no idea where to post this...

[unruhjonny]

I have a Pontiac book entitled:
Standard Catalog of Pontiac 1926-1995

In it, refering to the 1991 Grand Am it states:

(pg 220) under the Model information:
"LE modles also had a new Sport Performance package..."

(pg 223) under the technical information:
"Front suspension: ... (28mm anti-roll bar with Sport Performance and WS6 suspensions)...

Rear suspension: ... (21mm anti-roll bar with Sport Performance and WS6 suspensions)...

Steering (Sport Performance and WS6): Power assisted Rack-and-pinion, 14.0:1 ratio...

Getting closer to my question:

I realise that Pontiac (& GM) has used several RPO codes many times over, and some were used because they were recognised by enthusiasts.
WS6 was introduced as a suspension upgrade for 1978 Formula Firebirds & Trans Ams (available through to the end of the 2nd gen run in 1981)- If I understand correctly the RPO code was brought back as an option available to late 3rd Firebird Formulas & Trans Am's; then it was reused for Firebird Formulas & Trans Am's from 1996-2002 as a Ram Air package (of which half of the package was a substancial suspensin upgrade)

Here's my question:

Does anyone know if this info in my book is correct? - was the Sport Performance option refered to as a WS6 optin for 1991 Grand Am's?
- if this is so, did the actual RPO code for the G/A differ from what they advertised it as (since the WS6 RPO was being used on Firebirds that year) advertised?

The reason why I ask, is that my 1991 Grand Am is an LE with the Sport Perfomance package (consisted of 2.3l DOHC HO engine/ 5spd transmission & beefed up suspension w/16" wheels)...
My spare tire cover doesn't show the RPO "WS6" - but the cassette that the car came with mentions the handeling & engine package in one breath - but referes to no "WS6" option...

This is something I've been curious about for a couple years now...

Mabey someone out there has a 1991 G/A sales brochure/ ordering packet that will solve this for me...

Thanks for your time!

[Prospeeder]

Does it have FE2 or FE3? Thats the most common Suspension codes for front drive GM cars

[Matt95GT]

I have a 90 brochure... I'll have to check. From what I do remember, WS6 was not used. There was a code used for the LE w/ performance package though.

[unruhjonny]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
I have a 90 brochure... I'll have to check. From what I do remember, WS6 was not used. There was a code used for the LE w/ performance package though.

It would be great if you can check, but I don't know if my car's LE package was available in 1990 - it is essentially a no frills version of an SE (no power anything, no computer display, and no Wheel well flares) - It's kind of like a Formula version of the Grand Am; it's got the HO engine, and beefed up suspension of the SE - but none of the extra items...

[Prospeeder]

did you see FE2 or FE3 on the RPO???

[MantaGreen97]

I've seen the RPO code WS6 referred to for Grand Ams many times. Usually it is for suspension or brake parts with such end remarks for certain model years/parts as "except w/WS6 option" or "with WS6 option".

If it wasn't used officially, then there are a lot of parts manufacturers and retailers that are all wrong on many listings; but I doubt that's the case.

RPO codes are definitely not exclusive in many cases. For engines they are usually pretty unique and they don't reuse them for many years after an engine has been discontinued. But they do get reused.

As for other RPOs, I'm pretty sure GM does reuse them on different platforms to mean the same basic thing but be completely different parts on completely different platforms. An easy example of this are the FEx suspension RPOs. Many GM cars use FE2 and FE3 (among other FEx codes) to determine what suspension setup they have. FE2 usually meaning standard/"ride" suspension, and FE3 meaning upgraded/"sport" suspension. That doesn't mean that an Oldsmobile Delta88 with FE3 is going to use the same parts as a Grand Am with FE3--that would be ridiculous!

Though in more recent times WS6 has been mainly attributed to the "RamAir" Trans Am, it's obviously been used on other cars/platforms, of which the GA is one of them.

Many suspension and handling packages are often rare and hard to "get" because they had to be a certain trim level (e.g. GT, SE, LE, Zxx, etc.) and then have other specific option combinations (engine, transmission plus things as strange as A/C sometimes) to get that package.

Another thing to think about with RPOs and how they have to be "recycled" is how they probably can't have different RPOs for every different option on every different car. There's many cars in GM's lineup and then each car probably has hundreds of different individual options to designate RPOs to. An RPO code consists of one or two letters (A-Z, 26 different characters) and then one or two digits (0-9, 10 different characters). The maximum number of combinations can't be that high.

