I have a problem with my Lumina Van... :banghead: :confused:

 

Been through a LOT with my step son's Silouette 3.1 what you have???

GENE

 

i'm not currently, but i have been a gm tech. let me tell you....i hate minivans. i mean really, those things are such junk. Put one up on a lift and look at it, even the frames are cheap.

 

Yep, the problem is the word "Lumina" whether it be a van or a sedan. My mom has a sedan, I HATE THAT CAR!!!! :banghead:

3.1 is a pretty good engine, till it breaks.

What kinda problems are you having?

 

Thanks for the quick response... It is a 90 Lumina APV,3.1 TH125c. 182k.... I have owned since new. About two years ago I was going through Atlanta (hot weather.. 4 hours of driving). I just quit at 70mp... died.. It restared easy and I drove about a mile and it quit again. No codes in the computer. It restarted easy and I drove to Orlando without any more trouble. I checked all of the wiring and connections and vacuum lines and changed the fuel filter. I did the same exact thing last January (after only about 3 miles of driving, cool weather).. Stopped twice. No codes, restarted easy. couldn't find anything obvious. Well yesterday I was driving home from the Webster car/flea market (hot weather) and it did it again except this time it kept dieing every 1/4 mile or so. I would pulled over, It restatred easy When it restarts it runs perfect, no miss. good idle. no surges but it just shuts down.. After about ten or twelve times of doing this I just fixed itself. It ran like it always does. When I got home... No codes, everything seem fine and it runs flawlessly. I am about ready to burn it... It's been a very good van. But.... I don't understand it. I have always kept it in good tune. Two months ago I put on new distributor cap, rotor, wires, plugs. All GM parts. Any Ideas???


[Modified by bluevetteman, 5:49 AM 6/2/2003]

 

i would change the pick-up coil in the distributor. when they go bad they dont set a code

 

Had the exact same problem and it was the ignition module.

 

Yes, the other guys are right, in any GM vechicle the symptoms you quote, are the ignition module.....OR maybe the fuel pump in the tank....

but the engine runs crappy before it dies, and of course seldome restarts immediately....with that amount of miles on it, you might want to change fuel pumps at your leisure, for surely i'ts on the way out by now....

Tell you another sneaky one....WEAK cooling fan motor...what happens is the thing is turning on the freeway from air speed alone, get off the freeway and the burnt out brushes/armature contacts have just enough oompfh to turn the blades, but you get NO air movement...fan spins...but not enough power to cool the engine.....sneakey bastard, that one.....

GENE

 

my vote is for the Ignition Module too. Don't believe the test at an auto parts store either. The times I have had failures it happened when it got hot. Can't simulate that on their bench test. :cheers:

 

:iagree:
change them both

 

And even sneakier: The module that I had fail was new, too! That one did show bad on the tester, though. The test it failed was "clamp current". I guess it still worked but often couldn't supply the necessary current to the coil. This in turn overheated it and the built in temp protection kicked in and turned it off. Engine died, module cooled off and then worked again for a few minutes.

 

What they call clamp current would be the reverse polarity diode across the output transistor,.....limiting coil primary reverse voltages to .7 volts...to not damage the transistor....

GENE

 

I agree with the above. I was thinking fuel pump at first, but the ign module should be easier and cheaper to change. Don't get comfortable with that fuel pump though.

 

So if the diode is bad the output power-transistor would overheat?

 

Zwede, in those metal detectors we made some 20 years ago, we switched on and off large field coils special wound fired some 20 odd volts through them, and read the resulting eddy current feedback on counter wound receiver coils....
the transmitter would of course excite any metal around, but the fixed would be a steady pattern, just the act of moving through the vertical Panels with moving metal would upset the signals coming back from the counter wound receiver coils.....simple enough, but VERY effective....

NOW, in a spark coil situation, you still have to clamp the resulting reverse polarity spike on the output side of your driver...or most likely destroy or damage the driver device....it's kind of like that diode across say the a/c clutch coil drawn in most GM wiring diagrams of that sort....When that resulting magnetic field collapses right back into the coil the currents were fed into, the force if just the opposite direction, and because the field is now reversed, damage from a very high potential can result....
that's why you can hold onto a coil that is connected to say 12 volts all day long and not feel a thing, break that circuit and if you are on the coil side of the suddenly open circuit, that sudden magnetic field collspse will make/induce a HUGE voltage into the coil.....

IF you analysed it on a scope with regard to power--voltage x current/time you would find the areas under the curve damn near equal....same POWER but expressed differantly....not to snowball anyone, but I did a bunch of work with engineers in swich pulse field analytical analysis, both moving fields...metal detectors....and NDT work for say stress analysis....in Jet engine rotors....among other things...

it's a crazy mostly unknown field of endeavour these daze as about 90% of engineering is computer related somehow...damn near nothing is analogue anymore, except where the rubber meets the road, so to speak....

GENE

 

Thanks.. I am going to order a new GM module and coil today. I was thinking along those line.. I just have never had a module or coil problem. I really hate to change the fuel pump... It require removing the tank.. I just didn't feel like a fuel problem. Thanks again guys... I owe you one.

 

Ignition Module :yesnod:
I had mine go out in my beretta, and when it died, it just died and wouldn't start. If you say there's no miss, that rules out the coil packs. No surge- sort of rules out fuel pump, might wanna get a fuel pressure guage and check it out though. It wouldn't be a bad idea. good luck

 

My engine doesn't have coil packs. Just one coil and a distributor. Also when this happens it starts back up very easy. It runs perfect and may go one block or a quater of a mile or more and shuts off again. On time it accelerated through 1st gear and died when it shifted into 2nd. Also when it dies under acceleration it does pop back through the TBI.

 

Well, guys, as an olde tymer ET, from the daze of yore and such, I have NEVER understood how/why in what manner of cohersion the EE designing the HEI systems overall ever would permit the housing of the HEI power/ignition/controll module...chip, whatever you call it....under the hood of the car...let alone on the base of the frame of the distributor...top rear of the engine in the hottest spot of the entire compartment....talk of stress max, that's it temp wise....

GENE

 

Hmmm, you checked the oil pressure sender/wiring? Could be an intemittent or poor connection which will cause the ECM to shut down the fuel pump...