92 grand am 2.3L SOHC engine mount

[GrandAmNot]

He's back! 3, 2, 1, IGNITION !! It works !!!
First try with the key got lots of healthy cranking but no start. Hmmmm
Found a couple more connectors and a vac hose tucked neatly out of the way (and out of sight). Still just the cranking. Did I not hear the fuel pump/relay cycling? Oh, yeah. Pulled that fuse when the fuel rail was off its mounts and sitting to one side. Thar she blows.
Lots of white smoke from the oily coolant that was still in the cat converter, pipe, and muffler. That's finally burned off and the exhaust is clear.
Have one elctric connector with no place to call home and the 'low coolant' light on in the dash. Low coolant sensor is in the bottom of the coolant reservoir way over by the passenger side and the extra connector is way over on the other side by the thermostat housing and only has about six inches of wire. The heat and a/c are working fine and the hoses get nice and toasty.
The not so large wiring harness splits in two and one part goes to the coils/coils housing and the other part splits again with one going to the cam housing (a cam sensor of some sort) and one going who knows where. I've looked from the top, the bottom, the front, and the back. With my eyes, my twisted fingers, a flashlight and broad daylight. No extra sockets to be found anywhere near that area. Will check under the hood of a few other Grand Ams in the neighborhood for clues.
Still have plenty of bandaids and only one small bolt left over.
Just need to put all the plastic back in the wheel wells, change that new oil and coolant again (and check that sensor in the coolant bottle), renew the registration and insurance, and go for a spin.
Any ideas on that extra connector?
Thanks to all for all your help.
Will post back after a road test or two.
Anyone wanna buy this thing?

[gmack221]

glad to hear you got it running again.

The coolant light is normal ... take the bottle lose and shake it around some, the sensor has an air bubble around it because its a bad design. Shake the bottle for a bit then drive it and keep an eye on the coolant until the light goes out (1 or 2 days).

The wire you are talking about .... there's a few things going on in that area
- oil pressure sensor (on the cam housing)
- coolant temp sensor (on the plastic water neck)
- O2 sensor (on the exhaust manifold, it has a wire that runs up near the top of the motor)
- knock sensor (back of the motor drivers side, I believe its below the exhaust manifold & has a funny looking connector (kinda like the o2 sensor but the shielding is much bigger and oval around it).

thats about all of the wires in that area I can think of, bet its the knock sensor, since its running fine.

[skibum1111]

Power steering. Most of the grand am quad cars have electronic variable power steering. Won't hurt it to run it that way, just steers differently.

[GrandAmNot]

Power steering? Hmmm.
Chiltons mentions disconnecting VES connector (if VES equipped) during pump removal. Only un-mounted the pump and moved it aside during the engine work.
Finally got the car on all fours and drove it about 10 feet out of the garage and the steering was real strange. With the engine on, trans in neutral, with the steering wheel turned just a bit it pulses and shimmies and turns haltingly. Will look again for an empty socket around the pump, lines and rack. Also - had the passenger side axle out of the spindle to raise the engine more to get a socket on the rounded engine mount bolt(s). Looking from in front of the car the wheels definitely appear to be pointing in slightly different directions. Wonder if the axle isn't back in all the way?

As for the engine -
Between the flush-it-out coolant charge and the final coolant charge I removed the bottle and gave it a good and vigorous cleaning. The low coolant light in the dash is now out. Lots of wierd soft stuff coming out with the rinse water. Probably had some on the sensor.
The engine sounds great and no leaks and no more white smoke from the tail pipe but still a little bit of dripping. Hope that is just still some leftovers. Think the coolant fan isn't working and didn't see it cycling while the engine was running maybe 15 - 20 minutes with occassional reving by pulling on throttle cable. Main hose from top of radiator is/was pretty hot but no temp light on the dash. Wonder if the fan started this whole gasket business?

With the key in the on/run position (pre-ignition) -
Service Engine Soon light on
Coolant Temp light on
Low Coolant light not on, no quick flash, nada
Check Oil light on then off
Oil and Battery lights on
ABS light on then off
Break light just a quick flash
All lights out after ignition.

Guess I'll put it back on the jack stands, pull the front wheels and do a little recon.

Thanks again to all.

Edit - just a quick update.

Cooling fan does cycle. Not often. Before the 220 degree mark on the dash gauge. Main upper hose and engine seem pretty hot but not really sure how hot they usually get. Hose is too haot to keep a finger on it for more than a second.
Steering is smooth (engine on or off) with car on jacks and wheels off.
Would the steering get jerky if the alignment is far enough out?
One small coolant leak from the main bottom hose. Shoulda used a NEW clamp. Cheapskate!
The right axle/drum (the one I took apart ) is spinning.
The left side wants to but only a bit and only once in a while.
A Posi-Traction kind of thing if one caliper is snug?

[GrandAmNot]

On the road again!
(1)The extra electrical connector does go nowhere. The metal pins are dull a bit oxidized and "haven't been plugged into anything in a long time."
(2)The jerky steering when sitting still or moving at just little more than idle speed is/was a slipping power steering pump belt.
(3)The 'alignment' problem was a mis diagnosis on my part. With the spindle back in the strut, there is a fair amount of leeway in positioning the whole thing BEFORE putting in and torquing the two main thru-bolts. Pushing or pulling on the top or bottom of the rotor moves the whole strut/spindle/caliper/rotor assembly quite a bit and mostly 'sets' the camber and the geometry makes the whole assembly rotate also changing the toe-in and toe-out. That's what left the appearant alignment so far off. Part of the alignment job at the local shop included undoing the tie rod adjustments I had made after my mis-diagnosis.

A bit more trans fluid and off we go.

Thanks again to all for your help. Hope I can return the favor(s) in this forum.

Now if I can just find a good psych forum for some of my other issues.

[bjobotts]

Late add on but only have to remove 4 oil pan bolts that attach to timing chain housing. Manual does not mention that or the gasket that is located behind the bottom of the timing chain housing to block...is pictured in a Mitchell manual...also timing tensioner plunger teeth must face crankshaft so plunger will not push back in and keeps constant tension on chain...always replace water pump too. Crankshaft bolt came right off for me with electric impact wrench...still it takes a miracle to remove and replace motor mount bolts so pray alot.

[GrandAmNot]

Better late than never. Thanks.
When the head gasket first went out and I was looking at a grand or two to get it going again I baught a clean used 02 Taurus with only 53K miles.
Now that the Grand Am is back on the road again for about $250 and running fine (so far) I'm not sure I shouldn't just keep it and unload the Taurus.
4 years old vs 14 years old
Warrenty vs no warrenty
6 cylindars vs 4
CD vs cassette
Lots of room vs not so much room
$6,000 back in the bank vs not
That last one just might be the tie breaker