Help with 1999 Bonneville//Judgement Call

**03CVLX** · 10-05-2008, 12:15 AM

Hey Guys,

I need some advice regarding my Brothers 99 Bonneville. He called me tonight to tell me the Check engine light started blinking. Now I know this is pretty much a Hard Fault Misfire, so I grabbed my scan tool and went over to his place. I scanned it and got a P0304 code which is a Cylinder 4 misfire...Not a big deal.

The thing that is worrying me is that the ABS light is on and apparently has been on for awhile he just never told me. I have been looking online for ABS part prices and it seems like even the wheel sensor is 300 bucks or so for the part at the cheapest.

The car has 90K miles and is in decent shape, but I am just not sure how much money to throw at it before it isn't worth it any more. KBB says trade in is 2 grand if he is lucky and gets blue book for it. Obviously if it ends up being a spark plug wire and some dirt on the ABS sensor than this I am worrying for nothing.

Where would you guys draw the line on cost and just upgrade to something newer. I just don't want the thing going into money pit mode on him.

One thing I ask you to keep in mind is my brother IS NOT a car guy. He is a if it has four wheels and gets me to work Ill drive it kind of guy. So he doesn't pay attention to things like a car nut would.

Thanks for any advice,

Tom

**Car Guy** · 10-05-2008, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by 03CVLX

Hey Guys,

I need some advice regarding my Brothers 99 Bonneville. He called me tonight to tell me the Check engine light started blinking. Now I know this is pretty much a Hard Fault Misfire, so I grabbed my scan tool and went over to his place. I scanned it and got a P0304 code which is a Cylinder 4 misfire...Not a big deal.

First off if the CEL light is blinking it SHOULD NOT BE DRIVEN before getting fixed. If he continues to drive it there are MANY other things that could need to be replaced as a result, only adding to the repair bill......

The thing that is worrying me is that the ABS light is on and apparently has been on for awhile he just never told me. I have been looking online for ABS part prices and it seems like even the wheel sensor is 300 bucks or so for the part at the cheapest.

Does he absolutely want it to work...??? Reason I ask is because GM's ABS systems are 'not the best' and that by itself will break the bank regardless of the car's other issues.....

The car has 90K miles and is in decent shape, but I am just not sure how much money to throw at it before it isn't worth it any more. KBB says trade in is 2 grand if he is lucky and gets blue book for it. Obviously if it ends up being a spark plug wire and some dirt on the ABS sensor than this I am worrying for nothing.

Where would you guys draw the line on cost and just upgrade to something newer. I just don't want the thing going into money pit mode on him.

Honestly that is a personal decision that only he can make. I know many people that don't even want to deal with a brake job so they just lease a car every two/three years, and others that will 'take the chance' just fixing issues as the years go on trying to get as much out of a vehicle as they can. One thing that he can look at to help with his decision is the history of maintenance in relation to what is commonly known to go 'bad' on those cars.....

One thing I ask you to keep in mind is my brother IS NOT a car guy. He is a if it has four wheels and gets me to work Ill drive it kind of guy. So he doesn't pay attention to things like a car nut would.

That might be the deal breaker then, because as with any car maintenance is the key to avoiding avoidable problems down the road (if that makes cents).....

Thanks for any advice,

Your welcome

Tom

**03CVLX** · 10-05-2008, 01:48 AM

Thanks Car Guy. My thoughts are nearly Identical. I am glad I wasn't totally off base with what I was thinking. I guess I should say that he does all the scheduled maintnence however he does not drive the car alot.

He bought the car in approx 2003-2004 and it had 77k on it. It now has only 89K. So it has gone from what was a higher mileage car to a very low mileage(for the year) car extremely quickly. He honestly could probably care less if the ABS works or not. The car stops perfectly and makes no strange noises at this point. My guess is a sensor is Fubar, probably not even worth fixing.

He is aware do not drive it and will be having it towed monday morning for the check engine light. I guess we will make a better informed decsion once he gets that repair estimate.

**T-Bag** · 10-05-2008, 11:32 AM

Those ABS sensors are so expensive because if I remember correctly...its the entire bearing/hub assembly.

Yes, genius design

**03CVLX** · 10-05-2008, 12:38 PM

Your right T-Bag. From the pics on Advance auto parts site its the whole Hub setup. I will let my Brother know everything and see what he wants to do.

