car will not start

[britta6867]

hi
i am new to this forum and mabye somebody can give me an answer.i own a 93 chevy lumina euro,3.4. up until 2 weeks ago that car was running just fine and then all of a sudden it would not start one morning.we changed the fuel filter on it and checked the spark plugs and still it will not start.any suggestions?

[jeffcoslacker]

If the timing belt broke, you are in deep shit. Better start looking for a new motor or car if it did. Hopefully, it will be something else. If you can see the valvetrain moving when you look into where you put oil in, while someone cranks the motor, you are O.K. If no motion, bad news.

[tblake]

The 3.4's had timing belts? I thought they were chains. What does my 3.1 have? Please tell me a chain. As for your problem, I need a little more info... Does it crank? Does it turn over? Sounds to me like it could be a timing issue, but I wouldnt go out and buy a new car without making sure. Try the obvious. unplug a spark plug, and plug it into a different one, and ground it, and see if its actually getting spark. If no spark, try the ignition module, or crank/cam shaft sensors. It could also be a bad ecm itself. Good luck, keep us informed

[jeffcoslacker]

The DOHC 3.4 did. Your 3.1 has a chain.

[britta6867]

I know it's not the timing chain.... it's turning over fine and has compression. The plugs look fine but does have some oil deposits on the threads of the plug. It's getting fuel...and it even sounds like it wants to start for like a 1/2 a sec.... but never does. All the fuses are fine... so I am thinking that it may be the plugs have fouled out and need to be replaced along with the wires. Problem is .... is that the back 3 plugs are impossible to reach. Does the throttle body cover have to come off or can the engine be tilted out like some cars?

[dwalmop]

I believe on the 3.4 you need to remove the plenum to access the rear plugs.

[KenInKenmore]

omg britta6867 ok in order to get to the pluggs on the firewall side of the motor you need to remove the dog bone engine mounts then using a ratcheting
tiedown or something... just rock the engine forward enough to access the pluggs.... NEVER REMOVE THE PLENUM to do a spark plugg job
there's no need

[Manny_boy]

The 3.4L has a timing belt and a timing chain. britta6867, check your timing belt. remove the cam covers on the passenger side of the engine( 8mm socket). Check for what seems to be hairs inside of the cover (belt fraying). If no hairs or just a few are present, you need to remove the lower timing cover and check to see if your timing has jumped. Align the timimg mark on the intermediate shaft gear with the notch just below it. The marks on both banks of cams should face each other; if they do not, your timing has jumped; it will cause your car not to start. If it has jumped you should replace both timing idler pulleys, along with the tensioner pulley and the actuator spring; belt too of course.

A broken timing belt on a 93 won't be so bad, unless he was @ 6000 RPM when the belt broke. 91-93 3.4L's are non-interference engines.

The 3.4L only has one dogbone, and even with it off, it does not tilt forward. If it does, your lower mounts are shot. To get at the rear plugs, remove the weatherstrip that rests above the rear bank of cylinders, that should give you enough room to maneuver a long extention with a spark plug socket. If not, you can always notch the metal just above the rear bank with a cut-off tool. (mine was done before i got the car, I change all 6 plugs in 5 min.)

Ignition modules usually don't just fail all at once, but anything is possible, so I would have mine checked. Your local parts store should have the machine to check your IM.