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Today I was sitting in a parking lot, when i tried starting my 2001 SLE, it would run VERY rough, and want to die.. i would give it gas, and it would run fine from then on... after leaving, the car wanted to die AGAIN while stopped at a stop light.. I stopped at a friend's house, and noticed a knocking and "fingernail on the chalkboard (sounds like a chicken squawking)" noise coming from the engine.. it gets louder with more RPM... no engine lights came on, no overheating, oil pressure guage flutters around when idling... Has anyone had this problem or know what it MIGHT be? I am hoping it's external.. my dad thinks it is hopefully the water pump.. not sure. Please let me know ASAP. Thank you!

Can you post a video?

harofreak00 wrote:Can you post a video?

Sure.. I will put one up sometime tomorrow morning.

Do post that Video, But My gut says you are rolling a rod bearing.... Lets see what you have first before we doom it tho...

CDawg011 wrote:Today I was sitting in a parking lot, when i tried starting my 2001 SLE, it would run VERY rough, and want to die.. i would give it gas, and it would run fine from then on... after leaving, the car wanted to die AGAIN while stopped at a stop light.. I stopped at a friend's house, and noticed a knocking and "fingernail on the chalkboard (sounds like a chicken squawking)" noise coming from the engine.. it gets louder with more RPM... no engine lights came on, no overheating, oil pressure guage flutters around when idling... Has anyone had this problem or know what it MIGHT be? I am hoping it's external.. my dad thinks it is hopefully the water pump.. not sure. Please let me know ASAP. Thank you!

The chicken squawking sound most likely is the serpentine belt slipping by being dragged by something not wanting to turn. Such as a waterpump?

You've got to take off the serpentine belt and check each pulley for looseness and drag.

Jrs3800 wrote:Do post that Video, But My gut says you are rolling a rod bearing.... Lets see what you have first before we doom it tho...

Well.. last night when I moved it into the street.. When I put it in park.. It died in an instant... no sputtering.. nothing. Just bam, dead. I tried starting again, doesn't even want to turn over.. it takes so much of the power, that the headlights go completely dim... Is my engine seized up? Is it a cheap fix? Or am I screwed and have to get a new engine?

I was thinking you were screwed from your first post, but I wanted a video to confirm my suspicions.

Sorry to say, but your engine is done. Start the hunt for a new one.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v242/ ... =Movie.mp4

Did it sound like this before it stopped?

Or this


or this

RJolly87 wrote:http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v242/rjolly87/?action=view&current=Movie.mp4

Did it sound like this before it stopped?

Yes... EXACTLY like that... what is it?

Bottom end is junk.

harofreak00 wrote:Or this


or this

It didn't SOUND like either of those videos... but it did lock up exactly like the Second one did.. what happened and how do I fix?

harofreak00 wrote:Bottom end is junk.

Great... so.. time for a new engine, then?

Yes unfortunately.

Check car-part.com to find the best price with the lowest miles in your area.

Yup, the vid I posted was a documented spun bearing on a 1990 SSE. Haro is right, engine time!

Look for an 06-08 GP 3800 V6, Vin 2... This will be a series III and your parts will bolt to it...

Alright.. thanks for your help, guys.. even though it's not the answer I wanted :( haha

RJolly87 wrote:Yup, the vid I posted was a documented spun bearing on a 1990 SSE. Haro is right, engine time!

Oh hey.. how does this happen? Just something that goes bad..? Because my dad is trying to pin me for speeding or hammering on it or whatever.. all I did was go to friggen WalMart haha..

Jrs3800 wrote:Look for an 06-08 GP 3800 V6, Vin 2... This will be a series III and your parts will bolt to it...

what kind of car is it from?

Grand Prix's, Impala's, LaCrosse's and Lucerne's will all have that engine.

It could be a lot of things. In a past life the engine could have had a bad UIM or LIM gasket and gotten coolant into the oil, someone could have run it low on oil, could be a defective bearing, etc. If you ran it low on oil, that could have caused it. Unless you ran it @ WOT for a couple hundred miles, there isn't a whole lot you could've done while driving to do this. You could have starved it for oil.