Chevy 3.1 stalls when put in gear when engine warm

100

Asked by pcheffernan Oct 19, 2014 at 04:20 PM about the 1994 Chevrolet Lumina Euro Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I've been fighting this issue for a week now, and I'm at odds where to go now. A week
ago, driving home, the tach started to drop quickly to zero then recover, like the ignition
was turned off and then back on. I was able to make it home. The car was due a tune
up. I replaced the crank position sensor (OEM), replaced sparkplugs (Autolite Iridium),
air filter, fuel filter, no help. I ohmed the coil packs, secondary resistance showed good,
replaced the ignition control module (aftermarket). After this, engine would stall after it
was at temp, could restart, once put in gear it would stall, but I could go in reverse and
drive home backwards (LOL). Reinstalled original OEM ignition control module. Towed
to GM Dealership, mechanic said fuel pump was bad, ignition wires needed replaced,
one injector ohmed bad. I took car home, replaced fuel pump (OEM), ignition wires
(OEM), no help. Removed plenum, found pcv valve clogged, and hose kinked, replaced
both, ohmed all 6 injectors, 5 injectors read 12.3 ohms, 1 injector was 11.6. Replaced
all 6 injectors, (Napa), plenum gasket, still same problem. GM dealership said
computer said no data, they though perhaps ignition control module was bad, but I
don't think so. I hooked up my Actron shorting plug, reads code 12 which means no
faults, no other codes. I noticed EGR valve has a lot of carbon in the hole, thought
about changing it, but I'm really not sure where to go now. The car is a 1994 Chevy
Lumina with 230,000 miles, spent about $500 the last week doing brakes, and tryng to
fix this engine. Need some advice where to go from here.

12 Answers

102,485

It's possible that your IAC valve is also full of carbon. You can try cleaning it with some throttle body cleaner and see if you notice any difference.

6 people found this helpful.
30,090

the shifting thing is weird. just for giggles, unplug the TCC plug it is on the tranny front, drivers side you should be able to see it fairly well.

7 people found this helpful.
100

The car is now fixed. I towed it to the transmission shop, and it was troubleshot by Aamco Transmission. The wiring harness to the crank position sensor was burnt about a foot back from the cannon plug. This was caused because the engine was rocking in the engine compartment earlier this year because the engine mounts were badly worn. The wiring harness contacted exhaust manifold. When the transmission was put in gear, the engine would torque forward, shorting out the wiring, causing the ignition to die. Reverse was ok because the engine would torque the other direction. A new pig tail wiring harness was spliced in, and now everything is good and I'm rolling again.

9 people found this helpful.
40

Thank you! Thank you! Thaaaank you! 05 Chevy Uplander 3.5. Cranks fine! Idles fine! Put into gear (only on a cold day) dies. No check engine lights. I've been stumped. Engine rocks! This is the second engine Thats been in it. So I'm assuming the engines rocking is due to bad motor mounts. You've giving me a great place to start looking. Thank you!

4 people found this helpful.
100

You are most welcome. I hope you find your issue. Bad engine mounts can damage a lot of things. check your wiring real carefully.

1 people found this helpful.
30

My 1994 Lumina has to warm up before it shifts into gear, what can be causing this

3 people found this helpful.
102,485

Toni, low tranny fluid. I assume it's an automatic. To properly check the level, warm up the car, pull the stick out with the engine still running, wipe stick clean, put back in, now pull it out and see where the level is. If low, you will need to buy a transmission funnel. It goes in the same hole the dipstick comes out of. You have to fill the tranny from the dipstick hole.

30

My 1993 lumina euro will start perfectly, but after 5-10 minutes of idling, it will have smoke coming out the exhaust and begins to idle rough, then it will turn off and won't come back on until it cools down. What could be causing this?

3 people found this helpful.
102,485

Emmanuel, A bad or dirty Idle Air Control Valve, A bad Engine Coolant Temperature sensor, or a dirty Mass Air Flow sensor. These will cause a stall issue. But......here's the kicker, GM has a service bulletin that says if the 93 Lumina is prone to stalls, it is due to faulty fuel injectors. The part # is 25170699. So, you can either try to replace or clean all the possible faulty parts which I listed, or you can replace the fuel injectors and hope that is the real problem. If your check engine light is on, I would have the codes scanned and see if any of the above parts I mentioned, show up in the error codes. Here is the post that I found that talks about all your issues, but, it turned out to be the injectors. Here's what they said: "I wrote on the old message forum about my sons 93 Lumina that stalled when warmed up. It would stall at idle when the radiator fan came on and when he slowed down to stop. Sometimes he would get an EGR code but most of the time it would not send a trouble code. We replaced EGR, IAC, TPS, wires, temp sensor, primary radiator fan, fuel filter, ECM,. Cleaned EGR line and intake manifold, checked for intake leaks, checked alternator. Took over 6 months to fix this problem. The fix was GM TSB 676303-Fuel System - Phantom Stalls at Closed Throttle/Loads?. The fix is new fuel injectors that are a new design. The GM part number is 25170699. Car parts stores do not carry these. The car has been running almost a week without any stalling. What a relief!! Well I hope this helps you. Sorry to over load you with so much info. Sorry for the long post but wanted to help anyone who may be experiencing this same problem."

5 people found this helpful.
10

The ones that recommend the TCC issue in on the ball. Had repaired many of these for under 200. The TCC is for your overdrive, controled by a solenoid in the side cover of your transmission. The screen gets plugged up with clutch stuff causing it not to bleed down thus keeping you in overdrive. Usually it does not happen all of a sudden. Symptoms occurs for an example. Comming to a stop from highway speed , car dies when you hit the gas again. After it sits awhile good to go, can run all over town until it goes overdrive

1 people found this helpful.
10

Try looking at your wires at the MAP sensor mine was that one of the wires were grounding out on the frame of the car.

1 people found this helpful.

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