1990 Chevy Lumina stalls when warm

[gurragadon]

Hello,

I am having an issue with my Lumina. When my car runs for awhile and the engine begins to heat up it will stall and shut off when I accelerate. If I try to start the car back up after this happens it will start then immediately the engine will shut off. However when I first run it and the engine is cold I have neither of these issues.

I have tried a couple of things to try and fix the issue. I have replaced both the air filter and the fuel filter. I have also cleaned out the engine using car and throttle cleaner.

If anyone has any possible solutions I would greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

John

[Schurkey]

What is the fuel pressure when the engine is fully warmed up?

[jeffcoslacker]

Stalls when put in gear after a restart, or just dies out after restart without gear engagement?

[gurragadon]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

What is the fuel pressure when the engine is fully warmed up?

Im not sure exactly how to check this because im a bit new to working on cars. What would be the best way. I do know that I am getting fuel into the fuel rail because gas comes out of the schrader valve on it when I open it.

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

Stalls when put in gear after a restart, or just dies out after restart without gear engagement?

It will die immediatly after restarted when its heated up before I have the ability to put it into gear.

[jeffcoslacker]

Sure sounds like it's starving for fuel pressure.

You need to try to rent/borrow a fuel pressure gauge, and drive with it taped to the windshield if the hose is long enough, so you can see what the FP is doing when it starts having problems...

Open the gas cap when it is stalled and make sure it doesn't inhale through the cap...sometimes a blocked tank vent/recovery system can create a partial vacuum in there and make it act similar to a vapor lock...

[gurragadon]

Ok I will try and test the fuel pressure, what should the pressure be at i've got a 3.1 V6 engine?

[toddman67]

If the service number on your ECM is 1227227, it's a good chance that the ECM is the problem. 90-93 Lumina's ahad a high ECM failure rate, due in part to it being mounted under the hood and exposed to the elements.
(The above post was sent in from another member back a couple of years ago).

Fuel pressure should be 37-42psi. I believe. Thats the requirements for the 3.8. Someone may correct me here.

There also seemed to be a problem with the crank sensor located on the right rear at the transmission on these cars, however a full scan should reveal this problem.

[Bearwulf]

Fuel pres. for that 3.1 key on engine idling 37psi min.

[gurragadon]

Thanks for all the help so far everyone. I have unfortunately not been able to work on my car until today so I tried the things everyone suggested.

I borrowed a fuel pressure gauge and the pressure was 42 PSI before I started the car then 37 PSI idling which is what my repair manual said it should be. I don't think that the fuel pressure is the problem. I also ended up checking out the battery just to be sure because the repair manual said that could cause my symptoms. That checked out fine also so I don't think that was the problem.

I'm leaning towards the issue being the ECM. I found an old repair document from a mechanic that belonged to the previous owner that stated almost the exact same issues I'm having. The solution was to replace the ECM. This happened at 17,000 miles and the car is now at 118,000 miles. So its already been replaced but im thinking it needs to be done again.

Is there anyway to check that the ECM is at fault before I spend the money on a new ECM?

Sorry for the long post just wanted to be thorough.

-John

[gurragadon]

Well I replaced the ECM and it didn't change anything. Kind of a shame it cost me 80 bucks but oh well. Still shutting off when I give it gas when its warm. I'm probably going to just take it to a mechanic to get them to diagnose the problem.

Before I do does anybody have any further suggestions I can follow up on?

[Oldcars RULE]

Originally Posted by gurragadon

Well I replaced the ECM and it didn't change anything. Kind of a shame it cost me 80 bucks but oh well. Still shutting off when I give it gas when its warm. I'm probably going to just take it to a mechanic to get them to diagnose the problem.

Before I do does anybody have any further suggestions I can follow up on?

Had the same problem with my daughters car.. (92 Z34 3.4L would start when cool, WARM up then DIE)

It's in the electronic part of the motor. We did the Ignition mod, which helped for a bit but died again. By "suggestion" we replaced the crank sensor, come to find out? It was the computer it's self.. " It could be the igniton mod or the computer.. I'd take it to a GOOD TECH who knows what the HECK he's doing! --or buy a lot of tools/parts and a lot of band-aids if yer going to work on it yerself.. --grin-- Hope this helps

[gurragadon]

It took awhile but I finally found out that it was a bad fuel injector. Got that all fixed up and the problem had stopped.

However when the car is idling sometimes its erratic. This typically happens after I have been driving it for 30 minutes to an hour. When I accelerate it is fine and I havent noticed anything odd. Any ideas as to what could be causing this?

[Nykademus]

Originally Posted by gurragadon

It took awhile but I finally found out that it was a bad fuel injector. Got that all fixed up and the problem had stopped.

However when the car is idling sometimes its erratic. This typically happens after I have been driving it for 30 minutes to an hour. When I accelerate it is fine and I havent noticed anything odd. Any ideas as to what could be causing this?

This is a day late and a dollar short, but here is my story.

I had a problem just like this, tried troubleshooting it myself.. took it to a mechanic (who had it for over 2 weeks) that was also unable to fix it.

I replaced the fuel filter, had the ECM tested, and did as much research as I could.

In the end it ended up being a rusty post on one of the coil packs. Its an easy fix, and cheap to boot. The coil packs are located on the firewall (on a 97 anyway). Make sure you either mark your plug wires or take them off 1 at a time to check, or you could have a heck of a mess.