98 Lumina 3.1 driveability problem

[Bluenose]

I have a 98 Lumina 3.1 with 25,000 miles. Vehicle was unregistered for two years prior to my purchase in December 04. It starts on the coldest day and runs perfectly until shut off and allowed to cool for a few minutes then, after restart, it surges and generally runs poorly for three or four minutes then seems to run properly again. While in this surge condition, it seems like a fuel starvation problem as long it runs at just above an idle its fine but any attempt to bring revs up results in the engine loosing power. Once past this surge state, there is no lack of fuel delivery and it will run with full power thus it doesn't appear to be a filter or fuel line blockage. It appears more like one of the engine sensors malfunctioning owing to temperature change but the 'check engine' light never comes on. Any thoughts?

[paulfischer]

I had a similar problem on my 99 3.8.
My problem was dirty fuel injectors. I sprayed carb cleaner into throttle body, and also ran a couple cans of seafom through gas tank. It has seem to help.
I live in Chicago, and friend of mine works at a dealership, and the mechanics have seen alot of dirty injectors due to the reformulated gas that we must have here in Chicago.
I'm planning on doing a top end cleaning with the seafoam in a few weeks.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[jeffcoslacker]

Sounds like it could be dirty injector pintles hanging up and dripping fuel into the cyliders after a run, like paul said. Any black smoke when you're trying to clear it out? A fuel pressure regulator might not be a bad idea either. Might have gone bad from sitting all that time.