Couple problems

[Carlspike]

Well, last night I bought my first DOHC. It's a Red 1992 Lumina Z34, 113,000 miles and in pretty good shape. The car starts fine cold but it has a long crank when warm. The engine sounds like it wants to fire right away but just can't quite do it, I have to crank the car about twice as long as when it's cold. Then sometimes after it starts the idle jumps up to between 2 and 3 thousand and comes back down. It always starts but it makes me a little nervous. The other issue is the steering feels kinda heavy, especially at higher speeds. Is that normal for this car? Thanks for any help.

[z34phoenix]

how is the idle when it is runing? that RPM spike makes me thing a leak in the intake somewhere.

[SappySE107]

Steering shouldn't be heavy either. For the starting problem when warm, thats the opposite for what gasket leaks do. Perhaps you have a bad sensor somewhere? Id scan it and see whats going on before I spent money on parts.

[Carlspike]

The car had sat since summer before I bought it so maybe the suspension got a little siezed up. The PS pump has fluid and doesn't make any noise when turning but I suppose it could still be going bad. The previous owner and I just did the crank sensor on saturday and after it was finished the car wouldn't start. We cleaned the front 3 plugs and then it started right up. I suspect the engine is pretty carboned up from sitting and short starts but the long crank seems like more than that. I do have an SES light every once in a while while driving (previous owner said it was EGR problem) so I'll check the codes. Now where did I see that diagram for pulling them with a jumper wire...



Update: I pulled the codes and the only one I got was #23 Intake air temperature - low temperature reading. Popped the hood and the sensor was unplugged. I plugged it back in but the problem remains. Where should I go from here?

[93Oldsdroptop]

The car had sat since summer before I bought it so maybe the suspension got a little siezed up. The PS pump has fluid and doesn't make any noise when turning but I suppose it could still be going bad. The previous owner and I just did the crank sensor on saturday and after it was finished the car wouldn't start. We cleaned the front 3 plugs and then it started right up. I suspect the engine is pretty carboned up from sitting and short starts but the long crank seems like more than that. I do have an SES light every once in a while while driving (previous owner said it was EGR problem) so I'll check the codes. Now where did I see that diagram for pulling them with a jumper wire...



Update: I pulled the codes and the only one I got was #23 Intake air temperature - low temperature reading. Popped the hood and the sensor was unplugged. I plugged it back in but the problem remains. Where should I go from here?

Did you try unhooking the battery to re-set the computer afterwards?

[Carlspike]

Did you try unhooking the battery to re-set the computer afterwards?

Yep.

[Juglenaut]

You may want to do a tune up and maybe have the coils tested. A weak coil works better when cold and wrose when warm or hot.

[Carlspike]

I was told the spark plugs hadn't been replaced in a while so I changed them but it didn't help. I thought about coils and ignition but the car runs fine after it does get started. I suppose a test wouldn't hurt though. I'm in northern michigan and even at 0 degrees the car starts fine cold. After it's warmed up and allowed to sit for a little while it takes twice as long for it to fire up. Sometimes during the cranking it stumbles and tries to fire quickly and other times it just cranks for a long time and then starts like normal. When the car is warming up it also feels gutless under 2000 rpms. It doesn't misfire it just feels sluggish, after I reach operating temp then it's fine. I plan on doing a fuel injector cleaning and when I pulled the cap off the fuel injection service port it started to leak fuel out at me. I put the cap back on and I couldn't see it leaking any more. Could this have anything to do with it? Thanks for any help.

[patgizz]

sounds like the scrader valve core needs replaced, that's a dangerous situation there. the cap is there to keep dirt out, not to keep fuel in.

[grandprixgtp_91]

the heavy steering is probably siezed strut bearings, go out to the car and go to the bottom of the spring and the metal plate that it sits in , grab it and try moving it side to side, if it doesnt move then thats probably your steering problem , those are your bearings, so if they are sized your steering against the springs . and as for the hard starting when warm , all 60 degree v6's are like that , i see that all the time at the dealership, all my 3.4Ldohc start like that too, i wouldnt worry about it .but check out those bearings , they are common to sieze up.

Jake

[Carlspike]

Thanks I'll check the bearings. The thing that worries me about the starting is the previous owner said it never did that before. Then again I've never heard another 3.4 DOHC start before so I have nothing to compare it to. I've never had to replace a shrader valve core before, is it pretty easy?

[RedBird]

you can get a tool to take the valve out at walmart for liek 2 bucks, and it comes with a couple spare schrader valves, altho i dont know if you need special ones for the fuel line....... you'll wanna depressurize the line before you take the valve out, sounds like you could just let it sit with the cap off, with a towel on that, for a little whiel and it'd be fine to replace then

[grandprixgtp_91]

yeah of course the previous owner said it never did that before, they all say that about anything worng, i wouldnt worry, go to the gm dealership get a bottle of cleens and follow the directions on the bottle, it will run 100x better , dump half the bottle in slowly when the engine is at operating temp , and then dump the second half in really fast to stall it out, then let it sit for 30 min and restart, it will be very hard to start and whe nit does it will blow a shitload of black smoke, thats all the carbon in the motor being blown out, every time i do that to a motor it runs like a totally different motor. but it has to be ac delco cleens, from the dealer, its very cheap and comes in a spray and liquid, i use both. nothing works as good as that stuff, not even the good name brand stuff elsewhere.

Jake

[Carlspike]

I'm friends with the previous owner so I think he's telling me the truth, he's a stand up guy. Have you seen a dirty engine cause a long crank warm? Last night I did a BG air intake cleaning service on it last night. The motor does idle smoother but the long crank seems about the same. Is AC delco cleens the name I should ask for? I know the dealership near me has top engine cleaner, maybe it's close to the same thing? Thanks for the ideas.

[grandprixgtp_91]

yes the product is Ac Delco, its name is: Cleens . its top end engine cleaner , it works the best, nothing else works as good. make sure the engine is hot and stall it out with the last half of the can and let it sit for 30 min, i have noticed faster starts , because the carbon is gone so its not soaking up the fuel.

Jake