Just got a 1992 3000GT!

Hey everyone,
After months and months of looking and saving money, I have bought a 1992 Silver 3000GT SL. Its an automatic with about 102,000 on it. The body is in pretty good shape but it needs a couple things:
1. Needs new pulleys for the altenator.
2. It is only running on 5 cylinders right now, we think it is the fuel lines are clogged or bad, maybe it needs a new computer, I hope it is nothing serious...
3. The air conditioning doesn't work, were gonna have that checked also.

What do you guys think the problems may be for number 2? Would I have to get a whole new fuel injection? I hope not. Ill post pictures as soon as I can.

It could be as simple as no spark or fuel is getting to it. Other than that I do not know. Check the plug and see if its getting a spark and if thats not it you can get injector cleaner which you may also want to try. Congrats on the car though. How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

^could be a bad plug or a bad wire if the cylinder isn't getting spark. Do you have maintenance records??? If so see when the last time the plugs and wires were changed. As for the A/C, you'd better hope it just needs a freon recharge, becuase if you have a leaky condensor core or a leak somewhere in the line, and the system becomes contaminated you may in the worst case scenario need to replace the whole thing.

Our mechanic friend tested that the other day and the cylinder isnt getting any spark, he also put in the cleaner. It was on the farthest down sparkplug, we started the engine and he removed the plug and nothing happened. We are getting it diagnosed and hopefully fixed tomorrow at a shop. I paid 3500 for it. The body is in okay condition, it has a lot of little things here and there, I will get pictures up when I find my camera.

One more thing, the tour/sport button, where is it? I cant find it anywhere. My tour/sport light also blinks from time to time and then goes back to saying just tour. I have heard this is common.

theres 4 bottons on the bezel the fog lights and pop ups on the left and then heating thing and right below that is the sport tour mode... click it and look at the guage and you'll see it switch

thanks, yeah I found it. But I have read up and mine is in the defualt mode and is always in sport mode, Ill just have the wires looked at to correct it, thanks.

Oh man, I just drove it down to the store to get something to eat and now its stuck in 3rd gear, I think I need a new ECU. Is that the problem?

stuck in a gear had nothing to do with ECU. thats all clutch/tranny. Is the clutch pedal lighter than normal? does it push all the way to the floor easily?

EDIT: nm forgot it was an ATX :loser:. Check the transmission fluid. mayby it has something to do with the tour/sport mode, since thats the last thing you played with.

its an automatic

ok ill check it

If its stuck in third that would be something to do with the TCU. Not the ecu.

yeah I looked around on the internet and found out that that is most likely the problem. I found one for sale on ebay for 75 dollars.

Okay, one more thing...
The shifter doesn't lock at all, if I am parked with no brake on and the keys not in, not only does the shifter move down and up through all the gears but I dont even have to push down the button... whats wrong with it?

Its broke.:confused:








:D

You may want to check the flux capacitor and then check all of the specs on the endline to see if they are all in order. But seriously, I'm with Stealthee, somethings broke but I havent the slightest idea. I'd assume whatever prevents it from moving without the brake pedal on while having the keys in but that kind of goes without saying.

There is supposed to be some kind of cable that syncs with the ignition switch and the brake pedal that prevents the shifter from moving. It is most likely broken along the way some place.

alright, I think I have found out why the sixth cylinder isnt firing, its the spark plugs. Our mechanic said that most people rarely replace them because they are hard to replace, Im gonna fire her up tonight to see if I can see anything under the hood light up. As far as the shifter, there is definetly a problem with the shift lock, it still drives fine but I will definetly replace that soonish. Oh and where can I buy a new TCU?

the spark plug wires are hard to replace? HAHA, what a crock of bull. ya, hard to replace if you are LAZY.

as for the transmission, do a search. there are a bunch of threads on here about your situtation. basically, if the ATX is stuck in 3rd, its in failsafe mode. this has to do with your TCU (computer that controls the transmission, not the ECU). its not a difficult fix, but do some searching, that problem has come up before many times. if no luck, then send a PM to HotShot8972, he's the expert on ATX's.

OKay, the reason I said it was hard is becuase three of the wires lead all the way into the back and seem hard to reach. Could I replace the TCU myself, or should I have the shop do it? And could I replace the wires as well? thanks.

all you have to do is take off the plenum and everythings right there lol...laziness

ahah, im not lazy, I have already washed my car three times in three days, I just dont know a lot. Okay, where is the TCU located?(i Dont have a manual yet). Oh and i turned on my AC and it blows air but not that cold and there is also NO display on the purple screen. My tour/sport doesnt work either, what do I do or where should I go to find all the help I need?

dude, you seriously need to do some searching and reading. all the problems you're having are very common, and a little research wouldn't hurt.

and i said nothing about REPLACING your TCU. pay attention, search, read, find a way to FIX the problem without replacing the problematic part.

why is it that noobs always think the way to fix something is to just replace it?

ahah sorry, it just seems like it would be easiest, I called a local mechanic that specializes in getting parts and I am having him send me a rebuilt TCU, ill do some searching, i just thought that if i could actually talk to someone (instead of reading something) then it would work out better.

ahah sorry, it just seems like it would be easiest, I called a local mechanic that specializes in getting parts and I am having him send me a rebuilt TCU...

i want to laugh, but i feel like screaming and/or crying. if replacing the TCU seems the easiest, then why are you here on automotiveforums.com? a mechanic could tell you that.

i'll tell you why you're here: because you're smart and know that most cars are quite simple, as long as you know 1) how to diagnose it properly, and 2) how to fix it. its that simple, adn we can all provide you with answers.

