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Engine Trouble with 2006 Pontiac Torrent


CobraAvitek

Question

Yesterday, my wife went to get in her car and started it up. When she went in reverse, the car jumped and puffed out white smoke from under the hood. The car had been off all day so it was cold when she started it up. The "Check Engine" light had been on this week and she was going to have it checked next time we went into the dealership for an oil change. That was going to be this Thursday. When this happened yesterday, she also got the "Reduced Engine Power" light. She turned off the car and went back inside her school.

 

We took it in to the dealership to get looked at and they put an hours worth of time on it and checked compression. I'm not sure why, none the codes say to do this although the misfire code could be the reason they went there. Onstar listed multiple codes, all electrical in one way shape or another except the misfire.

 

The codes that showed up are below:

 

P0300- Cylinder Misfire Detected Random Cylinders

P0700- Transaxle Control System Malfunction

P1125- Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor Fault

P2138- Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor 1-2 Correlation

P0120- Throttle Position Sensor 1 Circuit

 

The tech ran the compression test and detected 150 PSI on Cylinder 2 but 90 on Cylinders 4 and 6. I don't think they checked anything like sensors or spark plugs or fuel filter. It didn't sound like they did to me. The next thing they suggested is taking the head off to see what the issue was. This means the repair could be $1500 to $2500 for a vehicle that isn't worth more that $4500 trade in. Is there anything else I should look at first? Is it safe to drive like this? It ran fine for me when I drove it to the dealership. Check Engine light was on but not the Reduced Engine Power light.

 

The details on her car are as follows:

 

Year: 2006
Make: Pontiac

Model: Torrent

Mileage: 97,910

Engine: 3.4 Liter SFI

 

Any help would be appreciated. I just started a new job and she's a low paid North Carolina teacher and we have a 3 year old so there is really no money to put to this other than the savings we worked really hard to get. Should we tackle the codes with the sensors and parts before going to the head?

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Thanks for the response. I told them to go ahead and pull the head and fix it. Don't know what it is yet. We seriously discussed just getting another vehicle but the reality is that right now we can't fit in that payment. Our plan was to purchase a new one in 2018 because practically all debt (except the house) will be paid off by November of 2017. So if this fix holds for 3 more years, we'll be happy. I've never gotten rid of a vehicle just because it hit 100k. A car should go far beyond that, although I know the way they build them today they don't.

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Take it to someone you trust and have the compression checked again. If you have the compression they reported then no sensor in the world will fix that.

Sounds like the dealership did what they should have done, checked the base items first. By checking compression, they also checked the plugs. Likely checked compression once they looked at the plugs. I would ask them if they did a wet compression test as well. Typically you do that to see if the compression jumps back to a more normal number. If it does, that points to a ring issue. If the compression stays the same, it points to a valve issue. It can also mean a head gasket. Cylinder 4 and 6 are side by each, so it is possible the head gasket has blown between the cylinders or has blown between water jacket and cylinders, giving the white smoke you saw.

The car has near 100,000 miles on it, pulling the heads off to change a head gasket or do a valve job will essentially be a patch on the engine. It may buy you another year, maybe another 3 years, cannot really tell from here. Go look at a new/different vehicle to purchase and see what they will give on trade in before you fix it. Obviously say nothing about how the car is, that is their job to appraise it. Maybe they will give you enough now to make it worth while dumping it.

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