Series I L27 (1992-1994 SE,SLE, SSE) & Series II L36 (1995-1999 SE, SSE, SLE) and common problems for the Series I and II L67 (all supercharged models 92-99) Including Olds 88's, Olds LSS's, Olds 98 91-96, Buick Lesabres and Park Avenue 91-96. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.
My car is playing jokes or something. last weekend it overheated shortly after having some random alternator glitches. the next week it wanted to leak coolant from the water pump (which i'm still changing anyway just to be safe along with the alternator and various other things) today it was misfiring really badly randomly, i had a constant Check Gages light (yet everything was fine, plenty of oil pressure, temp normal, volts ok) and suddenly i no longer had a leaky water pump. what is going on here? and to add to it, my radio suddenly goes from really distorty sound to perfectly clear and normal sound. the car would also act as if half the cylinders would stop firing then all of a sudden clear up and run perfectly fine. it seems inconsistant with a real misfire, almost as if the computer is going into some sort of limp-home mode off/on.
I understand that 'Check Gages' means something like low oil pressure, overheating coolant, or low voltage. the Service Engine Soon light is on too (for an old code 41: Cam sensor) but i was on the notion they were separate issues. can Check Gages also mean something unrelated to the EFI like transmission code? i admit i'm a noob to newer vehicles as i've driven only carburetor equipped vehicles before it (my Fifth Avenue)
1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (3800 Series I, 277K miles and counting! with a horrific knock sadly)
sounds like a lot of things to me. it's as if my car decided to throw a bunch of things at me at once soon as i hit 270K. it has never stranded me but when it feels like it's about to fall apart and then ten seconds later fires right up and runs perfectly fine, i lose a bit of confidence driving it. if the replacement parts don't do it, i might look into the UIM gaskets, that's all i got left to try, although no signs of them failing have hit me yet. i got the same amount of white steam early in the morning as i have had since i got the car a little over a year ago, it's not gotten worse, and i don't got choco milkshake oil yet. it could have thrown some new codes when it overheated so maybe clearing it out would help?
1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (3800 Series I, 277K miles and counting! with a horrific knock sadly)
Try reseting it. Also have it running and try the knock test on the computer if it runs funny when you knock on it then you need a computer, computer is under the black panel in the passenger side footwell
1995 se
128,101
custom FWI
rt-95 rims look kinda like crosslaces
6000k hids
f- body muffler dual output
96-99 headlight conversion, clear markers
Water pumps leak when cold then seal when warmed up. Its probably bad.
The rest sounds like an electrical problem, have you removed and cleaned all the grounds
on the car including the connector under the drivers carpet?
I'll look into all of those. how does one do a 'knock test?' i do not exactly have On Demand equipment sitting in my yard.
The water pump was likely the cause for the initial overheating. but it was losing coolant soon as the engine was shut off at operating temperature or when the radiator was more than 3/4 full. it won't let me add more than that to the radiator. each time i'd drive afterwards, soon as it was shut off, it would pour coolant from the weep hole. yesterday, when i took it out for normal weekend runs, i made sure it had the 3/4 full radiator, and i'd check under it each time i shut the engine off. it's NOT leaking now. i admit i drove my electric vehicle for three days to give my car a break but that shouldn't cause the water pump to seal itself should it? the only other difference is that it got a bit cold so i've been using the heater so perhaps that takes some pressure off the pump?
the one thing scaring me now is this random misfire or something that cropped up on me yesterday, and the car previously ran fine after overheating (except for it being very hard to start afterwards that day it happened) but i swear soon as the overdrive kicks in the car shakes so violently you think the transmission were going. i checked the ATF and it was fine. take it out of overdrive the shake vanishes but it still drives 'stuttery' after 45 MPH. it gets worse if you go faster than 55 MPH. no knocks or engine noises, but you will see the RPM jitter and if at idle it has a definite misfirey idle, this is when the 'ding ding ding ding' 'check gages' light will likely come on. if it goes out the idle gets smooth again. if it comes on again cue the stutter. this would almost point to the CEL but the Check Gages and CEL are two entirely different systems, no? it was so bad once that i even stopped the car on the side of the road and opened the hood to verify it wasn't overheating again (the temp gauge is broke) and it was fine. i'm hoping it's not something damaged, perhaps i blew a few spark plugs when it overheated? odd though for it to wait over a week to have that effect...
