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2002 Pontiac Firebird 3.8L, 146k miles on the clock.
The story is... I have been having coolant problems for a months before my engine blew up...
When I first detected the problem, it appeared to be a leaking water pump, although I couldn't VISUALLY detect a leak, I heard the pump squeeling, smelled antifreeze and noticed my coolant levels slowly depleting... So I replaced the pump and for about 2 weeks, it was fine. No leaks, no squeeling, no antifreeze smell. Well around the same time, my stock thermostat also gave up and I replaced it with a failsafe thermostat which only a few weeks later failed again... Then I also started smelling antifreeze again...puzzled, looking under the car to find no puddles until I FINALLY detected a small and slow drip from what appeared to be the passenger side of the engine, but traced it to find driplets accumulating on top of my new water pump... Replaced my water pump again... STILL to no avail as I quickly found the droplets returning.
Well, I had my Racetronix Fuel Pump, Fuel Gauge Sending unit, and Evap canister sitting here for awhile and finally had the money to install it and I wanted my mechanic to also look to see why the motor was leaking and where from... Driving the car to the mechanic...I DID notice white smoke coming from the tailpipe, but only while idling and sitting still and I thought that maybe it was just because it was cold outside... And otherwise the car still ran and drove fine. No hesitation / loss of power... Well, I get my car to the mechanic and tell him to install everything and find the leak and he does so... He tells me its leaking from the Water Pump... puzzled as this was 2nd time I've replaced it... None the less he tells me only use NAPA parts... He also told me he had to do a bit of modification to my fuel bucket to get my Racetronix Pump to fit, which puzzled me as I believed those pumps were pretty much plug and play... HOWEVER, I also know that the dealership I got my car from had to replace my fuel pump under warranty because it failed the DAY I purchased the car, and they tried to do a cheap job by buying a used pump and it failed before they could even get it back to me and they made 2 more attempts before finally getting it running and I have a feeling things back there might be jerry-rigged... So I get in my car to take it back after everything was installed... I turn the key to crank it... It turns over but doesn't crank. then I turn it again and it cranks... and I drive off - but notice I've lost ALOT of power. It bogs down when I want it to pick up, no 3rd to 2nd shift... accelerating to get on the interstate was impossible. It was SLUGGISH, but it wasn't misfiring.
At first I was thinking, maybe it needed to be tuned for the new pump, maybe he didnt install it properly (because my fuel gauge is ALSO still dead). No more than five minutes later, I get off the Interstate and my engine compartment BURSTS into white smoke! I pull over and inspect, it all appears to be coming from the front of the engine but there's still no visual leak! Long story short, I'm forced to refill the radiator and baby it to my sisters house, but it was too much... My hood bursted into steam, shortly after I had white smoke spewing out of my exhaust, then I lost 75% of my power and could barely do 25 MPH...and it made it, but that was it... Weeks later I tried to start it... It would crank and crank and turn and turn but nothing. Then sometimes it would start and idle VERY rough for about 3 seconds MAX and die... and if you put your foot on the gas to keep it alive... dies instantly.
---Now later I came to find out that running a motor too lean on fuel (and being this happened right after my fuel pump install) can cause head gaskets to blow because the combustion chamber temperatures get hot enough to melt them... ...but I also have been running through water pumps, and thermostats like candy before this happened and before the car saw the shop... What do you guys think happened?
2002 Pontiac Firebird 3.8L, 146k miles on the clock.
The story is... I have been having coolant problems for a months before my engine blew up...
When I first detected the problem, it appeared to be a leaking water pump, although I couldn't VISUALLY detect a leak, I heard the pump squeeling, smelled antifreeze and noticed my coolant levels slowly depleting... So I replaced the pump and for about 2 weeks, it was fine. No leaks, no squeeling, no antifreeze smell. Well around the same time, my stock thermostat also gave up and I replaced it with a failsafe thermostat which only a few weeks later failed again... Then I also started smelling antifreeze again...puzzled, looking under the car to find no puddles until I FINALLY detected a small and slow drip from what appeared to be the passenger side of the engine, but traced it to find driplets accumulating on top of my new water pump... Replaced my water pump again... STILL to no avail as I quickly found the droplets returning.
Well, I had my Racetronix Fuel Pump, Fuel Gauge Sending unit, and Evap canister sitting here for awhile and finally had the money to install it and I wanted my mechanic to also look to see why the motor was leaking and where from... Driving the car to the mechanic...I DID notice white smoke coming from the tailpipe, but only while idling and sitting still and I thought that maybe it was just because it was cold outside... And otherwise the car still ran and drove fine. No hesitation / loss of power... Well, I get my car to the mechanic and tell him to install everything and find the leak and he does so... He tells me its leaking from the Water Pump... puzzled as this was 2nd time I've replaced it... None the less he tells me only use NAPA parts... He also told me he had to do a bit of modification to my fuel bucket to get my Racetronix Pump to fit, which puzzled me as I believed those pumps were pretty much plug and play... HOWEVER, I also know that the dealership I got my car from had to replace my fuel pump under warranty because it failed the DAY I purchased the car, and they tried to do a cheap job by buying a used pump and it failed before they could even get it back to me and they made 2 more attempts before finally getting it running and I have a feeling things back there might be jerry-rigged... So I get in my car to take it back after everything was installed... I turn the key to crank it... It turns over but doesn't crank. then I turn it again and it cranks... and I drive off - but notice I've lost ALOT of power. It bogs down when I want it to pick up, no 3rd to 2nd shift... accelerating to get on the interstate was impossible. It was SLUGGISH, but it wasn't misfiring.
At first I was thinking, maybe it needed to be tuned for the new pump, maybe he didnt install it properly (because my fuel gauge is ALSO still dead). No more than five minutes later, I get off the Interstate and my engine compartment BURSTS into white smoke! I pull over and inspect, it all appears to be coming from the front of the engine but there's still no visual leak! Long story short, I'm forced to refill the radiator and baby it to my sisters house, but it was too much... My hood bursted into steam, shortly after I had white smoke spewing out of my exhaust, then I lost 75% of my power and could barely do 25 MPH...and it made it, but that was it... Weeks later I tried to start it... It would crank and crank and turn and turn but nothing. Then sometimes it would start and idle VERY rough for about 3 seconds MAX and die... and if you put your foot on the gas to keep it alive... dies instantly.
---Now later I came to find out that running a motor too lean on fuel (and being this happened right after my fuel pump install) can cause head gaskets to blow because the combustion chamber temperatures get hot enough to melt them... ...but I also have been running through water pumps, and thermostats like candy before this happened and before the car saw the shop... What do you guys think happened?
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