supreme_style21 Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 A friend of mine has a '97 Lumina. 3100 engine, 110k on it. She's been having some odd problems with it lately. These are all "occasional" problems. Open the door and sometimes it'll take about 10 seconds for the dome light to pop on. The ABS light will come on randomly... step on the brake and the light goes off. The clock on the radio randomly resets to 11:00. If she hits a hard bump (railroad tracks for example) the car will simply die.. it'll restart like nothing happened. I think random idiot lights will come on and go off, many at a time. Awhile ago, she said something about how it would die if you put it in drive, but it would run fine in reverse. I think that was quite some time ago, but it was something that happened for a few days, then never happened again. Probably not related. The battery and alternator are new within the past few years. The terminals and all grounds are tight and clean. The aux post is tight. Any idea what it could be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 ghosts. seriously. ghosts. sell the car, get another one. this is the type of situation where there are problems that NEVER go away, no matter how much time you put into it. unless, of course, it's all caused by one thing, but the chances of that are slim to none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 A) That car needs a scan. I have a wonky ABS light...and it's just a bad connection. The dome light just sounds like an annoyance. And does the car act up worse in wet weather? Dying in drive and going in reverse sounds like something unrelated. I don't even understand the train track thing, unless something's re-setting the PCM when the car goes flying. I don't know if I'd chuck the car, but I would go to AutoZone for a scan and start from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 This happened to my buddies Monte. In the area of the windshield washer tank/battery, in between that and the strut tower is a little black box. Attached to that box is a positive terminal that is an AUX way to jump the car. That came loose and caused all sorts of electrical gremlins. I think there is a ground somewhere over there, too... check it all for corrosion and for if it loose. I can't remember the exact fix, but it was something to do with that box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supreme_style21 Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Yeah I checked the aux post and the grounds, everything is tight and clean. Weather doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. I'd say the things were minor annoyances, but they seem to be progressing into something else. She told me about the idiot lights coming on, clock resetting, dome light, etc awhile ago and I told her I'd look at it but never got around to it. Today she called and told me that when she hit the bump over the tracks, it died. So now the annoyances are turning into bigger problems.. tough to trust a car when it's gonna die when you hit a bump. You mentioned the PCM.. I was sorta thinking about that too. I'm not entirely familiar with what they control outside of the engine/trans. Do they have any control over say, interior lighting? Power for the radio so it doesn't lose stations/time? I know the new BCM's do all that, but did these older cars have anything like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Is the ECM/PCM fuse tight in the fuse box? I've heard of them wiggling loose and causing all sorts of problems as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supreme_style21 Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Is the ECM/PCM fuse tight in the fuse box? I've heard of them wiggling loose and causing all sorts of problems as well. Didn't look that far... I'll scope it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 my cutty had a problem where it was dying out for no apparent reason and it ended up being not only the aux post but the positive connection to the battery with the red rubber surrond was causing the problem, i had to peel that back and reconnect that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89SupremeCutty Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Yeah I checked the aux post and the grounds, everything is tight and clean. Weather doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. I'd say the things were minor annoyances, but they seem to be progressing into something else. She told me about the idiot lights coming on, clock resetting, dome light, etc awhile ago and I told her I'd look at it but never got around to it. Today she called and told me that when she hit the bump over the tracks, it died. So now the annoyances are turning into bigger problems.. tough to trust a car when it's gonna die when you hit a bump. You mentioned the PCM.. I was sorta thinking about that too. I'm not entirely familiar with what they control outside of the engine/trans. Do they have any control over say, interior lighting? Power for the radio so it doesn't lose stations/time? I know the new BCM's do all that, but did these older cars have anything like that? no bcm's at least from what i can tell when i had my lumi ripped apart. there's gotta be a loose wire of fuse someplace that when she goes over bumps or something the radio gets reset and the idiot lights come one. i'd start looking at the wires around the dash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodeen2007 Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 it sounds like a loose wire in the loom some where. the only way to find out is ripping the harness apart and finding the bad wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Sounds like a bad connection. Check over all the fuse blocks really well. If you haven't inspected the aux. post REALLY well, take another look at it also. Sometimes, once the nut has loosened up, the plastic around/under it will melt and cause a poor connection. That poor connection will lead to a lot of odd problems(non-working interior lights, radio not working or losing memory, no-start conditions, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supreme_style21 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 thanks for the pointers, I'll dig into it next weekend when I have some time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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