94 LeSabre - Going bonkers?

[GrandpasRide]

Hi everyone. First time poster here. I inherited my grandfather's 94 Lesabre LTD a couple years ago. Besides a few Wal-Mart dings, it's in excellent condition and has around 40 thousand miles on it. I'd love to keep it running as long as possible, but lately it's been acting very strangely.

It started with the radio, almost immediately after we got it the radio would change stations. Now it's progressed and changes between bands and the volume goes up and down. Then a few months ago the check engine light came on briefly and went off. The air conditioner also turned on a few times on it's own. It was fine for several weeks after that. Now in the last couple weeks, it has been going haywire. The temperature light flickers on and off constantly, even right after you start the car. Within minutes of driving it, the check engine light turns on (we tried premium, so far it's still turning on). The air conditioner turns on, goes to the coldest setting and turns on high. Now, if I leave it in drive but stopped, until it warms up the rpm goes way low and it chugs a little. We've changed the plugs and wires and gotten an oil change recently. We have tried disconnecting the battery for awhile and reconnecting. So besides this wacky behavior the car is running tops. When the engine light started consistantly turning on, the air conditioner and temp light started consistantly going crazy too.. so it came on kind of sudden like for the most part.

I am <----> this close to taking it in and spending $$ to get the problem diagnosed and repaired. Before I do that I thought I'd ask if anyone has heard of anything like this before? Computer problems maybe? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by GrandpasRide

Hi everyone. First time poster here. I inherited my grandfather's 94 Lesabre LTD a couple years ago. Besides a few Wal-Mart dings, it's in excellent condition and has around 40 thousand miles on it. I'd love to keep it running as long as possible, but lately it's been acting very strangely.

It started with the radio, almost immediately after we got it the radio would change stations. Now it's progressed and changes between bands and the volume goes up and down. Then a few months ago the check engine light came on briefly and went off. The air conditioner also turned on a few times on it's own. It was fine for several weeks after that. Now in the last couple weeks, it has been going haywire. The temperature light flickers on and off constantly, even right after you start the car. Within minutes of driving it, the check engine light turns on (we tried premium, so far it's still turning on). The air conditioner turns on, goes to the coldest setting and turns on high. Now, if I leave it in drive but stopped, until it warms up the rpm goes way low and it chugs a little. We've changed the plugs and wires and gotten an oil change recently. We have tried disconnecting the battery for awhile and reconnecting. So besides this wacky behavior the car is running tops. When the engine light started consistantly turning on, the air conditioner and temp light started consistantly going crazy too.. so it came on kind of sudden like for the most part.

I am <----> this close to taking it in and spending $$ to get the problem diagnosed and repaired. Before I do that I thought I'd ask if anyone has heard of anything like this before? Computer problems maybe? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

I does sound like a computer problem. I would first check the grounds under the hood. It's an older car and the ground connections have had a chance to go bad.

Regards

Dan

[GrandpasRide]

Thanks Dan! I'll see if I can find where the grounds are and check em out.