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New member witha 93 Lumina Euro 3.4


Taper123
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New here.

 

Picked up a 1993 Lumina Euro with the 3.4 lq1 engine.  It has almost 45k miles on it, and spent most of it's life in a garage so everything looks really nice.   Ran great for a bit, but having a few issues lately, and figured this might be a good forum, or someone can point me to one.

 

It started running rough so I took a look under the hood.  I see one of the vacuum lines had been replaced, and a wiring harness not properly put back in place (single purple wire connection).  Connection is cooked from being against engine.  Several elbows on vacuum lines cracked with finger pressure.   One of the front spark plugs has oil in the cylinder well.   

 

I'm thinking replace most anything rubber on the vacuum lines as age has made them brittle.  Need to track down what the cooked wire connector goes to, and see where the oil is coming from.   I'm betting these are the original plugs.   I put 3k miles on it since I got it.

 

Nice car though... so I want to make it run smooth again.

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Welcome! That's a really cool find. You'll need to replace any vacuum lines that are deteriorated and it would be a good idea to do a general tune-up. If you could post a picture of the plug another member will identify it. Because of spam we have a minimum post count to use the classified section so if you hang around and make some posts for a few days you can make a wanted ad for any specific vacuum parts and another member may very well have them.

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Sounds good.    I changed the front three plugs today and it ran super smooth after that.   The oil is coming from the valve cover gasket.   Hit it with some compressed air...and oil went everywhere.   Local auto parts place didn't have a gasket in stock, so I'll search online and order one along with vacuum lines.  Back three plugs look like a challenge to get out.  

 

Car was a family members.   She kept it in the garage, and bought it brand new.   I'm the second owner for it...  Torch red euro lumina 3.4

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Figure it might be related to the vacuum line connections being old and brittle, but AC wants to blow out of the defrost or floor sometimes.   Funny...  coming out of dash like normal until you hit 80, then it switches to the floor.  Drop below 70 and it switches back to the dash.   Never had to mess with that aspect of a vehicle before, any suggestions on where to start?

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It's the number 2 cylinder that had oil in it from the upper valve cover gasket.   Here's a pic of it.   The wire in the back is a challenge to get to.   If I took off the upper intake manifold, would be easier to fix, and make changing the rear plugs simpler.   That's just my opinion, as I have no manual and am simply guessing.

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Ordered a new set of valve cover gaskets, and made a list of the various vacuum fittings.   Almost everyone of them cracked in my hand with a slight squeeze.   That should be all I need to have the engine running good and stop the oil leaks.    Inspection is due, and tires have great tread..  but are dry rotted.   Looked up the date code, and they are 18 years old.  

 

According to Wikipedia..  there were only 3489 Lumina sedans with the LQ1 engine made in 1993. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Lumina)

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Ordered a new set of valve cover gaskets, and made a list of the various vacuum fittings.   Almost everyone of them cracked in my hand with a slight squeeze.   That should be all I need to have the engine running good and stop the oil leaks.    Inspection is due, and tires have great tread..  but are dry rotted.   Looked up the date code, and they are 18 years old.  

 

According to Wikipedia..  there were only 3489 Lumina sedans with the LQ1 engine made in 1993. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Lumina)

Very cool that it's a sedan and super jealous!  I've only seen a couple of the LQ1 Lumina sedans, one in CO about 2-3 years ago, white car, and another one listed on a junkyard site that was also white.  I think it might be in the junk yard never ending thread.

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Replaced the rubber vacuum elbows and the front valve cover gaskets.   Runs so much better now.   Going to do rear plugs tomorrow, and hope no leaks on that valve cover.   #2 had about a half inch of oil in it from te valve cover spark plug gasket/o-ring.    Oxygen sensor connection seems like it's working, even if it melted some.   It's the connector the oxygen sensor plugs into that had the damage on it.   Finding a wiring harness for it might be a challenge, so ill at least put some shrink tubing on it.

 

Noticed after changing front plugs and some vacuum fittings it starts so much easier and has plenty of power again.   For an older 4 door sedan... it's what I'd call a sleeper car.    Doesn't look like t has the performance that it does.

 

Can anyone point me to a schematic for the drivers side door panel window controls?   three out of four windows work, drivers window is intermittent as to if it will go down.   Need to wash and wax it and post some pics next.

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Let me look, I think I have a p/n and source for that O2 plug for just a couple bucks. Mouser Electronics has a large assortment of Delphi but you have to know the Delphi p/n to find it.

Edited by Imp558
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Gotta love forums like this.

 

Found a diagram of all the vaccum lines 

WIring colors\connections for the factory stereo harness.

Torque values.

How to remove plenum to gain access to rear valve cover

 

 

 

Saved me some time, and good quality information.

 

Went to change the rear three plugs, and first one when I pulled off the connector, it was covered in oil.   Pushed it back on..  and will do the rear valve cover gaskets this weekend after seeing pics on here of how to get to it.  Ordered a new connector for the o2, a new set of plug wires as one was melted a bit too, and new brake pads.    A vacuum line to the brake booster was replaced with a hose by a mechanic about a month before I got the car.   Looks like there is a bracket that supported the vacuum lines and plug wires.   Found it hanging behind the engine instead of being fastened where it should.   Car is running really good, and I want to take care of the few remaining leaks and known things before making a road trip.

 

Hoping the vacuum diagram I found that it'll be something simple like another dry rotted connector for the hvac system.    It randomly blows air out of the dash, or switches to the defrost...  but if you accelerate hard, it blows cold air on your feet.

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Check the vacuum.line that goes.to the vacuum ball. It's known to crack around the battery and around the T splitter behind or around the plenum.

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Check the vacuum.line that goes.to the vacuum ball. It's known to crack around the battery and around the T splitter behind or around the plenum.

 

 

And I'll add that it's common enough that I fixed mine yesterday, broken plastic line right behind the battery. Typical symptoms are funky idle and hard shifts.

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I harvest plastic line from other cars but if you simply carry a piece into a parts store they will have rubber line by the foot. The plastic line gets brittle so a lot of people don't like it but a good piece can be heated up and made to do some pretty specific bends.

 

Sharp bends are more easily achievable with rubber but the plastic can hold them, that's a trick replacement rubber can't do.

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