Hi all, in 2003 my mom's 97 Bonneville was t-boned by a red light runner and they found themselves back in the Pontiac showroom looking at the new models. For some reason they sprang for the new for 2004 GXP. I always liked the car and was proud of my mom for getting something more than the standard V6. Fast forward 20 years and the car has fell into a certain state of disrepair. It has a leaky roof, the headliner needs to be redone, and she has moved on to a Toyota SUV. I am taking ownership of the car because I need a new project and it's just cool!

The good: CA car, no rust, paint is still good, less than 100k miles, one owner.

The bad: interior needs work, been sitting for a few years, rubber seals are all probably shot, located about 1500 miles from where I live.

My plan is to fly down and give the car a tune up, then drive it back where I can do the more extensive repairs at home. I'm now researching what I need to prepare for. It hasn't been driven since Dec 2021 so it def needs a battery, oil change, some fuel system work, brake fluid flush, possibly coolant as well. I know that my dad put Stabil in the tank last year. I plan on at least a fuel filter, and I'm hoping I don't have to go down the rabbit hole of a pump, new injectors, cleaning out the lines with an air compressor my parents don't own, etc etc.

What kind of service intervals do these engines have as far as cooling system ie water pumps etc? Tensioners? What should I be replacing as far as preventative maintenance before I make the trip from the south up to my home in New England?

Thanks for any insight. I've been across the country multiple times but I've always had the fortune of making sure my car is in top shape before the journey. I'd like to be able to do that with this one as well.

With this thing being powered by the Northstar engine, it is inherently a gamble as these had head gasket/head bolt issues well past the end of the Bonneville's production run. You at a minimum should be aware of the possibility of this failure. It requires removing the engine from the vehicle and costs thousands to repair. The only possible saving grace is the rust free body, if it is truly rust free.

If it has a sunroof, you'll want to clear the drains and replace all of the door water shields as those are definitely shot. I would pull up all the carpet and see what is waiting for you under there.

Knowing its history of sitting around, collecting dust and water, I think I would be prepared for failure on this road trip.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

^ I went thru the same thing re: alu block & head bolts with a bmw in the past. A Time sert kit solved that problem. Did it all in my driveway and garage.

Finally flew out to see the car and the interior, specifically headliner needs attention. I changed the oil and fuel filter, brought water pump/hoses/tstat but the car recently had some work done there so I left it alone for now. 80k miles on the clock.

Drove 9 hours to Atlanta to spend some time with my family and then 16 hours back home to CT. It rained the entire day on the second leg of the trip and I had no water intrusion from the sunroof. There may be water underneath but the day after there is no musty smell. I'm no stranger to leaks, having owned an 80's bmw convertible for 10 years.

The brakes were definitely terrible so I changed them out while at my uncle's house. I hadn't planned on this and had to get whatever o'rielly's had in stock but the rotors ended up being the coated type I prefer here in the northeast and I was able to get semi metallic pads. Normally I use performance brakes like EBC. The car has no rust at all and working on the brakes was much easier than anything I've had to do with local cars, despite a prior mechanic using red lock tite on the caliper mounting bolts.

The car has always since new had an issue losing a small amount coolant. While I was driving I noticed a distinct smell of coolant when the A/C was on anything but full cold, which means the heater core or valve is the cause of the slow coolant loss issue. Considering I'll likely have the interior torn apart for the water intrution & headliner repairs, it's not a big deal.

The motor seems down on power. My little 328i is much faster than this car. I'm going to see if there's anything obvious like a rats nest in the air filter box and go from there.

The car definitely needs shocks. From a quick glance it looks like KYB is the way to go. I've used those in the past on a Subaru and they were fine once they were broken in.

And lastly the paint is faded on the hood, roof, and trunk. I recently bought an HVLP spray setup & compressor for another project so I may try that out here.

I'd actually love the opportunity to pull the motor and do a deep clean of the engine bay, but I want to get the car to a point where it's more deserving of that kind of treatment.