Ok... so... I have no idea if it's my spark plugs or an exhaust leak but this car is LOUD. I just drove her home tonight.... the damn thing DIED on the road BECAUSE get this, the gas float gague thingie IS BROKE filled the tank problem solved it starts runs and goes, the transmission shifts beautifully... the ignition collar is supposed to be in the glovebox? ITS NOT... how mad am I about that? what else... oh yes, this thing is LOWD... I got freakin PULLED OVER thank GOD the cop let me go (2nd brush in with the cops this ****in week), my dome light is broke, some idiot put NEONS in the car and ripped out the dome light so I go into a pitch red car i mean yea ok it's kind of cool but on the other hand IT SUCKS because I CAN'T SEE DUDE....

AND THE RADIO DOESN'T SHUT OFF WHEN I TURN THE CAR OFF!!! It's not a factory stereo some idiot half *** installed a JVC deck(that sucks btw) and I bet it's the wiring harness I can get my friend's brother to look at it because I don't feel like tearing the car apart....


i am so mad right now....

 

How much of the factory stereo was replaced? Can you tell? Maybe you can get a cheap stock radio and put that back in

We all run into that gas gauge problem, I have it on my car! I just haven't bothered to fix it yet. Just run the tripometer and add gas every 250 miles, or if i start my car on a flat surface, i get an accurate reading.

 

Chibi... the whole unit was replaced. Poorly. No door chime, which means no gm adapter thingie. I'm taking it to my local best buy and going to ask politely if they can fix it for me, for fear of my battery dying seems like the power wires were hooked up wrong.

 

SO! best buy fixed up my radio and re hooked it back up the GM amp (how stupid, why would you bypass that??) but I am eventually getting that crap replaced... and guess what my check engine light goes out... which means something was WIRED WRONG....imagine that....

And it IS indeed an exhaust leak. In two spots, resonator and one in the muffler, little girl backed into something and crushed it. I wonder should I just get a new shiny catback exhaust and dual pipes and have them install that instead??? Might as well make some modifications on it if i'm paying for the labor....

 

I'd just replace the muffler from junked Monte / parts place and have them fix it up for cheap until you get your other problems fixed for right now. They could also probably just remove the resonator and weld in a cheap-o straight pipe for now.

 

If you got the funds to do mods at the same time, then yea, why not, get the exhuast you want.

If I was you, who knows when/if anyone ever replaced the spark plugs on that thing, get them done, along with the wires.

Your gas gauge does not work because you need a new sending unit...I would replace the fuel pump and sending unit at the same time.

Glad the radio is fixed now though! See, your making progress!

 

yup, the gas gauge sucks, but the sending unit is expensive, like blacksheep mike said, jusst run it for 200 - 250 miles, and you should be good.... i also like to keep a fuel log /w the milage / & # of gallons of gas it takes.... it helps me calculate my milage & if milage dips i know somethings wrong...

as for the exaust, lop out the resinator and straight pipe it for now, and you could look into getting a thrush turbo muffler from the auto parts store to stick on it... not the best, but very affordable and it should sound ok.....
you should also do a tune up if you can, air filter, fuel filter to start, they are cheep and easy, and i doubt they have ever been changed by the sounds of the p.o.... then plugs & wires....

i hope things work out for ya, mine had alot of issues like you describe, plus others, but after some reserch i found most fixes were cheep and easy, and the hard ones allowed me to fix smaller things when i had everything apart.... good luck

 

Yeah the place said they could replace the parts for around... 65 for the res and 95 for the muffler??? I think they're going to cut it and replace it. Not expensive. The plugs and wires? yeah.... what about my distrib cap and rotor? The labor on doing that is about $60 for the tuneup.... how much is the sending unit????? Can't i buy one from a junked monte??? I mean if it works it works.... is there a way to test if it works?

and why the hell would i replace the fuel pump? it delivers fuel to my car.... christ... how much is one of THOSE going to cost me??? the air filter isn't so hard I can do that myself, plugs and wires i wish i could i could always ask my friend ian.... as it is i need a hub assembly.... i think... oh i about laughed when they redid my stereo an the check engine light went out... i laughed all the way out the parking lot....

 

you don't have a distributor cap or rotor. No newer cars have that technology. All you need to worry about is replacing your spark plugs and wires. If it is missing after that, I would look at your ignition coils.

You don't HAVE to replace the fuel pump, but I would just because EVENTUALLY it will go out, and the sending unit along with fuel pump are in the gas tank. Therefore you must drop the tank to get to it. This is not an easy job, therefore I would personally replace both while I was in there, but you don't have to. Although, I am not 100% sure you must drop the tank in the Monte's, it might actually be accesable through the trunk. I'm not really sure on our cars. I had to replace the pump in my truck, and for that I had to drop the whole tank. IDK the exact cost on the sending unit. I know that it was $650 at the Pontiac dealer to have the fuel pump, and sending unit replaced in my moms Bonneville.

Personally I would not get a used sending unit. The sending unit in these cars sucks, so chances are if you score a working sending unit out of a junked Monte, it will fail in the future...IMO it would be better to get a new one. But thats just me...I know at this point you just want your damn car to function right, and be able to drive it, so maybe used is the best for now.

 

the sending unit is insanly expensive, more than $200 for my car. i was thinking of getting an aftermarket electronic sender fuel leval gauge for my car, this GMPP one from jegs costs less than $60....

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...-1&showValue=1