1998 Pontiac Grand Am GT. 3100 V6.
Question: gear shift won't shift out of park, engine, abs and brake lights on and engine runs but no acceleration, all happened at the same time. Have been able to shift by inserting a small screw driver into the slot on the passenger side of the console.
Answer: All these problems must be related. The shifter not moving is usually a blown fuse or power feed problem. The engine not running good could be many things, but with the ABS light and brake lights on, makes me think these are all related. It sounds like your Pontiac has a major electrical problem. Be sure to check ALL the fuses. If they are OK, then this sounds like a bad ignition switch. This part is the main power feed to these and other systems on your car. If it is feeding low or no voltage to these different systems, that would cause all these problems. You can use a volt meter to check for at least 12 volts at all the fuses. If not, the ignition switch is probably bad. Or try turning the ignition very quickly from OFF to ON many times and very quickly. Sometimes this will cause a faulty switch to sort of clear up and feed the proper voltage to these systems.
Grand Am Growling Noise
I just bought a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with 2.4ltr 4 cylinder engine with just over 200,000 miles but i noticed that the vehicle makes a loud growling noise after 30mph and gets quiet when i turn the steering wheel slightly right but gets louder when i have to correct myself left to go straight, but i can actually feel the engine in the wheel and the car really feels fine, its all noise, what can you tell me to fix this?
Answer: This is a very common problem of a growling front wheel bearing or also called a hub bearing. You described the noise perfectly and very detailed, thank you. Most people dont let us know about the characteristics of the noise. By telling us that the growl noise gets quiet when turning the steering wheel slightly right and louder when turning left means that the right front hub bearing is bad. Here is the reasoning-
When turning right, the normal body roll of the car buts more pressure on the left front, but less pressure on the right. So the noise goes away or gets less. When turning left, body roll causes more pressure on the right- so the noise gets louder. Vice versa if the noise changed in the opposite way. The best to to check this is to listen to the noise when getting on or off the ramps on an expressway.
