1992 Grand Am problems starting when warm

[jamec123]

Hi, I have a 1992 Grand Am, 2.3L SOHC. It has some problems starting when it's warm.

Basically when the car is cold, it starts and runs fine as if nothing is wrong. When warm, the car turns over, starts for a second, and then dies. If you let the car sit overnight and come back the next day, it starts as if nothing is wrong.

Another way to reproduce the problem besides running it until warm is you can start the car, let it idle for 5 seconds or so, and shut it down. By the 3rd or 4th time you repeat this sequence, the car will turn over, start for a second, and then stall and you will not be able to get it started again until the next day.

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks.

[Hoags]

Couple of questions. Has the car been undrecoated? and when you reproduce the problem is the engine beginning to get warm already?

[jamec123]

Thanks for your reply. No the car has not been undercoated. Yes, perhaps the engine is beginning to get warm already. However, I can run the car for say 10 minutes or so, shut it down, and it will start right up. However, if I repeat the starting/stopping sequence I mentioned a few times, it will not start until the next day. I think the problem has something to do with being warm, as a completely cold start (after waiting overnight) and things appear fine. However the BEST way to reproduce the problem is to start it and stop it a few times.

[jamec123]

Originally Posted by Hoags

Couple of questions. Has the car been undrecoated? and when you reproduce the problem is the engine beginning to get warm already?

Also, can I ask why you asked about the undercoating? Thanks.

[Hoags]

Sorry it has taken so long to post a reply, I had some computer ptoblems. Any way the reason I asked about undercoating was because I had a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix that was undercoated and every time the engine got hot the car would not start. It turned ouy to be undercoating was getting into a wire harness plug when it was warn enough it woukd get soft and flow into the plug just enough to break the contact and the wouldn't start until the undercoating cooled and would shrink out of the way of the connection and then the car would start.

As for your situation, you may want to look at all of the ignition wires to see if anything is loose enough to be affected by the engine heat. Maybe the rubber boots inside the weather proof plugs in the engine compartment is loose enough that the heat is making it soft to the point of separation.
I wish I had more of an idea of what to look for. If I think of anything I'll post a reply.

[jamec123]

Thanks for your reply. I will take a look around.

As of now, my main "theory" is that the fuel pump is going awry. It is not my preferred theory as it is not the cheapest thing to fix. I'm going to start with some simple stuff first like changing the fuel filter. It's worth a shot as it hasn't been changed in probably a bajillion miles and the part is only $6.99

As of now, I haven't been able to get the car started in the last couple of days, even when it is cold. It turns over, starts for a second, and then dies. Soon I'll have to get a batter recharger

[Hoags]

I was thinking along the lines of an electrical problem, If your thinking fuel filter or fuel pump, by all means go with the filter first. I have never heard of a fuel problem when the car gets warm. I hope this will be a first for me. If I can think of ANYTHING that may be of some help I'll post it, but for now I'm comming up blank.

Good Luck,
Dan

[alice_sugar596]

Originally Posted by Hoags

I was thinking along the lines of an electrical problem, If your thinking fuel filter or fuel pump, by all means go with the filter first. I have never heard of a fuel problem when the car gets warm. I hope this will be a first for me. If I can think of ANYTHING that may be of some help I'll post it, but for now I'm comming up blank.

Good Luck,
Dan

Dan,

Do you know if the person fixed the problem? I have the same problem......and I'm stuck......my uncle changed the gasoline filter and it still does what the person described.

I was wondering if u had any replies from the person with the problem......I'd like to read about it.
thanks
alicia

[jamec123]

Hi, I haven't fixed it yet. Talk to some more people and they leaned toward electrical as well.

I was able to determine that I do have fuel pressure and although I don't yet have an exact measure of the fuel pressure there are a couple of electrical things I can check.

The ignition coil and the electronic control module are surprisingly accessible. I remember when the car first showed the problem that it was immediately after I drove the car very hard (and hot). Perhaps I fried something in the module assembly. At least I can remove it and take a look tomorrow.

[jamec123]

Well, for those of you following this thread, turns out the problem was in the ignition switch in the steering column. Once that was replaced, everything worked great!

It's like a $50 part, even new.

[Ridenour]

Originally Posted by Hoags

I was thinking along the lines of an electrical problem, If your thinking fuel filter or fuel pump, by all means go with the filter first. I have never heard of a fuel problem when the car gets warm. I hope this will be a first for me. If I can think of ANYTHING that may be of some help I'll post it, but for now I'm comming up blank.

Good Luck,
Dan

Well even though the problem has been resolved I thought I'd just throw this out there for you Dan - it's common for older fuel pumps to stop working when they get warm - thus it will start fine, drive like 10 miles, and then die. I was going to throw that into the thread as a possiblity, but I read on further and saw the problem had already been resolved.

[jamec123]

Originally Posted by Ridenour

Well even though the problem has been resolved I thought I'd just throw this out there for you Dan - it's common for older fuel pumps to stop working when they get warm - thus it will start fine, drive like 10 miles, and then die. I was going to throw that into the thread as a possiblity, but I read on further and saw the problem had already been resolved.

Yes, I had heard that. I was 90% sure it was the fuel pump as I had read other threads that had the fuel pump stalling the car when it was warm. According to these posts your fuel pump can be working but the pressure may be low. Not sure how it is affected by the car warming up. I was so convinced it was the fuel pump that I figured hek, it's going to be a decent job to fix it and the car has a lot of miles on it (130K plus) so I may as well give the car up. I gave it to my brother who promptly fixed it. From what I can tell, he figured it was the ignition switch by the pattern of the lights on the dash when trying to start the car. Have no idea how he figured that out but hey, he is better at this stuff than I am.

I'll miss my Grand Am. She served me well and was a nice smooth ride. I'll forever have a soft spot for Grand Am's. I think Pontiac was dum to jump on the eurocar styling bandwagon with the G6.

Another note: Someone at my workplace said I was dum to give up my Grand Am. He has 180K miles on his, no major problems. In his words "you just broke her in when you gave her up"