Finally got my cooling system to act properly ( installed a cast iron blade pump ). Now I'm moving on to more of the subtle problems.

Problem 1- When taking off from maybe 10-20 mph the car stumbles as if the gears are slipping or maybe the engine not sure. If I let off the gas completely and then press on the gas again (same distance to the floor) this cures it 99% of the time. The car does surge very little sometimes at idle ( maybe 100 rmps or so but you can feel it in the brake pedal)
Here is what is new/replaced
Sparkplugs, wires, airfilter, fuel injector gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, plenum gasket, transmission fluid/filter. Does this problem sound familiar to anyone? My next thing to replace is the gas filter...

Problem 2- The car does leak oil, most of the times is a small drop which equals about half a quart a week. The shop said they found a leak at an o-ring by the distributor but said in order to get to it the top end must be removed. Any idea on this procedure?

Problem 3 - Last summer I filled the refrigerant and it worked well for maybe a month or two then slowly got warmer. My guess is there is a leak somewhere ( hopefully not the compressor) what is the best way to find a leak in that system?

Problem 4- Sun roof apparently goes to about half way and gets stuck. Brother had the fuse pulled and it is in the closed position now. Did find a site that sells a part that they say fails in these bad boys, the url is http://www.sunroofdoctor.com/9599montecarlo.htm. Any ideas?

Thanks guys and sorry this post is so freaking long!

Matt
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I'm going to assume you have a 00-05 Monte SS with the L36 engine.

When the transmission fluid/filter was changed. Do you happen to know what fluid was changed to? This car calls for Dexron 3, however there is a new fluid, Dexron 6 that runs cooler and shifts better. Most likely if you went to a GM place, they made that change for you, but it's always good to know. That will help your transmission a little.

So if your car is struggling to shift when you are at a stop and go, you may be looking at the issues I was having. Torque Converter / EPC solenoid / 1 - 2 Shift Solenoid. The torque converter clutch, could be slipping, or trying to keep your RPMs low and when you let off and put the foot back on, it's forcing the car to shift when your car is trying to hold the gear.

The other questions, I'm sure some people will jump on, but we need to know the car / engine first.

 

Sorry! It's a 97 3.4L, should have clarified that in the first post. The car shifted like that before I changed the fluid but I did use whatever fluid the hayne's manual suggests.

 

does that car use the 4t65e or the 4t60e?

If it's 4t65e, my small blurb of information still is valid.

 

Not sure about the 4t65e will check into that when I get off work. The car shifts perfect at a stop by the way. It happens when I am going about 40-50 then push the pedal in slowly to speed up (checked it on the way to work this morning). My oil leak is spontaneous too btw, one day it will leak a few drops the next a nice sized puddle. Thanks for the help!!!

 

you dont have any oil in your antifreeze do you?? it could be an intake manifold issue, and that would cause it to run poorly too

 

40-50 shift is a problem on a lot of monte's. May not really be a problem with your tranny. I believe a tune can fix that one.

 

No oil in coolant, here is a quick list of what I have done, Sparkplugs, wires, airfilter, fuel injector gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, plenum gasket, transmission fluid/filter. Glad to know other monte's have this problem, what else could I replace that might help that?

 

First off the oil leak out of the "distributor" is a valid statment, this is very common on those types of engines. But the only issue is that you dont actually have a distributor. These engines have three coil packs on them that control spark to the cylinders, what they are reffering to is actually called the oil pump drive. Since these newer engines didnt have a conventional distributor GM installed this, to drive the conventional style oil pump. With this being said the top end that they are referring to is your upper intake manifold, this is in the way of removal of the oil pump drive. When the intake manifold gaskets were replaced, you removed the oil pump grive. Did you do them your self? If you did you had to remove said part that is in question. If you didnt replace the o-ring that seals it then it would definitly cause an oil leak. Also if you did replace the intake gaskets yourself, did you follow the proper torque procedures upon re-installation? If not this can also cause some drivability issues. I cant really think of anything else that may cause these issues, good luck.

 

I replaced everything myself and did use torque wrench to get the specified torque. I don't think I removed the oil pump drive, can you describe where it is exactly? Thanks for the help!