97 Grand am check engine light

[-Michelle-]

I'm very frusterated with my peice of crap grand am. I swear it's been nothing but problems for me. In the past year I've changed the battery, pcv valve, alternator, air filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, serpentine belt, and fuel filter. And now my beautiful check engine light came back on and my car is shaking. It's flashing, it's not solid...I have a 97 grand am se with a V6 3100 engine. Any suggestions on what could be wrong now? (Please don't reply "it could be anything")

[30thAnnGAGT]

Is it shaking under acceleration or at idle??

I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark here because as much as I hate to say what you didn't want to hear, it could be anything really. However, I will try to help.

An educated guess based on a bit of experiance could be that it could be exhaust related. I had an O2 sensor go bad on a vehicle of mine which caused erroneous readings by the PCM, and it did cause a shaking under acceleration.

Also, it could be a bad wire or plug. I'd go through and check the connections.

I might also check the coil packs and see how they are behaving. Some times shaking can be caused by bad spark.

These are my 3 solutions.... out there as they might be. But it's a place to start :)

[-Michelle-]

Mostly just when I accelerate...as long as I'm going a constant speed though, it seems to be fine.

[-Michelle-]

I know what the coil packs are and what they look like, but can you tell me exactly where they are? I don't feel like searching my whole car for hours. Thanks!

[rixGAphx]

Go to AutoZone/Checker/PepBoys and have them scan the OBDII and report the codes.

Good bet it's the O2 sensor, depending on how old it is.

-Rick

[Yves]

The only time my "check engine" light came on in my car was the result of a plugged port on the EGR valve. I got the part back after the repair, and sure enough, the middle port was sticking.

Symptoms included some acceleration problems and occasional lurching while cruising on the highway.

The shop manager said it was a common enough problem with the 3.1L V6 GrandAm. The mechanics picked it up on an engine code readout.

I would hesitate to venture to say it sounds like it is your problem. The good news is it does not cost a lot in labour to replace (1/2 hour maybe). The bad news is the part costs mucho $$$ (approx $300 US) and there are no aftermarket suppliers out there.

Personally, I'd try to get somebody to read the stored fault code and determine if there is a cheap fix.

[-Michelle-]

I got it fixed today and it was a clogged fuel injector. Thanks everyone! :)