ClassicOldsmobile.com - View Single Post - New Intrigue Guy in TX (needing help with a car that's gone crazy)

marcusa · February 8th, 2009, 01:38 PM

I got sent here by 442much from oldsmobileforums.com

I'm the proud owner of a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue, I've had it for almost four years and many many miles now (not sure how many). Car itself is Canadian so it's all in km but loosely converted the odometer is at about 180k-185k miles.

Here is my pride and joy

Unfortunately...

My transmission developed a leak on the passenger side somewhere on the side of the transmission towards the bottom. I took it to a transmission shop here and decided to just do a full rebuild since it wasn't much more than reseal.

Well I got my car back and everything was going crazy. Dash lights, gear indicator, HVAC, power locks, auto headlights coming off, car thinking key was still in ACC or RUN after I removed it, the works.

Transmission shop said it wasn't a transmission problem except the gear indicator and they would order a part (neutral safety switch) and maybe it would fix the rest. A week later I had no part and the car died after it - as my regular mechanic told me - pre-ignitied and backfired into the intake, blew a hole (bigger than a pencil) on it and cracked another part by the throttle body (where it is weaker to begin with) and got water in it and hydrolocked. Turns out the whole issue was that the transmission shop left two ground wires loose.

Car is sort-of back to normal. HVAC is making a noise and is broken, transmission shop said they would cover the replacement since it self-destructed trying to find its position. I'm still having other issues and they are short on answers over a week later.

- Automatic headlights were turning IC on in the car but not the lights outside. This went back to normal today for some reason though, go figure.
- Seatbelt warning light and chime completely gone.
- I had some issues with the ABS wheel sensor on the driver's side being a tad sensitive, esp when I went over cat's eyes. Now there is no more Low Trac light (or ABS lights if I do it enough) but Cruise now does not work. I know the cruise gets cut off if the traction control activates, but I don't even know if this is related. Trac control seems to work since i saw Low Trac come on a few times, how well and if on all wheels I don't know.
- Steering wheel too light when driving, same low resistance as when I'm stopped.

this is not electronic but:

car was bucking like crazy and even threw a code for the torque converter. Briefly stepping 3/4 of the way on the accelerator with it in Drive and holding the brakes made it act up too. All of the sudden it bucks like a horse and now it behaves...mostly. I did get a slight stutter after stop & go when temp went a hair over half (still touching the half line). Car also barely chirps tires now (just briefly on one side) when I floor it and sometimes trembles when I put it in drive while still rolling backwards. It just does not seem as responsive as before but it's not really acting up. I thought defective/failing torque converters got worse with time, what's up with that?

Anyone have any idea what could be causing the electronic issues and transmission problem? I am going to be taking the car back and want to be armed with more information this time. I already burned through several thousand this month on the rebuild and then the engine, I don't want to empty out my bank account getting a diagnostic from my regular mechanic but I want to go back armed with a little more information.

February 8th, 2009, 01:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
marcusa Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 8	New Intrigue Guy in TX (needing help with a car that's gone crazy) I got sent here by 442much from oldsmobileforums.com I'm the proud owner of a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue, I've had it for almost four years and many many miles now (not sure how many). Car itself is Canadian so it's all in km but loosely converted the odometer is at about 180k-185k miles. Here is my pride and joy Unfortunately... My transmission developed a leak on the passenger side somewhere on the side of the transmission towards the bottom. I took it to a transmission shop here and decided to just do a full rebuild since it wasn't much more than reseal. Well I got my car back and everything was going crazy. Dash lights, gear indicator, HVAC, power locks, auto headlights coming off, car thinking key was still in ACC or RUN after I removed it, the works. Transmission shop said it wasn't a transmission problem except the gear indicator and they would order a part (neutral safety switch) and maybe it would fix the rest. A week later I had no part and the car died after it - as my regular mechanic told me - pre-ignitied and backfired into the intake, blew a hole (bigger than a pencil) on it and cracked another part by the throttle body (where it is weaker to begin with) and got water in it and hydrolocked. Turns out the whole issue was that the transmission shop left two ground wires loose. Car is sort-of back to normal. HVAC is making a noise and is broken, transmission shop said they would cover the replacement since it self-destructed trying to find its position. I'm still having other issues and they are short on answers over a week later. - Automatic headlights were turning IC on in the car but not the lights outside. This went back to normal today for some reason though, go figure. - Seatbelt warning light and chime completely gone. - I had some issues with the ABS wheel sensor on the driver's side being a tad sensitive, esp when I went over cat's eyes. Now there is no more Low Trac light (or ABS lights if I do it enough) but Cruise now does not work. I know the cruise gets cut off if the traction control activates, but I don't even know if this is related. Trac control seems to work since i saw Low Trac come on a few times, how well and if on all wheels I don't know. - Steering wheel too light when driving, same low resistance as when I'm stopped. this is not electronic but: car was bucking like crazy and even threw a code for the torque converter. Briefly stepping 3/4 of the way on the accelerator with it in Drive and holding the brakes made it act up too. All of the sudden it bucks like a horse and now it behaves...mostly. I did get a slight stutter after stop & go when temp went a hair over half (still touching the half line). Car also barely chirps tires now (just briefly on one side) when I floor it and sometimes trembles when I put it in drive while still rolling backwards. It just does not seem as responsive as before but it's not really acting up. I thought defective/failing torque converters got worse with time, what's up with that? Anyone have any idea what could be causing the electronic issues and transmission problem? I am going to be taking the car back and want to be armed with more information this time. I already burned through several thousand this month on the rebuild and then the engine, I don't want to empty out my bank account getting a diagnostic from my regular mechanic but I want to go back armed with a little more information.