Service engine light

[Guest]

i have a GA with a 3.1 and it has a brand new engine..but the check engine light still comes on just like it did before the engine blew.I was wondering if anyone had the same problems and what i could do to fix it...the car does'nt overheat or anything it runs smooth no rough idle or anything but when i get on the highway and get it past 60 it wont come on but when i drop below 60 after that then it comes on

[RidgeRunner]

What year is your Grand Am?

You might try getting Autozone or someplace like that to check what code it has set with their code reader.

[SCREECH]

If you car is a 94 or older (some 95s will allow you to do the following procedure as well, but not all) you can try shorting the A & B pins on the ALDL connector and your check engine light will flash to indicate the code that's being produced. Knowing which code is being thrown is the first step to correcting it.

Your ALDL connector can be found under the dash, most likely under the steering column, or somewhere in that area. It should be a 12-pin socket (2 rows of 6 terminals, or pins), but not all the places necessarily have pins in them. The ones you need to be concerned with are the top two on the right. Those are pins A & B. If you went to your local parts store and bought a GM OBD I Diagnostic Code Reader, all it does is short those 2 pins. So get your favourite paper clip, or better yet a small length of copper wire (about 2 inches long) and bend it into a "U" shape that will allow you to plug it into both of those pins/terminals (A & B). It doesn't matter really what you use, as long as it's conductive and will join those two terminals - I've even used my wife's KEYS before when in a pinch. When you plug your "tester" in, you should have the ignition OFF.

Once your tester is plugged in, turn the ignition to ON, but don't start the car. You will hear your cooling fan come on, and your "CHECK ENGINE" light will begin to flash. It will flash a certain number of times to indicate different numbers that make up your particular error codes that have been stored in the computer. It will start out by flashing "12" 3 times before displaying any error codes, just to let you know that it's in diagnostic mode. 12 will appear as "FLASH......FLASH..FLASH................FLASH..... ..FLASH..FLASH.............FLASH.......FLASH..FLAS H"

At this point, pay careful attention to your check engine light, and it wouldn't hurt to have a piece of paper and a pen/pencil handy in case there are multiple codes displayed. If, for example, you have a code 32 (EGR circuit error), it will be displayed as "FLASH..FLASH..FLASH.........FLASH..FLASH". It will do this 3 times for each error code. All error codes on an OBD I computer are 2-digit. Once it returns to displaying "12" again, you're done. Shut the ignition OFF and pull out your tester.

Let us know what codes you record from your computer, and we'll see what we can tell you as far as the problem, or at least a general idea of where to start looking.

[Guest]

What year is your grand am?

My grand am is a second generation grand am SE from 95'
i was gonna take it to the mechanic that put in my motor to have him check the code..but i think he will charge me...plus he will want to put in the part. and if it turns out to be something like the O2 sensor is bad i dont wanna pay that much for something i can do my self.It is weird tho because the only time it comes on is after deacceleration from 60 m.p.h.

[SCREECH]

Re: What year is your grand am?

My grand am is a second generation grand am SE from 95'

Ok, well, check your diagnostic connector under the dash - if it's a rectangular 12-pin connector, you can try the procedure I outlined above. If it is a 16-pin connector with angled sides, that's an OBD-II connector, and you need a tester that will run you at least $30-$40. You can get them off eBay - my brother bought one that I've used a few times - works fine.

My dad's '95 Caprice has the 12-pin OBD-I style connector, but this procedure doesn't work on his - it just doesn't go into diagnostic mode. That's what could be the case with yours - if it is, you will HAVE to go to the dealer to get it checked.

[Guest]

Ok i tried to check the codes like u said but my diagnostic port is a rectangular port however it only has 3 holes in it. the + indicates where the ports are ther is one on the very end in the top right and two on the lower right end i tryed every way to try to get a reading but no luck


--------------------
- +-
- ++-

[Guest]

Sorry the box i tried to make did'nt turn out like i wanted it so please discard it..so the is one on the top right and 2 on the lower right.total of just 3 ports

[SCREECH]

Ok - I'm gonna go out and grab a picture of what it should look like and show you the pins I'm talking about - I suspect we might not be looking at the same thing. BRB.

[Guest]

ok i dont think we are looking at the samething i'll go grab a pic of mine too

[Guest]

Dianostic port

Sorry bout the quality but u can see the silver things on the right...thats where the ports are

[SCREECH]

Ok, this is the general location of the connector on my '87 (it's the same on my '90) Celebrity Wagon - yours will be somewhere in this area, under your dash, though.


And here is a close-up of the connector, showing that I only have a few pins actually in my connector, but you can see exactly what the connector looks like, and which pins are pins A & B. As the picture says, take note of the nub - based upon where this is (if your connector is not mounted in the same orientation as mine) you will be able to find pins A & B.

[Guest]

but look at mine i only have 3 actual ports the others are just blanks..i tried to jump them to short them out but i did not have n e luck

[SCREECH]

Ok, yup - you've got one of the HYBRID connectors - it's not an OBD-II, and it doesn't conform to the standard OBD-I configuration - I HATE those!

I have to dig for more info as to if there IS anything you can do to pull the codes - but my brother wasn't able to find anything several months ago for our dad's '95 Caprice, as I had said.

Just for information sake - the top right pin (A) is a ground pin. It's the B pin that's missing that causes the problem - that's the Diagnostic TEST terminal.

I will post in this thread when/if I find more info about the '95 ALDLs. Sorry I can't help you right away.

[Guest]

ok well i'll b back later

[bszopi]

Any 3rd gen engine management setup doesn't have the diagnostic wire going to the ALDL connector, therefore you can't pull the codes as described. It must be read via a scan tool.