1990 chevy lumina

jimarmijo · 10-03-2003, 09:47 AM

Please help me
I have a 1990 chevy lumina apv (van), About two months ago it just died about two miles of driving,and it started right back up, But it scared me so I turned around and went home,Anyway after that
I took it to a machanic,He kept it for two weeks and it would not
die for him, he said the computer showed nothing to be wrong so he put new sparkplugs in it and we got it back. Two weeks later it started doing it again.It dies going down the road at any givin time and after I try and try to start it it finely starts.While trying to start it,it backfires,but when it finely starts it runs like theres nothing wrong with it entil it starts doing it again.(now I drive about two or three blocks and it dies) I've changed the coil,the modual inside the distributor and the coil wire,no help. does anyone know whats wrong?

jimarmijo · 10-05-2003, 01:23 AM

Think I've figured it out, Went out after dark and started it looked under hood in the dark, after motor warmed up I saw sparks, looks like bad plug wires.

jimarmijo · 10-05-2003, 05:53 PM

So far so good. working fine after changing plug wire set.

jimarmijo · 10-08-2003, 12:36 AM

two days later, same thing, stalls going down the road or sitting still. can someone tell me where the ECM is located?

jimarmijo · 10-09-2003, 09:26 PM

I disconnected the positive side of the battery for 30 seconds (well it was more like ten minutes) connected it back and presto! it acts like nothing is wrong with it. Oct.9th I've drove it about 150 miles and it hasn't even died once.

spaetzle · 10-25-2003, 10:10 PM

You replaced all the ignition stuff, so by process of elimination I would guess it is a fuel problem -> more specifically the fuel pump. The fact you can start the car up and that it runs for a few minutes and then dies seems to fit the "heart not pumping enough blood" problem. When you turn your key to ON (not to START), the fuel pump is told to prime the fuel system (pressurize the fuel line). When it does this, it is forcing fuel into the fuel line, but no fuel is being let out to burn at the other end (in the engine). When your key goes to START, the engine starts trying to use that pressurized fuel, and since the pump had a head-start, the engine will run for a bit. When the engine's demand for fuel catches up with the pump's head-start, the pump will no longer be able to supply enough gas to the engine, causing it to die.
The above answer is the most probable. It could also be a faulty fuel-pump relay (EASILY replacable by ANYONE, and it only costs $30), but the odds of that almost nil.

spaetzle · 10-25-2003, 10:14 PM

Sorry dude, but I have a really really hard time seeing "disconnecting the battery" as anything but a coincidence. If the battery or charging system was the problem you would have known about it a long time ago (slow cranking, amp-light coming on, being stranded, etc), and your mechanic would have figure it out already.

tblake · 11-29-2003, 10:56 PM

i own a 1990 Chevrolet Lumina Sedan. Its nothing real nice, but its been a good car. Just recently it has started to stall. We all like to take off fast, and I have always punched it at stop lights and stop signs, and recently when i punch it, the car just dies, and i turn the key to start and it cranks an unusually amount of time before it finally starts again. But it does start, everytime. A while back i had a new overdrive converter put in, so probably not that, and it has been tuned up, and i did have to drop a new ecu in it, and plugs and plug wires are all new. One thing i have noticed is that when it stalls, and i go to start it again, it seems not to be getting gas, or maybe its flooded, I'm not really an expert, but it does kind of annoy me. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. The car does however run and take off just fine when I don't can on it, maybe i should just stop, but I like doing it, its gonna be hard. A friend suggested to take it down a freeway 80mph for 40 miles to clean the carbon out of the engine, would this be of any help? Also i did run stp fuel injector cleaner through a few gas tanks ago. I gained a little more take off, but still stalls. If its important, its a 2.5L 4 cylinder with 190,000 actual miles on the origional engine, and origional tranny. Please email me, thanks. tblaketb@yahoo.com

noodle32 · 12-01-2003, 07:28 AM

I would definately check your fuel pump (for making sure that gas is definately pumped into the injectors when you need it) the fuel accumulator (for keeping the pressure of the gas vapors going to your engine allowing it to have warm starts in even the coldest weather) the fuel filter (too much carbon could be in your fuel system now that little to no fuel may be able to get through - esp. at low rpms) the fuel distributor and the injectors as well as the fuel lines - (to make sure there may not be a clog of carbon somewhere that may be too tough to get rid of - usually you can check for this by listening to the sound of the gas passing through the line) I own a 90 VW and had a prob with this for awhile and it turned out to be the fuel pump and accumulator (already replaced the filter before so that helped a little) but hopefully this information becomes helpful!

tblake · 12-01-2003, 07:39 PM

I just had the fuel filter changed, and there isn't a distributer on that car, but I don't know if there is a lot of carbon built up. It does usually get driven at lower speeds, so that might be a possibility. It also does idle higher than most already. So I don't really know. I was thinking maybe fuel pump relay, fuel pressure regulator, or throttle position censor? Please let me know what you think as i'm not anywhere near an expert. And if all it is is carbon built up, what should be done to clean the system out? I did use STP a little while ago. Thanks

Jay Beezy · 12-02-2003, 06:39 PM

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but, tblake I would check the Throttle Positioning Sensor. My car does the same thing. I will cut off when I try to accelerate.

tblake · 12-03-2003, 09:56 PM

and what kind of car do you have, may i ask? Also where is the throttle position sensor lacated? I'm the dumbest person about all this, all I know basically is that if I hit the gas and it dies, something is wrong. Thanks

noodle32 · 12-06-2003, 06:05 PM

That would definately be your fuel filter needing to be replaced if you have carbon buildup - it wouldn't hurt to clean out the throttle body as well

I would also have your alternator checked out - there may not be a sufficient enough charge - bad voltage regulator/solenoid? That would be my next best guess - hmmm....I remember this happened to me - the starter was fine - would provide the charge - but my alternator wasn't working right - and every like what seemed like 5 minutes it would die - I would start it back up and it would die again so that might be it too after it was replaced it ran fine

tblake · 12-07-2003, 01:35 PM

The alternator is only 3 yrs old. I was also wondering if when it stalls, I could plug it into one of those computers that would check it? would this tell me whats happening? I'm thinking about buying one, they are only 20.00 at wal mart. Might be a good investment? I thought that since when it stalls, I get the "Service Engine Soon" light, it might trigger an error code, or am I wrong? I think I might want to buy this 20.00 gadget before I start sticking money into it. Any ideas? Thanks a lot!

noodle32 · 12-09-2003, 02:45 PM

An OBD I scanner I believe is what ya mean?

I would definately get one of them - the error code may not be properly understood - but it would give you something to tell maybe someone like a Mr.Goodwrech serviceperson or a really good mechanic

I would also get the Autotech CD if you could - they have a wonderful database of common problems and solutions - works wonders for me!

Hope this helps!

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