Multiple '92 Lumina problems

History of car:
This car sat in my fathers garage for several years following a catastrophic coolant leak. My father, being the machinist, took it upon himself to repair it. He never really got to far on his own and got a new car (Buick regal '93 I think, which is virtually the same car as the Lumina) As I got my driver's license, I decided I could use a car so I bothered my father into helping me reassemble the engine so I could drive it.
It over a year to reassamble the engine, because my dad is absurdly slow. After this it was driven for a while by him to "test it out". The day I drove it, the breaks failed and so back into my father's garage. the next year I got my mother's old car, A 95 Pontiac Boneville which is now sitting in Oklahoma because the transmission didn't make the trip back from Arizona to Ohio.
The year after that I came back home from college and continued to work on the Lumina. We replaced all the break lines, fuel lines, gas tank, rear struts, repainted the underside of the rear end, and sandblasted and repainted all the rear suspension components. So now the car looks real nice underneath Also we replaces the rear wheel bearings and opted for the ones without abs sensors cause they were absurdly expensive.

That was finished this summer, it now has about 92,000 miles.

Before I had to go to school I noticed it was acting a little strange, idling a little poorly, stalling in the morning right after I started it and put it into gear to back out of my driveway.
On the trip I followed my mom to school (she took my sister and I followed in my car) and I was rather stunned that my mom was driving 80 miles an hour, she almost never drives even 70, and here she was speeding like crazy. I realized quickly that the speedometer must be showing my speed as about ten miles faster than I was really going.
Also on the trip I noticed that the car would "lurch" or feel like it was dragging for a fraction of second when I let my foot off the gas when going highway speed. I'm assuming that this is probably related to the locking solenoid in the transmission. The car also feels rather weak to me, but that's possibly because I'm used to driving my mother's 250 hp Chrysler lhs
Anyway, when I get to school, notice that when pulling into parking spaces, the power steering seems to fail very slightly, maybe because the engine is almopst dieing. And the other problem is the most scary to me. Ocassionally, when slowing to stop, the car emits grinding noises from the front end. This only happens when slowing down at a stop sign or something.

I tried to check the error codes but I'm not sure how to do that. I shorted out two terminals and that caused my Service engine light to flash. It flased rapidly about 38 times, then it would blink slowely and steadily with longer blinks thown in seemingly at random.


Here's a summary of my problems:
Idles poorly.
Stalls or almost stalls occasionally, usually immediatly after starting
Power steering feels like it fails at low speed in sharp turns.
Speedometer reading that I'm going a lot faster than I am.
Lurches when lifting foot off of accelerator on highway
Grinding nosies when slowing to a stop
General poor performance.

I'm a rather poor student, so I would really like to avoiding taking it into the shop if i can possibly repair things myself.
Any insight into the cause of my problems would be GREATLY appreciated!

Cleaning the throttle body/throttle plate and IAC motor may improve the cold start stall, and idle instability. Speedo reading could(?) be related to the lack of ABS sensors in the rear. Isn't your ABS light on all the time now? And the grinding sounds typical of stuck calipers in the front not applying fully.

Make sure you have no critters nesting in the air filter box. They love to build nests in them when cars sit for a while.

I was curious if anyone had figured out what happened to the 92 lumina that I had read about on here today. Im having problems with mine after driving it for 11 years. Its got only 84 thousand miles, great shape, has been terrific used car. Problem is Saturday the brake lien rusted out on back right side, Hubby fixed it, and now car wont start at all. Theres NO spark. we are sort of broke and he cant figure out whats wrong and really cant afford to put much into it at all. But he cant find anyone who knows more than he does about what it could be. Several years ago, it had the lurching problem, and surged quite a bit when the weather got cold and would shut off sometimes when you hit brakes, so we took it to a analyxer, he found nothing wrong. it stopped , and every once in a great while it surges just a bit. nothing to worry about like before. However lately for a few months every time I try to turn it on, i htink its started and it shuts off. takes or so times to turn back on and sometimes gives a thrill thinking "were gonna walk home" then she starts.?? anyhow my hubby got the brakes fixed saturday, then tried to start it and Nothing.... it wont start. now my hubby is pretty good with cars and he cant figure it out. Every thing is clean, spark plugs are find, cables been checked, battery is fine, starter is fine, he hasn't a clue. It just wont turn on. no lights surging or anything by the way. Any hints here? Its sitting in garage, waiting for a tow to the local analyzer which is going to cost 75 dollars just to tow and check. Were afraid of what it could cost. and if it could be the computer ( he is worried it is). Its only worth maybw 1500 in good shape now as is. Can anyone help me here? Thanks allot, Nat

