2000 Grand Prix Manifold Gasket Replacement Problem

Hi, first time poster, long time reader. I have a 2000 Grand Prix with approx. 140,000 miles. I have a guy that came as a recomendation from a friend who usually does work for me on my car. He seems pretty knowledgable on everything he has done for me to this point. However, I think he has run into a problem and doesn't want to admit it.

I have him replacing my Exhaust manifold gasket for me. He completed the work once and started the car and there was a lot of knocking. He said that the lifters were stuck and that the car wasn't pumping oil. Long story short, bought new lifters and another gasket package and still the same problem. Now he is putting a new oil pump on. (He's paying for this himself)

I guess my question is, has anyone ever heard of anything like this when replacing the exhaust manifold gasket? I don't know a huge deal about these newer cars but worked on older cars enough to know when something doesn't sound/feel right.

Any ideas what might be wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike

Welcome to AF!!

Working on the exhaust has nothing to do with the rest of the engine. All the parts he mentions are internal and the exhaust is an external part. It sounds like the oil pump just failed and caused the problem. The exhaust wouldn't have anything to do with it. Even if he replaced the intake manifold gasket that wouldn't have anything to do with the oil pressure unless of course there wasn't any oil in the car.

GTPDad,

Thanks for your response. I'm afraid I am already demonstrating my ignorance. It WAS the intake manifold gasket that he is replacing. I just mixed my words up. Hopefully I hear some good news from him today.

Thanks again.

Welcome to AF.

You didn't mention what engine is in your car, but your symptoms sound like a 3.1 intake failure.

If this is the case, and a bunch of coolant was pumped into the oil prior to the intake gasket swap, then the damage was done prior to this guy working on it. It's admirable that the guy is willing to do the extra repairs because he thinks it's his fault, but it's most likely not. You do what you want, but since he was honorable and took the heat for what he thought was his mistake, you should do the same and let him off the hook. I would stongly suggest checking compression to see if there is more damage like a blown head gasket. If it were my car, I'd do the head gaskets too and be safe since the lifters and oil pump were trashed.

richtazz,

Thanks for the input, however, he checked the car prior to working on it and said that the oil looked fine. There was just an external leak. He also drove the car and said that in his opinion there was nothing wrong with the head gasket. The car had tons of power and he said that if it were the head gasket, the car wouldn't be able to run like that. The car ran great prior to him tearing it apart. Like I said, I don't claim to know everything, I am just going by what he told me and any knowledge that I have picked up after researching this problem extensively through many automotive message boards.

One other concern I had is that originally, he told me this would be a day and half to two days. However, he didn't have a space in his garage at the time so he planned to work on it outside. Of course the weather hasn't cooperated and it has now been 4 weeks. Could the fact that the car was sitting half torn apart for a couple weeks in the snow and cold have anything to do with the problems we are having? Just a thought.

I have gone with him everytime that we bought parts, and he never had me buy any oil. I hope it is nothing as simple as there is no oil in the car.

Thanks.

That changes things 100%. It sounds like he forgot to put oil in it when he was done. If that's the case, it's on him and he's responsible for the extra repairs.

I also wanted to clarify something so that I don't come off like a jerk. The only thing that he bought on his own was the oil pump. I think he did that because he felt bad for telling me we needed new lifters (which were $240.00) and it appers that it wasn't the problem.

I still don't feel too bad about it, he really is giving me a good deal in my opinion. He is charging me $300.00 in labor. I originally spent $114.00 in parts. He was doing the intake gasket lower and plennum (sp?), water pump and thermostat. I later bought a cam position sensor after going to advance auto parts and having them run the diagnostic on my check engine light. That was $32.00. So, it was going to cost me around $450.00 for all of that.

Now, I have had to buy an additional gasket set and the lifters for $240.00. Almost another $300.00.

Like I said, even with the extra money, I feel like I am still getting off a lot cheaper than if I went to the dealer. I just hope that he can figure this out or it's really no deal at all.

I don't believe anyone thinks/thought you were a jerk. My basic point was that excessive coolant in the oil can cause catastrophic engine failure, but since that was checked before work began then it wasn't the issue in this case. It sounds like both you and your mechanic are being honest and fair to one another. I hope all ends up well.