Time for a complete tune up?

Ok so this started happening last night, i go to start the car and i see that a black splatter and clear liquid has shot out of the exhaust pipe. I've read up on what the causes of that could be, one said it may just be carbon and condensation and nothing to really worry about. another said it may have something to do with the cat converter. the car has been idleing pretty rough too, and i need to get that hose from the canister reconnected too so i think i will just take it to the shop and have them look it over and give me an estimate on a complete tune up. how much do you all think that would be or is it hard to geuss?

Don't worry about it. The clear liquid is water - remember the catalytic converter produces water from hydrocarbons and this will condense when the cat cools down. Loose carbon will then be blown out and carried out of the tailpipe once the engine fires.

If your engine is running good, then don't do anything else. As they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

True true. i know the car still needs some work, i can hear a ticking sound comming from the engine when i accelerate, a freind of mine said something just needed to be lubricated because of some parts being sticky, i geuss theres a product you can get and pour it where the oil goes and it would stop the ticking sound. another thing im concerned about is there seems to be a really thick grease build up under the front part of the engine by the bottom radiator hose, i have that same little problem on my pontiac too. i can also see some liquid running along on the bottom radiator hose as well, but the radiator is still full. ill put up a picture of all this during the daylight tommorow to show what im talking about.

The ticking is likely a sticky lifter or two, but could be a small exhaust leak, either at the EGR valve or at the manifolds.

If it's a sticky lifter, you can substitute a quart of motor oil for a quart of automatic transmission fluid. Run the car with the ATF in it for about 200-400 miles (one full tank of gas). Then, change the oil and filter. Use an ACDelco oil filter and also, most importantly, use Rotella-T diesel motor oil instead of regular oil for gasoline engines. This only comes in a 15w40 grade (that I've seen), but is something you should run if you value your cam and lifters.

You know now that you mention it, i remember the guy i bought it from saying there was some kind of exhaust leak, i bet thats what it is then.

do we have identical cars or something?
actually these are really all just issues that are common with these engines.

ohh ok, have you been able to drive it around like that for a while with no problems?

well the ticking is probably the lifters. i have bad lifters on one or two of my cylinders. i havent gone as far as to use ATF and diesel oil, but i added seafoam to the oil and drove it for a couple hundred miles, then used rislone. that seemed to help for a while, and definately quieted the ticking.

the stuff thats coming out of the exhaust pipe is truly just carbon and water. unless it has a milkshake consistancy to it, it is not a problem. a milkshake consistancy would indicate that there is oil in there, and thats a problem.

Alright, im going to be bringing it to the shop next week to have everything checked out on it, hopefully it doesnt need too much expensive work.