winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 Guys, I took my car for a good long ride today. My car is a 1990 3100 Grand Prix. I was about 1 hour from home when my car started running like complete shlt! The transmission started shifting VERY poorly. When at low speeds, the trans shifts very hard if I give barely any gas. At idle the car has a bad shake to it as well. I'm thinking it could possibly be a bad/melted spark plug wire. It feels like the motor has a "miss". The car also has a pretty strong smell of FUEL. The car does not stall at all though. Once the car is "up to speed" it seems to run and shift fine. I'm hoping you guys have had this problem already and can help me fix this ASAP. I NEED this car to get back and forth to work. My summer car is hibernating. I tried the paper clip trick and there are NO CODES. I'm stumped. Quote
Supreme Cutlass Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 Is this and actual 3100 or a 3.1? Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 Is this and actual 3100 or a 3.1? This is a 3.1 Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 How long has it been since the last tune up? I would start with the plugs, then move onto the coils. If the car has a strong fuel smell to it, you lost a cylinder due to iginition troubles. The tranny problem could be a result of the motor running bad, making it seem like that. But in any case, check the fluid, make sure its at the level its suppose to and is not burnt. Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 I've never heard of a plug just going bad, just like that. I rolled the motor forward and the plug wires all look ok and are not melted. I also know that the Cat. converter in my car is all broken up inside. Is it possible a pice of it is clogging the exhaust? The damn coilpacks are a pain in the arse to get to! Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 Well how long has it been since you put plugs and such in the car? Ive dropped cylinders numerous times due to a spark plugs failure. If the inside of the cat is gone, it wouldnt cause this. If it was clogged, it would be running MUCH worse that just a missfire. Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 Well, I guess tomorrow I'll do the plugs. What plugs should I buy and what should they be gapped at? What model # plug? I don't suppose it could be as simple as a fuel filter, right? Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 No. The fact that you said the car has a strong fuel smell means ( to me ) that there is plently of fuel pressure, and the the fuel delievery system is working. The ignition is not. As for plugs, AC Delco. I believe the number is r44ltsm6 but dont quote me and I also believe they are gapped at +.060 Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed. I'm not looking forward to swapping the rear plugs, they are a royal p.i.t.a. to get to. Quote
slick Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 Just rock the engine forward, and you'll be fine. While your at it, go ahead and check your air filter, pcv valve, and plug wires. Make sure everything is in good shape. Being that the engine looks pretty dirty, I bet it has probably never gotten a tune-up, and it's well overdue. Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 The pcv is on the front valve cover, correct. Air filter is clean, and the wires look fine too. BTW, that is an OLD pic of the motor. The car was sitting for over a year and a half. It's cleaned up pretty good now. Did cutlass 94 give me the correct plug gap info and plug mondel #? Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 I stand corrected. r44ltsm with a gap of .045 Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 Awesome! thank you very much! Quote
mra32 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Posted January 8, 2007 pcv is on the rear valve cover. watch out for the plastic hose if you're going to change it, as many have busted it trying to get the pcv out/in. Quote
winterbeater Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Posted January 8, 2007 Noice, thanks for the heads up! Any other tips or words of wisdom? I'm new to this General Motors stuff... I bleed Ford blue Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted January 9, 2007 Report Posted January 9, 2007 I bleed Ford blue There in lies your problem...well it's normally "circled". You might want to change your title to 3.1 because of the differences between the 3.1 and 3100. Quote
1990lumina Posted January 9, 2007 Report Posted January 9, 2007 For the rear plugs, I used a bear claw to pull the mtor forwar.d...pulled it right against the rad support, there was TONS of space to do the rear 3 plugs taht way!! As for the front, I found that coolant overfill tank in the way, so I took the screwes off and let it fall down and suspense by the hoses attached to it lol..that way I had access to the front plugs too! Quote
winterbeater Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Posted January 9, 2007 I bleed Ford blue You might want to change your title to 3.1 because of the differences between the 3.1 and 3100. I'can't figure out how to change the title. Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted January 9, 2007 Report Posted January 9, 2007 For the rear plugs, I used a bear claw to pull the mtor forwar.d...pulled it right against the rad support, there was TONS of space to do the rear 3 plugs taht way!! As for the front, I found that coolant overfill tank in the way, so I took the screwes off and let it fall down and suspense by the hoses attached to it lol..that way I had access to the front plugs too! Here's another reference to illustrate this to some extent. http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php/topic,39734.0.html Quote
winterbeater Posted January 13, 2007 Author Report Posted January 13, 2007 Hey guys, I just wanted to update my thread. I pulled the plug wires off the coil mpacks 1 at a time and realized neither cylinder 1 or 4 were firing. I replaced the coil pack. PROBLEM SOLVED. Thanks for everyone's help! -P.J.- Quote
Monkton Posted January 14, 2007 Report Posted January 14, 2007 All but one of the problems in my Cutlass (the one problem I can't solve yet...) was due to a coilpack giving it up... for some reason they just tend to do that on me... Quote
winterbeater Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Posted January 14, 2007 Hey, I'm in NH as well. Where the hell is Fitzwilliam? Quote
Monkton Posted January 14, 2007 Report Posted January 14, 2007 It's a border town, next to Winchendeon I believe... It's about 20 minutes from Keene. Quote
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