Hey everyone,

Some of you may have seen my first post in the speed trap thread. I've been lurking the forum for awhile and figured I would join once I saw something I have some expertise in: speed traps. That's right, I'm a copper, so if you have any questions about that sort of thing, I'm you man.

My main reason for being here though is I've been looking for ways to improve my black 01 SS. I bought it used about a year ago with pretty low miles for an 01 (about 60,000.) I love the car, but lately I've been having a lot of problems with it. It has been in the shop for almost a month now.

It all started with difficulty starting which I figured the alternator or starter was responsible for. Also problematic was a ton of noise and hard steering which I figured was related to a bad power steering pump. Anyway, brought it in, and after 10 days in the shop, got a new power steering pump and a new battery. They said the alternator and starter were fine, but I'm skeptical, because a new battery I had already put in (thankfully covered under warranty) had already died. I suppose it is possible I just had a bad battery.

Anyway, I go to drive the car home, and on the way the check engine light comes on. Bring it back in, and the knock sensor it was activated it. Later come to find out my intake manifold has heavy pitting and is leaking coolant where it doesn't belong. I finally had an explanation for the low coolant message and the fact my engine seemed to be running "hard" (turns out it was knocking, ugh) So now I'm waiting for that issue to be resolved.

Thankfully (depending on how you look at it) I bought a warranty from the Toyota dealership where I got it, and it is covering most of the work. The only problem is it takes FOREVER. First I have to bring it to them, then an inspector for Toyota not from the dealership has to come and examine the problem to determine if it is covered under the warranty. THEN, I have to wait for them to order the part, get it, and install it. Obviously they don't have any GM parts on hand being a Toyota dealership. Needless to say, I'm glad my work has been covered, but if work didn't let me take my car home, I'd be screwed. I can get to and from work just fine, but if I want to do something on my days off, too bad. I can't use the squad car for personal business.

Anyway, that is my story. I love my car but it has been giving me lots of trouble. Once I get all these basic issues resolved, I'm hoping to make some changes to help with the performance and looks of the car. I've already bookmarked some threads about LED lights and simple 3800 series engine mods. Unfortunately I've never been a huge car person and don't have a lot of gear head friends, so I'm going to have to take things slow.

As an unrelated aside, I'm also a fan of the classic Monte Carlos, I'd eventually like to a 70s one like Denzel Washington's character in Training Day. That is coolest car ever!

Once again, thanks for having such a great forum, I've learned a ton already.

And now what everyone really wants, PICS!!!

 

Welcome to the forum man. Sorry to hear that your car has been in the shop so many times, but like you said, at least its under warranty.

Thats one sharp MC you got there.

 

See... now you know the problem of buying a car, from a different lot with a warranty.

I guarantee if that car was in a GM dealership fixed by proper GM techs, this would probably not be as long of an issue as it is. Toyota doesn't know what to do with our american 3.8 lol.

I hope it all comes together for you, it's a great car and a better engine.

 

Welcome! Very nice Monte you have there!

 

Yeah, unfortunately the only black Monte Carlo I could find in the whole state when I was looking for one was at that dealership. Beggars can't be choosers, as they say.

 

wow thats pretty uncommon to not be able to find a black mc... they are all over the place here thats why i went with white... everyone and their grandparents have a black monte haha but that one looks good! the ones around here are pretty beat so its nice to see one in good shape still good luck with the car man

 

Don't go knocking us black monte owners :P

 

welcome to the forum... sir. ;-)

Its unfortunate to hear youve been having so many problems. Im sure after they finally tackle the main problem (which sounds like the coolant) it should start running better for ya. What mods are you thinking of doing to the car?

 

In Arizona, white is the common color because no one wants a black car in the heat. Thankfully, I live up north where it is actually quite cool in the summers and we even get snow in the winter, so a black car is no biggie.

Whereabouts in Minnesota are you from? I grew up in Maple Grove/Osseo, went to St. Cloud for college, and have family in Duluth.

 

Engine wise, nothing too spectacular. I started a thread in the intake/exhaust section that kind of lays out what I have in mind.

Otherwise, I'm a total flashlight nerd (I'm a member of a flashlight forum too!) so I'm planning on replacing pretty much all lights but the headlights with LED.

I need to get a new sound system figured out too. Right now my speakers are wired directly into the aftermarket deck because the stock amp was having some kind of feedback issues causing weird noise to come out of the speakers even when the car was turned off.