QuestionQUESTION: my 1999 Pontiac Transport wont start. It will turn but wont start.
I will explain what happened. I was driving about 20 bocks, when I left I pulled out of a parking lot it started to lurch multiple times as I was driving. about 10 mins later the I was approaching my destination and stopped at a light, the van stalled and I had to restart it while at a red light. Then about 2 mins later it stalled again and wouldn't start ever again.
I had a local GM dealership say it was to do with the pistons and it was a huge job, claiming the firing of the gas wasn't igniting properly. This was quoted to be around $2-3 thousand to get it fixed. I then talked to someone else later that day from GM and told him I cant afford this and just to send it back to my house. He then told me "ok, I have someone I know who can fix it for $500-600 price range. then he told me what it really was. He said it was the valve bolts holding the engine head together.
Now I don't know where to find this or how to repair this myself to save money. So if you have any insight as to what the problem is and how I can repair it myself, that would be a godsend.
Thanks so much!
ANSWER: Hi Keif:
What you told me is wrong with this makes no scence.. I have no Idea what valve bolts are? You need a better explaniation as to what 's actually wrong with it? What is wrong does the engine have a mechanical issue from the sounds of it it does but what?? Is ther some sort of electronic issue? What ever the failure is what is it doing to cause the engine not to run? Before you fork out any money to get this fixed get a straight answer to what's wrong with it. If you get a concrete answer send me what you found out and I'll let you know if it's expensive or even if the van is worth fixing it's 9 years old now if it has a lot of miles on it it may not be worth spending a lot of money on it. good luck and look forward to hearing from you again....
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QUESTION: Hello again.
Recap: engine will turn but wont run. Took it in to GM dealer and they told me it needs to be repaired and costs a lot of money and time to repair.
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Ok, so I have gotten some more information but it is still up in the air as to what it is. The mechanic said that they have to open up the cylinder head and inspect the valves. He said he doesnt know if that is the problem but they have to inspect and check, if it isnt it, then we owe them the time/labor. estimated time to inspect and replace is 5-6 hours. This ends up $2,000-$3,000 and cant afford is.
I hope this makes more sense and is this something that I can do myself? I have all the tools, just dont have things like a lift for the engine.
Now there was a problem years ago and tried to get them to fix it while it was under warranty, but for some reason they couldnt find the problem until my warranty ran out. The problem was to do with "hard upshifting" which gave a knocking when it shifts because of the pressure not being right. I am just wondering if this is a thing that lead to this current problem
AnswerWell it sounds like an engine mecahnical issue and somtheing to do with the valve train. It must be missing compression on one or more cylinders. Here's the deal if the van doesn't have a lot of miles on it look into getting a used engine for the van in the long run it may be less money and less labor then repaing what you have in there and you will not have someone poking around in an engine that has a lot of miles on it. If you get one from a repuitable junk yard/auto recycler they usually will warranty the engine and the labor for "X" amount of time Price it out that way if you can't get an exact $$ amount to repair.. that is just asking for trouble and it's like givine the repair shop a blank check and you don't want that so look at that and also look at www.kbb.com to see what your van is worth and if the repair is more than I would say 1/4 to 1/3 of the price cut you losses now. Just my 2 cents and good luck.