Because your RPO chart does not list WS6 would make me think that your car simply does not actually have exactly what GM defined as WS6, not that it wasn't an officially used RPO on your year GA.

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by unruhjonny
I have a Pontiac book entitled:
Standard Catalog of Pontiac 1926-1995

In it, refering to the 1991 Grand Am it states:

(pg 220) under the Model information:
"LE modles also had a new Sport Performance package..."

(pg 223) under the technical information:
"Front suspension: ... (28mm anti-roll bar with Sport Performance and WS6 suspensions)...

Rear suspension: ... (21mm anti-roll bar with Sport Performance and WS6 suspensions)...

Steering (Sport Performance and WS6): Power assisted Rack-and-pinion, 14.0:1 ratio...

...

Does anyone know if this info in my book is correct? - was the Sport Performance option refered to as a WS6 optin for 1991 Grand Am's?

...

The reason why I ask, is that my 1991 Grand Am is an LE with the Sport Perfomance package (consisted of 2.3l DOHC HO engine/ 5spd transmission & beefed up suspension w/16" wheels)...
I just realised that you [appear to have] missed something quite critical here. Actually I wish I had caught this before I typed all that above, LOL.

Notice with the Front Suspension, Rear Suspension and Steering parts listings it says this:

"with Sport Performance and WS6 suspensions"

Notice I underlined the AND... This means that these parts were the parts on cars with either the "Sport Performance" OR "WS6" options. It does not equate "Sport Performance Package" with "WS6" the two are not one and the same.

You then go on to say you have a:

"1991 Grand Am is an LE with the Sport Perfomance package "

That's it right there. You don't have whatever they called WS6. You have what they called the Sport Performance Package, which had many parts the same as the WS6 (as we see above from the Sport Performance *AND* WS6 notes). What the RPO code was for the Sport Performance Package, we don't know. (It's possible to find out but obviously we don't know right now). But what we do know is that package was not the same thing as "WS6" though it did have some (or perhaps even all) of the same parts. But this is why WS6 does not appear on your RPO chart--you simply don't have it.

[unruhjonny]

Originally posted by Prospeeder
did you see FE2 or FE3 on the RPO???

How's a picture for a responce?

[unruhjonny]

Mantagreen97;

I'm glad your initial responce was posted, I found it quite informative.
Unfortuanatly, I also found it to be confusing... you stated that the FE2 was for standard suspension; and this RPO does appear in my list, but my car clearly has the "upped" suspension

- I actually bought the car from the original owner, and please beleive me; he did nothing to this car... it still has the problematic factory paint applied to many GM/Dodge cars of the early nineties (they used a water based primer that didn't properly bond to the paint - and this caused the paint to literally flake off... if the original owner had any sense, he could have had it repainted under a recall - but if he had any sense, he probably wouldn't have let it get to the state of disrepair, which had him sell the wheels, and then sell me the rest of the car for $50!!)

It looks like I'm going to have to browse eBay in hopes of finding sufficent factory sales literature in order to understand if the WS6 code was used as a sales gimmick;
- I think it would be cool to put a factory WS6 badge on the car, but I wouldn't do this unless I can verify that somehow it was associated with this car...

Since I've posted all the RPO codes, can anyone here decipher them all?

signed;

"curious"

[Colin]

The sticker says the vehicle has FE2 .

[Prospeeder]

FE1 could aslo be the Base suspension and FE2 the Upped one, i had a decoder for the RPO codes but i dunno where it went

[MantaGreen97]

Here's a search that brings you lots of threads with lots of GM RPO code listings...

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=504342&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

Note that despite the fact that some of the codes listed aren't for your particular year many of them give you a general idea of what option it's referring to on your car. Also this works for codes you can't find exactly as well. For example AM7 refers to a folding rear seatback on most cars, and the AMx codes are pretty much all seat-options related. So where you might not find the AM9 option listed on your chart, at least you'll know it relates to the seats somehow.