I know on some Cadillac models they got both a CEL and a Service Vehicle Soon light. the SVS light would point to non-EFI components such as the transmission computer, suspension leveling, etc. could our cars use the 'Check Gages' light in the DIC for the same thing? i originally just assumed it was like the same light used in cars back in the '70s to replace the gauges for oil pressure, battery, and temp. if it came on, one or more of those things was wrong. only those cars had it labeled 'Engine' or even 'Check Engine' (but they were not EFI so the light was just for overheating, low oil pressure, or low voltage)
1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (3800 Series I, 277K miles and counting! with a horrific knock sadly)
UIM and LIM failures are a little different on the Series 1. IF the UIM fails, coolant will either leak externally, or, if you have a metal UIM (1992 usually got it) it does have a path to the closest cylinder. If this is the case however, you would be able to tell when you pull the spark plugs. Honestly, however, if it leaks, it is usually easiest for it to leak out.
For the LIM, the coolant passages are at the 4 corners. Those can turn the oil to mud, and they can also leak externally. Another common weak point is the coolant bypass fitting on the LIM, behind the alternator. It left the factory plastic, and WILL break at some point, unless it has already been replaced with metal. When those break, they only leak when coming up to temp, and run down the timing cover usually, which can look like it's coming from the water pump if not traced right. You confirmed a leak from the weephole if I recall correctly, so the water pump is likely done too.
What is wrong with the temp gauge that is causing it not to work? Is there any other codes when you check them? Do other gauges work like voltage and temp?
I agree with others however, check the groundbusses under the carpets, bad grounds do wonders for gremlins. Everything points to a funky computer, as everything is controlled by it. ICM issues can also cause a misfire, and the Magnavox units (1 single coil pack, instead of 3 seperate coils) are notorious for it, and came on a lot of 92's.
~Randall~
1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place
the temp gauge is either a cold solder joint in the cluster or a broken spring (when the gauges all do their little 'power on self test' and go to max, then minimum, then read normally the temp gauge is flickering all over the place and often reads much higher than it should, so 'normal' temp when it is reading at all is around 220*F, or 3/4 the gauge--but it's often pegged at max regardless of the actual engine temp)
yeah i confirmed it was from the water pump, just behind the pulley and right on the pump itself (bottom of it in fact). it could also leak if you added enough coolant with the engine cold. it seemed to be gravity related or something that if enough was put in it would push up the lower radiator hose into the pump and start pouring out.
i'm not getting any more steam from the exhaust than i was when i got the car a little over a year ago. i do know my radiator cap is no good and not building up pressure can cause things to happen as well (it did try to overheat again today but i caught it in time-thing was there was plenty of coolant in there so either the cap is part of the problem or the pump has just stopped pumping entirely--radiator isn't even hot anymore at temp)
Yes, the voltmeter and oil pressure gauges work perfectly fine. there is an occasional alternator malfunction that causes the same DIC light to come on and the volts drop to around 12 and lower if it lasts long enough, but more recently when i get the little engine symbol and the Check Gages light is on the volts are normal and reading around 14 or so. when it does light up the engine runs very poorly. today other than it trying to overheat again the misfire seemed to be gone this time.
i know there is a paperclip trick but i forgot which two pins to short to get it to read out. so codes haven't been checked since the first time. the only good news from all of this is that i am not hearing any bad noises like spun bearings or rod knock. it makes a nasty rattle when it gets overheated but i'm familiar with that noise.
You can drive the car for around 20 miles no problem. but if you drive more than 30 miles it's gauranteed to overheat.
1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (3800 Series I, 277K miles and counting! with a horrific knock sadly)
Knock test: pull the computer out the the spot its in passenger footwell, literally just knock on it with your hand.while its running if its starts sputtering its bad
1995 se
128,101
custom FWI
rt-95 rims look kinda like crosslaces
6000k hids
f- body muffler dual output
96-99 headlight conversion, clear markers
95se wrote:Knock test: pull the computer out the the spot its in passenger footwell, literally just knock on it with your hand.while its running if its starts sputtering its bad
i think my computer might be buried in the center console but i'll see later on. Right now Cooling system is priority #1. misfires and random stalling #2
1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSE (3800 Series I, 277K miles and counting! with a horrific knock sadly)