**SLOWC5** · 10-05-2008, 02:00 PM

let me know if he wants to sell it

**Windsors 03 Cobra** · 10-05-2008, 02:08 PM

A bit of warning on a good number off those hubs I have found when the ABS light comes on it means the bearing is falling apart fast and that you should change it sooner than later.
Bearing lets go, so does the tyre. Then you really got junk.

Spending 500 or 1000 on the car is like 1 or 2 monthly car payments, if you bought a car worth 2 shits anyway.

**Russ Jerome** · 10-05-2008, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Windsors 03 Cobra

A bit of warning on a good number off those hubs I have found when the ABS light comes on it means the bearing is falling apart fast and that you should change it sooner than later.
Bearing lets go, so does the tyre.

The GM sensors rarely go bad, look for rust coming out
of the sealed bearing. When jacking it up to check the
wheelbearing dont jack the body lift the lower suspention.

Ive got a scanner here at home that does ABS if you
need to know what wheel it is. The ABS units do fail
and are made of unobtainium, cost more than an island
in the Caribean.

**03CVLX** · 10-05-2008, 05:43 PM

Woah, Thanks guys!!! I never even thought about the possibility of a bearing failing in the front hub as a side effect of this but it makes perfect sense. Im at work all night unfortunately and my Dad is helping my Bro to get it towed someplace to be worked on first thing in the morning.

**03CVLX** · 10-06-2008, 03:49 PM

Ok update. And its not a good one. The car is at Greenfield Pontiac and they are telling my brother they believe it is one of the ABS modules under the hood??. However they are telling him that they are corroded together from age and if they try to force them apart that they might break both of them. If that happens it would cost $2200 to fix it. Does this even sound Legit? I will probably take it on my off day for another Opinion someplace else. If it turns out to be true, this thing is gonna have to get sold.

**Car Guy** · 10-06-2008, 04:08 PM

I thought he didn't care about the ABS system not working, and why oh why did he take it to the 'stealership'...???

Anywho, I told you it would break the bank and that could only be the start of it as far as fixing the ABS system goes

. I would worry about getting it running properly first, because as said before the brakes will work fine in 'regular' mode with a faulty ABS system.....

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**03CVLX** · 10-06-2008, 04:59 PM

Yep, He actually doesn't care to much about wether it works or not. He had them only give an estimate on the ABS so he knew what was up and due to the posts that the wheel bearings could possibly be failing. The stealership was the only one who could look at it today I guess. I definitely won't let them touch it at those prices. I was meaning to try and set something up with you Justin, But I am stuck on two 16 hour work days(at work now till 730 tomorrow morning.) and probably couldnt get the car in my hands till at least Wednesday. Ill see what he wants to do later tonight and send you a PM once I know more.

I knew you were right about it going to be up there in price, but this really caught me off guard for some reason. Probablysince the estimated repair doesn't really diagnose the issue, its only because they think they will damage the parts, so they gave him worst case prices.

**Russ Jerome** · 10-06-2008, 05:03 PM

they are telling my brother they believe it is one of the ABS modules under the hood??.

Originally Posted by Russ Jerome

The ABS units do fail
and are made of unobtainium, cost more than an island
in the Caribean.

Like this guy said above^^^ The units are not worth replacing.
Drive it as it is or get a junkyard donor, pull the ABS bulb.

**Windsors 03 Cobra** · 10-06-2008, 05:10 PM

Yea thats fine drive it like it regular brake folks been driving for 100+ years then. I merely mentioned the hub safety issue FYI.
If it were mine I would make it run good, pop the abs bulb and drive it till the wheels fall off.

Junkyard ABS brake pump/module is probably $200-300 with a 90 day warranty and in most cases a PITA to change. Think 2 brake lines in and 4 brake lines out+rust&crust and cramped quarters. Tho some abs brake pumps are in decent non cramped/non rust prone areas.

**03CVLX** · 10-06-2008, 06:05 PM

Haha guys, As usual you were all right on the money. I appreciate everyones help very, very much. I just gotta see what my brother wants to do now. I really, really hate trying to sift through second and third hand info on car repairs, it makes things so damn difficult.

Had this been my car I would handle things a bit different, but since I don't have easy access to it, it makes things that much tougher. But, no worries I'll get it all straightened out in the next few days.

Thanks again for all the help.

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