but when you ask questions that we've already told you answers to, you don't benefit from anyone doing all the work for you. if you own a car, you should want to take pride in it by knowing about its common problems, common misconceptions, and how to fix them. we're not here to spoon-feed you answers. we would like to guide you in the right direction, and if after searching and researching you come up with nothing, then we'll be more than happy to find exactly what you're looking for.

but seriously, you're exhibiting the mentality of the average gullible consumer who knows nothing about cars and thinks "oh, somethings wrong with my transmission? then just replace it, that will fix the problem." yes, the problem will be fixed, but at your great and unnecessary expense b/c you're the moron who won't simply ask the question "why won't it work, and how else can i fix the problem, and what is the root of the problem."

ill do some searching, i just thought that if i could actually talk to someone (instead of reading something) then it would work out better.

now i want to laugh! did you just confess to acute, extreme laziness? i'm not gonna go there. R-E-A-D. that's how man progresses through the decades, it gives birth to free and independent thought, and helps man communicate better, more effectively, thus improving everybody. READ something, find the answer, then you can talk to someone for confirmation.

do yourself a favor. Read the FAQ thread, use the search function, and send a Private Message (PM) to HotShot8972 who is very knowledgable on the automatic transmissions.

perhaps i was a bit harsh in my responses. and seeing as no one else is chiming in with the correct information to help you out....why the hell not:

for your ATX being "stuck in 3rd gear"

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=555133&highlight=gear

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=406124&highlight=gear

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=371730&highlight=gear

and for other related ATX issues:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=235522&highlight=gear

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=319510&highlight=gear

as you read, you can tell that HotShot8792 [sorry, i may have earlier misquoted his name, those numbers get confusing when there's no apparent logic to the order] knows what he's talking about. so you can confirm it with him and/or with your mechanic. but he gives you the steps to follow to find out what the REAL problem is.

Ok, I had done searching before about the TCU and I now know that the port that links the TCU to the wires was the reason why it was failing. This is based off of me opening the center console left panel and looking at what seemed (to my best guess) the TCU unit. I stuck in my hand and pushed in as many things loose as I could feel. I then drove the car and it shifted into 1st,2nd,3rd, and overdrive fine, before going out about 10 mins after. The reason that I decided to come onto automotive forums was so I could address my SPECIFIC problems and hopefully get some answers from people whom are more experienced than I.

I did not purposely want to portray than I didn't want to READ anything in the sense of laziness, I just wanted to make the contrast of communicating with people about my problems rather than "reading" about somebody else's problems. Even though they are indeed the same, they are different in that they are different cars (my 3000GT vs someone else's). I have been reading much information even before I bought this vehicle. I have sent a PM to HotShot8792, yet I havent recieved one back yet.

It just seemed to me, the gullible moronic consumer, that replacing a part that has, not only problems among other 3000GTs, a problem with my car would possibly replace that problem from ever happening again. If it is just the wires then I will do whatever neccessary to fix that problem as well. I am no expert yet and that is why I have been on this site trying to gain knowledge as I feel this site is great for most of all types of questions. I know that I probobly should have taken more time to research and I am not going to make any excuses for that. And for the record this site has no boundry to what questions one can and can't ask. No matter how ignorant the person is, this site was created, not only for the ignorant questions, but for the intelligent ones as well. I initially wanted confirmation about the TCU being the problem and that is why is asked the question. I first said ECU becuase I had remembered (from reading, yet I did research before I came here), that it had to do with a computer malfunction. Yet I could not remember the exact name of that problem. I don't know how it lasted this far in this thread. I am more concerned about the AC at the moment, yet it is just a convience and not a big problem.

You are a very good arguementer Linebckr49, it would be interesting to hear your side on politics but I would not like to get into that here. One more question, I have googled owners manuals but it is difficult to find a site where they offer ones for my car, do you know any sites off hand? Ill dig deeper into it. thanks.

I got my owners manual from Ebay. I also got a maitnenance manual on Ebay as well.

I like the way you speak youngcaradvc... instead of getting pissed and yelling you debated ... i dig it!:grinyes:

on the other hand.. i want you to realize that the guys on the 3000gt forum are way nicer than on some of the others ive looked at on this site... and there are so many people that post here that know alot... so... yeah. just dont get discouraged :)

Rofl. I'm just going to take a guess but had you been drinking when you made thoughs last two posts Linbckr? The first one you kind of freaked, then you say you were too harsh, and then tell him you will help him out because noone else has chimed in (When the spread between your posts were about 20 min apart and it was around 1 am!) lol....Alcohol had to have had a hand in those two posts.

haha thanks, I need a lot of little cosmetic plastic sh*t for my car, are there any internet sites where I could just buy a bunch of little things and go crazy or should I just find a junk 3000GT and take what I need? I cant find any on google.

as for the manual, 3sxperformance sells them in book form. however, the one i have b/c its more convenient is a "backup" manual on cd-rom. it can be found at www.manualcd.com. make sure to get the 3/S backup manual.

as for little plastic things, you hit the nail on the head: the best way is to find a donor car from a junkyard. but also, there are people on 3si.org in the parts for sale section (http://www.3si.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4) that are parting-out their junked 3S's, so you could just ask for parts their as opposed to hunting junkyards.

man, i'm sorry i came across rather harsh. i didn't mean it bro. also, i didn't know that you had done a lot of research. if you would just tell us that next time you post, i (and others) will be a lot more receptive of your questions and helpful in our responses. but again, sorry, no hard feelings. i was just stressing out over some surgery that i was about to have.


SL3000GT-->no, i had not been drinking, though a beer sounds really good about right now.

alright thanks, Its alright, I would have done the exactly same thing. And yes, some beer would really hit the spot right now, its about 100 degrees outside where I live. Ill get pictures up soon.