94 Corsica - clueless

I recently purchased a 3.1L Corsica in a private sale, knowing that it would need some work. I did not know it would need as much work as I now see it does. Unfortunantly for me, in a private "as-is" sale, I am stuck with what I got. So hopefully I can eventually turn this mountain into only a molehill. Or maybe it only seems as bad as it does. I really don't know, and thats why I've come here. Hopefully some of ya might be able to help me out.

What I know works properly - turn signals, headlights, running lights, break lights, breaks, starter, battery, alternator.

Problems (from what I've experienced so far) -
1 - After the car has been running for a little while (10 minutes about) it starts to die every time I let off the gas (slowing down to turn, stopping, changing from park to reverse or to drive etc).
2 - Speedometer and temp gauge don't work.
3 - When going up-hill it loses power, at slow speeds it will not make it up small hills even with the gas pedal down all the way.
4 - The engine rocks, I am sure that there is at least one bad motor mount. on the passenger side.
5 - A friend of mine looked under the hood, and said he could not see any "oil" flowing when he removed the cap, as the engine was running.
6 - The fan for the radiator does not turn itself on and off. Instead I have to take a wire that comes from the radiator and plug it directly into the battery. The fan then comes on and stay's on until I disconnect the wire.


When I purchased the vehicle the previous owner told me they believed that it would need a new oil pump and fuel filter. But I am sure there is a lot more wrong than that (not including the bad motor mount).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially considering that I haven't touched an engine in over 10 years other than to put washer fluid or anti-freeze. Thanks!

If your car stalls at stops when warmed up and then starts up OK only to stall as soon as it is put in gear you can unplug the TCC wire ( a 4 prong wire sitting on top of the transmission) and that will keep it from stalling. It will though get slightly less gas mileage, but this is very common and can be left undone if you wish. As for the other stuff... a lot to try and figure out. I would start by checking all vacuum lines, plug wires, fuses, plugs, any trouble codes stored on computer, filters - both air and fuel, the works. Sounds like the car was not well taken care of. As for the oil, do you have oil light coming on? I would not worry a lot about not seeing oil while running until I checked for lifter noise, trouble light(oil pressure light) and so forth. The engine rocking, could be a dead coil causing the engine to shake badly and might explain power loss. Listen carefully for a miss. You could have a bad coil and 1-2 dead cylinders. Very common problem, in fact we just replaced all three on ours as one was bad and another was weak. Check for strong blue spark that jumps at LEAST 2 inches. A yellow or short spark will point you to a bad coil. There is a sensor that controls the fan, never had to deal with it though. Good luck, sounds like a lot of checking over is in order.