First post, becoming a long time lurker. And only posting because I'm at the crossroads of whether keeping the car or cutting my losses.

Background information; purchased car in september for 12,000$ (60k miles) and knew in advance it would be a project (even though visually it looks great). Car was put on the road in March after selling an SRT-4. Started off pretty decent (boost issue) for the first few weeks. Then all hell started breaking loose one problem at a time.

Problems I've ran into; Boiling coolant (after car is shutdown), MAP sensor hose blew off, Air pump seized, coolant overflow tank cracked at the neck(was cracked), Boosts at 2 psi(seconday turbo does turn on too), Found a open ended T on the wastegate (boost controller?lol), tired suspension in the front, hood cable tension gone, trunk/gas tank cable tension gone, and probably some other miscellanious things that dont come to mind right now(like puffs of white smoke at one point that I dont even want to think about ).

Well to get to the point... heres 2 pictures of what I ran into today while starting the vacuum hose job....




I dont even want to continue to explain right now because of frustration. But why would there be a hacked up hole in my throttlebody........? It wasnt even done clean... (this is what they probably used) =>

Anyways, I'm not posting to be told I need a rebuild or that I have a coolant leak. I search around religously probably like most people here. I even read most of the workshop manual for ***** and giggles.

I guess my question would be about the random T in the wastegate line (didnt change boost pattern whether it was in or out, which scares me) and also my throttlebody - whether thats normal or not to do.

Then I just need help considering if this car is for me. The money that will have to be put into to this just to make it run right might add up A LOT. I knew what I was getting into at the beginning which made me really happy. I love fiddling with cars and making them prestine but I dont want to start at a negative 100. I can only begin to speculate at the other genius ideas that have been done to the motor.

So your 2 cents and any questions would be much appreciated.
And in advance - dont tell me to use the search button and dont tell me to swap to an LS1......please.

-Ryan

 

Your throttle body is fine. That hole is there from the factory.

As for your open tee vacuum line....that whole system needs to be scoped out, starting with carefully checking out a vacuum line diagram (available here with a quick search) and then go from there.

The other problems you mention can be expected of this vintage of car and are indeed quite common. If you have ANY, and I mean ANY sort of a leak in the coolant system (and the AST tanks are prone to cracking as are the stock radiator end caps) then you will have a lot of problems with boiling coolant. You should, if you haven't, change the coolant and go with a 40% water 60% antifreeze solution. Have the entire system pressure checked....a good service station can do this. Or you can rent/borrow a checker. O'Reilly's or AUTOZONE might have one to lend out, for example.

HAVE SOME PATIENCE with this car, though I know it is hard. You can find any part you need in the 'For Sale' section for reasonable prices.

 

Couple possibilities I thought of when reading this:

1) The car was "returned to stock" before it was sold

2) The previous owner broke a vacuum line at one point and instead of replacing it, just used a "T" to reconnect the two broken pieces and capped the third nipple of the "T". At some point the lines became disconnected leading to your vaccum leak/weird boost problems, etc.

Yea, doesn't sound very plausible to me either but it can happen, since that's exactly what the previous owner of my car did ;P

 

^ good advice, jusy take it easy, when your all done fixing the car it will all be worth it

 

Those are all minor problems with the car. Very very cheap fixes. Just tackle them one at a time and you will be happy with your car in a few weeks.

 

thanks. Whats the function of the hole in the throttlebody.... the pictures I've seen before I thought there was none (makes me feel real dumb). And in the manual it doesnt display it, so I thought.

And why is it so hacked up? there is even a divet in the underbelly part is if someone took a dremel to it.

and the 'stock' thing... I came to the same conclusion, when I examined the car I didnt go into that kind of depth to see those things... I knew the boost issue... but I didnt start taking things apart to examine it. Plus I brought it to a rotary speciality shop and everything checked out ok(once again.... visually and some hands on).

thanks for the feedback, started to rain(perfect for my mood...lol) so its holding me up from doing the vacuum lines/check valves.