3.4 Lumina LS - Rough Idle, Valve Tap Type Sound...

[sx460]

I've got a '95 Lumina LS with a 3.4. About 2 months ago I had my transmission flushed at Valvoline IOC. The transmission shifted better and

what not, but about 4-5 days later my car made nasty shakes and raddles at idle and poor acceleration and lots of hesitation. Anyways, to make a long story short the wire harness was moved out of the way by VIOC to access the transmission coolant line to flush the transmission. When this was done it was left resting on the alternator housing bolts and after a few days 4-5 wires were stripped of their sheilding and began grounding out against each other and the car. I wrapped the bare wire in black electrical tape and moved the harness out of the harms ways. Once that was done that stopped the nasty rumbled and idle.

 

But since then my car has made a vavle tap type sound almost like two pieces of metal just tapping against each other (and when this happens the car feels like it's idling rough). It doesn't happen all the time but when it does it's usually at idle (don't know if it's because of it idling or because at higher speeds/rpms you can't hear the noise). My transmission for the last 1 - 2 years (30,000 or so miles) has had problems shifting lazily into second gear (if you shift it within the 2,000 - 3,000 rpm range it typically likes the shift hard or slow -- rpms build while it's shifting and when it shifts it's almost like dropping it from nuetral). And when it does this you can hear a sound that sounds just like the valve tap sound for a few seconds.

 

Also, since it has happened I've had a need for higher octane gasoline otherwise in the 3,500 + RPM range I sometimes hear pings.

 

Anyways, my question is:

 

What could be damaged by wires in the wire harness grounding out against each other?

 

What could that valve tap sound be?

 

Is it the engine or could it possibly be the transmission?

 

What are some things that I should check for/test?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Matt

p.s.: sorry for the long post.

[Guest RedCutlassSL]

What u need to do is complain to those morons that messed your car up. If they don't respond in a manner that is professional, refer them to your local Better Business Bureau

[sx460]

I agree, but just so I have some knowledge to use against them, what are some things that may have been damaged with a damaged wire harness?

 

Thanks

[gtr252]

Your transmission wasn't actually slipping, was it? After mine started slipping, I changed out my transmission fluid myself, and it worked great for about 3 or 4 days! Didn't even slip one bit. But, inevitablility came soon, and I learned my $1800 lesson by busting a ring gear out of the back end of my transmission case, and when we took the transmission out, I had my hand in the hole for a grip on the transmission. Hopefully this won't happen to you.

[sx460]

If it is the transmission is slipping is there anything I can do to fix it/avoid it?

[gtr252]

If your transmission is slipping, the best thing to do, to my understanding, is get it rebuilt, before anything else happens. A rebuild at my shop costs roughly $900 for the 3.4L... but busting the ring gear out doubled the price on mine. Your transmission may not be slipping, no way for me to tell without driving it really. But, might want to take it down to the local auto repair shop and see what they tell you.

[gtr252]

Also, when my transmission started slipping really bad, if I was doing about 25 and stomped the gas pedal to take it into 1st gear, it'd run up to the rev limiter and then catch, it'd be a huge jump and my tires would even bark when I did it. I think that was an extreme case of the transmission slipping though. But yeah, it did seem a little sluggish going into 2nd driving normally.

[sx460]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into getting it checked out and see what the problem is. Thanks!

[Sailor77]

check to make sure all your sparkplugs are tight. I know this sounds funny, but they tend to work them selves loose. Especially the front side. I would check these asap!!