the problem, but this would be a step in the right direction.

4. A boost leak is my best guess. Did you replace anything particular, recently? Get the code for your check engine light, that'll obviously help.

5. I don't think I'm qualified to answer this question. I'm curious what mods you have, and whether or not your venting your blow off valve. Add your mods to your sig if possible.


Hopefully you get the attention of more senior members of this site to help you out. I'm in the process of rebuilding my automatic, and as one of the few auto(matic) guys on the site, repost if you have anymore questions in that direction. Best of luck.

I would see how much you can get for the car, it sounds like even more trouble than the average dsm :)

Ok,
So thank you for the lenghty detailed responce to my problems. I appreciate all the help i can get.
--I don't really have any mods. I have a K&N intake and NGK wires. And i have done some of the "free mods" like, take out the little nipple in the waste gate solonoid and little things like that. This is all stuff i did about a year ago. and i have just recently started having problems with the car.
--The smoke that comes out of the exhaust has a slight bluish tint to it. I also forgot to add that at high revs (like if i have been driving and all of a sudden i floor it) a little smoke will come out also.
--The car recently would'nt start on one of these -16 below zero days and so i called AAA to see if they could help. he took the hose off of the intake and sprayed some starter fluid in there to see if that would help. it didn't. But maybe he didn't replace the hose correctly? Could that be it?
--My BOV isn't being vented i don't think. i have my dump tube that still goes into my intake. should i change this?

-- any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

The bluish tint would be consistent with oil. The smoke from high rev's sounds like oil blow-by. If this is the case, your piston rings are probably dead. Motor things are expensive. That would follow your symptoms of bluish smoking and oil loss, though.

I would definitely look at your intake hose and see if all the smaller, feeder hoses are attached. There are quite a few. If air was supposed to be recirculated and wasn't, you'd be running a little rich. Could cause some of the crazy boost problems. The dump tube runs from your blow off valve back into the intake, having it connected like you do is a good thing.

Again, I'd wait to see if jake/kevin/joe/the other joe post here to hear from them. At this point I'd try a leakdown test and check your fluids. Best to eliminate as many things as possible, to narrow down the problem.

-16 degrees, huh? Good times :) Give it a few more hours and you'll get some decent replies here.

--Last night i checked all my hoses and clamps to see if everything was ok. They all look ok but you never know... Is there like a pressure tester i can build or something to see if i have a leak?
--Also, i took my spark plugs out and looked at them to see if i had them gaped correctly. When i pulled them out, they were pretty much covered in oil. I'm pretty sure that isn't a good thing. I checked my coolant to see if i had an oil in there and it didn't look like it so that's good at least. I probably should buy new spark plugs and gap them correctly but i'd like to fix the oil problem before i did that.
--i am running rich i think. Gas up here is $2.57 a gallon at mobil for 93 octane. Thats all i use. It takes almost 29 bucks to fill my tank. very depressing when you go through gas as fast as i do.
--I'd love to hear any suggestions from the people you have mentioned in the past reply. But thank you for your time and help so far.
marc

Seems like your piston rings are toast. The oil in your block is blowing by the rings and into the compression area, where it's gooping up your plugs. Pretty consistent with everything you've said. You may still have a boost leak, but in comparison with the magnitude of the first problem, don't worry about the boost leak for awhile. Take the car to a mechanic and get a leak down test. Check here: http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/leakdown.htm. That's specific to our cars, too. You can find out if the problem is rings, for sure. If it is, the block will need to be taken apart, which is when you need to decide how much you love your car and you're willing to spend :). The test should be pretty cheap for a shop to do, though. I highly, highly recommend you get this done. Again, good luck.