1990 Chevy Lumina V-6 question...

[Wolfgirliam]

Hi!
New to this board, hope you can help me out. My husband and I are thinking of buying a used Lumina (See subject). When he test drove it, he noticed the temperature guage ran at the half way mark for most of the time. He was wondering if this is a normal range for this type of car, or if it should run lower?

Also, we were wondering what these cars might be known for as far as when they break down etc? (We both have a cavilar and have head problems with it, which we come to find out our year is known for).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you

Wolfgirl

[Manny_boy]

Lumina's are well known for intake manifold gasket failure, which causes vacuum and coolant leaks; poorly designed rear brake calipers before 1995; and a peeling dashpad, due to heat (I don't complain about the dashpad though, I stay toasty all winter) Those problems are solved without too much difficulty though, I won't let that discourage me from buying a lumina again and again (I love mine) - oh and the temp gauge reading at half is perfectly normal.

[jeffcoslacker]

Mine runs at about half without the air on. If the A/C is on, it stays a little lower because the cooling fan is constantly running. If I sit and idle with the air off, it'll go to about 2/3 before the fan kicks on and brings it down again.

If the car has absurdly low mileage on it, you might want to read my comments in the last page of the "Why Luminas suck" thread. Some problems are common if the car is high in years but low in miles.