Also regarding the FEx numbers, again, it's all vehicle dependent... Because FE2 might be the upgraded suspension for your year. My 1997 factory service manual shows FE1 as being the "Soft Ride" suspension system and FE2 as being the "Ride Handling" suspension, but it never mentions FE3, which was a code for the 96-98 GA which was the "Sport Handling" suspension setup (which is almost exactly the same as FE2 on this car really, it's just different struts/shocks I believe). Furthermore I've never heard of a 96-98 having an FE1 optioned suspension anyway. (Yeah the code chart in the service manual is surprisingly generic considering how model-specific and detailed the rest of the service manual is.)

Berettas had a whole bunch of different FE options--FE2, FE3, FE7; and then there was some rare Z51 rear sway bar we all hear about, etc.

But for your car FE2 might have been the highest (without going to whatever WS6 added, if anything) and FE1 the lower-end suspension. It's all model dependent.

Anyway good luck in decoding your RPOs!

[unruhjonny]

I found the RPO decoder llink, and spent some time last night seeing what was what...

the following codes were not listed (and therefore, were probably changed to often to summarize in the list);
-IPB
-LAS
-LFB
-R7G
-V3Z
-Z31
-1SB
-6AU
-7AU
-8ST
-9SR

I found it interesting that the RPO N78 was for 14x6" hub caps; while the T96 indicated the fog lamps (which were only available on SE models, or LE's with the engne & suspension package that my car has.)

decoding this is fun...

[goredsox]

Well this was quite helpful... I found out a few interesting things... I have FE2 as well, i have a suspension package because i have 16 in. alloys and i know 15's came std.

Package C option 3???

My paint is Pastel Blue (91)

Also Final Drive Ratio 2.39 what does that mean??? Compared to other cars of today it is pretty low... Must be the 3 speed...

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by unruhjonny
the following codes were not listed (and therefore, were probably changed to often to summarize in the list);
-IPB
-LAS
-LFB
-R7G
-V3Z
-Z31
-1SB
-6AU
-7AU
-8ST
-9SR

decoding this is fun...

Yes actually, I'd agree--it is a little fun. You can learn interesting things that the dealer did or changed on your car for whatever reason as well, this way.

When my car was new and had the factory stereo I had the standard factory cassette, with no EQ. However, at the same time, I had the XRS door tweeters as well. This was not possible (you either had to have the CD player or tape deck with the EQ to get those).

Sure enough my RPO codes revealed that the dealer, before the car was purchased, swapped the CD player with EQ (that my car was built with) for another customer's purchase because they wanted a CD player. Now I was never charged the price of the CD player (I was charged with the appropriate price of the normal tape deck w/o EQ on my invoice) but what was funny of course was I got the different 4x6s and the tweeters for free that way, LOL. The guy that got the CD player swapped in actually ended up with worse front speakers than he was supposed to get. Of course it's all pointless now as my stereo has none of it's stock components remaining, but interesting nonetheless.

As for the codes you can't find, I can take a guess at their general categories...

LAS and LFB--I'm pretty puzzled. Most engine codes begin with L and we alredy know your code is LG0. Perhaps LAS is some engine-related thing like the emissions controls or something like that?

1SB is definitely your option group/package. For 99+ cars, they started describing the option groups with "regular" names in the brochures like "SE1" or "GT2", etc. But before that it was just plain old nothing, 1SB, 1SC, and so on. 1SB is probably the "first" option package for your year--as you said it lacks most power features, something that 1SC (if there was such a package) would have had.

I'm fairly confident the 6AU and 7AU are RPO versions of interior or exterior colours of your car. Usually the number codes like that are. The "A" in a colour RPO usually refers to an "accent" like a pinstripe or something on the car--perhaps that describes the colour of the stripes (if any) on your car? Same goes for 8ST and 9ST--they are most likely colours of some parts of the car that could be different on different cars. E.g. dash colours or seat/fabric colours.

Z31 is almost certainly a suspension/handling code. If you haven't found the RPO for your "Sport Performance Package", I'm willing to bet that's exactly what that is.

V3Z could be any strange option from mudgards to license plate holders.

The rest I have as little clue about as you do!

[Matt95GT]

Hmm, I looked it up in the 90 brochure... only thing I can find is the W30 sport appearance group - but it's cosmetic only. I still recall seeing some other option group for LE's that added HO Quad 4, Level III suspension, and SE appearance but not all the power options the SE came with standard.

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Simple Solution, google Pontiac Historical Services, order the $35 packet on your car. It will give you the original build sheet, sales sheet, sales brochures, and tons more.