Poor idle: I agree with Jeff. Check the IAC valve and clean the throttle body (I explained how to do it in one of my previous postings).

Stalls after starting: hard to say... You may have a vacuum leak. Also check the fuel pressure.

Did you change the front tires? Are you sure they're the right size? If you put different size tires, the vehicle speed sensor will read the wrong speed.

Do you have enough fluid in the power steering pump? If not, that will put an extra load on the engine.

It's better to check the computer for fault codes. In one of my previous posts I explained how to do it. This answer is for you, too, Nat. Of course, this will only tell you if there are any error codes present or not. A scan tool has the advantage that it can check every component of the engine management system. You said your car doesn't start. When you turn the ignition on, does it crank the engine? If it does, does the fuel rich the injectors? Do you have spark? Please provide us with more detail about the symptoms.

Hello, Um lets see, Brakes went out on car Saturday, we got it home, and fixed the brake line. I went to turn car on to check brakes after bleeding the air out, and it turns over and Hubby says he hears the fuel pump trying, it just wont turn on. Starter is fine, battery fine, (((NO spark at all))) Nothing. Its never done this before. He checked every wire, cable, plug, screw, bolt, everything and couldnt figure it out. Right now its still in garage. were waiting for the guy to call whos going to tow it and analyze it this week. Um for a few months before this brake incident, its been acting funny when I turn the key. It sometimes turns right on, but here and there its been not staying on. I think its on and then it shuts off when I let the key go. Almost like I didnt turn it all the way but I know I did every time. then 2-3 tries before she turns on again. then it runs fine. Thats about it. Hope this helps. Someone told him to check something today way in back of the engine(which he found but would have to tear engine apart to reach) so he said hes waiting for the garage.I cant remember what it was exactly, but was something to do with the car not knowing were trying to start it....? Ok, Ill check back later. The car was analyzed a few yrs back for surging when I hit brakes and shuting off after I started it. ( they checked for vacumme leaks then and said it was fine.They also didnt find anything wrong on the analyzer and told us to run gas out of her and fill up with fresh. It didnt do much surging after that maybe 2-3 times and hasnt done it for long time. Thanks for any help, Nat

If you have fuel at the injectors but no spark, it's likely an ignition problem and I'm pretty sure you have a faulty module. I had the same problem this weekend.

Hi again, My husband got the crank sensor out and replaced it today, it didnt help. No change, so now hes going to try the ignition switch Ill keep you posted. If that doesnt fix it, Ill say something about the faulty module as you put it. The garage hasnt called yet so far today, hes sort of afraid this guy whos coming to get it is going to replace so many parts and over charge like hes known of doing in this little town. Not too many choices of where to take it around here. the other place was going to be almost 3 weeks and wed have to find a way to tow it there out of town also. Right now im driving Hubbys chevy97 blue truck and Im hitting eveyr curb out there! :) Id love to fix my car, I miss her....we had a great relationship. shes my black beauty. great body on it and low miles, everyone around has said "if you ever go to sell that car.... let me know." Shes worth more to me than any of them. She can almost drive herself after 10 yrs in my life.:) Thanks for the helpful hints so much, Ill keep updating . Nat

Well must have needed the ingection switch. It started right up for him. hopefully this will keep me from hitting any more curbs in the 97 chevy for a bit longer.:) Thanks allot! There are still a few good people around, Thanks for advising, Nat