My car is scaring me

[woundedspartan]

Ok, I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE. It has over 164,000 miles. Its a 3.1 Liter V6. All this started out three or four weeks ago after we changed the oil and oil filter. A few days after the change, I was sitting at a stop light and the engine died. The radio was still going and everything, but the engine just stopped. So I put it in neutral and started it back up and went on from there. A few days later, it stalled out again while I was waiting for a bus to turn. (A little side note: sometimes when I would accelerate or while I was cruising around 50 to 55 mph, it would feel like its being pulling back.) Ok, talked to a few people and they said either I had moisture in my line or my injectors were dirty. So we put HEET in it, ran it around the block for a few minutes, had no problems with it. A few days later while waiting for a train, she did it again. So I tried dumping some injector cleaner in it. It seemed to help it. Havent had a problem with it since.

Now the next problem I'm having started two days ago. I got in the car and started it up. After it was started I noticed that my 'Check Oil' light was on. Turned the car off then back on and the light was off. Went about my day. Its done this four more times in the past two days. And tonight, I left a friends house, and on the way back, the light was on and a couple of times, it felt like the car didnt want to accelerate. The first time it did this, I took my foot off of the gas and back on and it accelerated like normal. The second time, it didnt accelerate. I came to a stop sign and turned the car off and waited and turned it back on. It didnt do it anymore.

I'm sorry if the whole post seems like one confusing run-on sentence. But, I could really use some help. I dont want to trade in for another car because working as a cashier for Wal-Mart doesnt cut it.

[Vampyrate]

seems to me that the oil filter may not be on their correctly, or the old filter broke off at the seal and is still there causing you to leak oil

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by woundedspartan
Now the next problem I'm having started two days ago. I got in the car and started it up. After it was started I noticed that my 'Check Oil' light was on. Turned the car off then back on and the light was off. Went about my day. Its done this four more times in the past two days. And tonight, I left a friends house, and on the way back, the light was on and a couple of times
Uhh, I don't want to sound like a smartass but the light says in English Check Oil, did you actually think about doing what it said instead of turning off the car, turning it back on and then "going about your day"???

The reason the light went off the second time is because you cycled the ignition. The way that light works is that the PCM will read the level sensor at startup but only after the car has been off for at least 15mins (because it takes time for the oil to drain and it doesn't want to give you a false alarm). So if the oil level is low at startup it tells you, quite literally, to check the oil. When you turn off the engine and turn it on again you aren't solving the problem. You're just making it so the PCM ignores the oil level sensor (because the car hasn't been sitting long enough and it knows the level sensor can't be reliable becuase the oil hasn't had enough time to drain back into the pan).

That's why you have to actually check the oil when it tells you to, not restart the car and go about your day as if the light never came on. :roll2: I find it quite surprising that you never mentioned checking the oil in your description of the "problem" yet that's exactly what the telltale told you to do--in fact it told you that four times.

[woundedspartan]

Actually, I did check the oil. And it was full. I checked it the day it came on and today. Still full.

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by woundedspartan
Actually, I did check the oil. And it was full. I checked it the day it came on and today. Still full.
Ahh, okay, see you left that part out completely...

If you did check the oil and the level was good, then there is proabably something wrong with the oil level sensor. I would replace the level sensor at your next oil change and see if that fixes the problem.

[woundedspartan]

See, the thing is, I'm hoping that there is no real serious problem going on here. There is no way I can afford to get another car. I traded in my last car because the entire gauge cluster (fuel, tach, spedo, blah blah blah) decided to die and I couldnt find a new or used replacement. So, I traded it in to the dealer (w/out telling them of the problem. Good thing we're friends with him), they gave me 1300 trade in on it and used it towards this Grand Am. And I like this car, so unless if its a newer GA, I dont think I'll even think of trading in or getting a new car. And with going to college later this year, that will really put me back in funds.

If anyone else has anymore ideas, please post them.

EDIT:

One thing I didnt think about till now. Over the weekend, my e-brake was accidently pulled while I had the car in park. My chain thats attached to my wallet somehow got hooked on it and pulled it up when I tried to get out. But I thought that I would have noticed some kind of problem even getting the car to move if the e-brake wasnt fully disengaged. I've even made sure that day and today that the handle was all the way down.

[bdlitzne]

Just wanted to throw this out, as I'm not sure how long you've owned the car. Are you sure it doesn't say "Change Oil"? I don't know about the 97 year if that was a feature or not. You actually have to "reset it" after an oil change.

This in no way would explain any of the other problems you are having....

Bern


Originally posted by woundedspartan
Ok, I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE. It has over 164,000 miles. Its a 3.1 Liter V6. All this started out three or four weeks ago after we changed the oil and oil filter. A few days after the change, I was sitting at a stop light and the engine died. The radio was still going and everything, but the engine just stopped. So I put it in neutral and started it back up and went on from there. A few days later, it stalled out again while I was waiting for a bus to turn. (A little side note: sometimes when I would accelerate or while I was cruising around 50 to 55 mph, it would feel like its being pulling back.) Ok, talked to a few people and they said either I had moisture in my line or my injectors were dirty. So we put HEET in it, ran it around the block for a few minutes, had no problems with it. A few days later while waiting for a train, she did it again. So I tried dumping some injector cleaner in it. It seemed to help it. Havent had a problem with it since.

Now the next problem I'm having started two days ago. I got in the car and started it up. After it was started I noticed that my 'Check Oil' light was on. Turned the car off then back on and the light was off. Went about my day. Its done this four more times in the past two days. And tonight, I left a friends house, and on the way back, the light was on and a couple of times, it felt like the car didnt want to accelerate. The first time it did this, I took my foot off of the gas and back on and it accelerated like normal. The second time, it didnt accelerate. I came to a stop sign and turned the car off and waited and turned it back on. It didnt do it anymore.

I'm sorry if the whole post seems like one confusing run-on sentence. But, I could really use some help. I dont want to trade in for another car because working as a cashier for Wal-Mart doesnt cut it.

[woundedspartan]

Im sure it does say "Change Oil". And I had no idea that you had to reset it. How do I do this?

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by woundedspartan
Im sure it does say "Change Oil". And I had no idea that you had to reset it. How do I do this?
The '99+ models have an 'Oil Change Monitoring' system, that reminds little old ladies to drive to the dealer and get ripped-off for the necessary oil change.
The '97 does NOT have this system.

Your dash indicator says 'Check oil', referring to pulling the dipstick and checking the level.
You check the level with the oil warm (from a drive), but the engine 'off' for at least 15 minutes as MantaGreen said.

The oil should be golden, slightly transparent.
* If it's black, then it's old and needs to be changed.
* If it's cloudy, or looks kinda like a runny chocolate milkshake, that indicates water in the oil (which means major engine problems like a LIM gasket leak or such).
* * *

As to your original drivability problems: The bottle of Fuel Injector cleaner seems to have done the trick.
Great.
* * *

That's not an Emergency Brake, it's a Parking Brake.
It only actuates the rear drums, which only produce 40% of the GA's braking under normal pedal (hydraulic) stopping.
And the hand lever cannot produce even HALF the holding force of the hydraulic circuit.

It is VERY easy in the Ga to drive off with the brake still set, and you don't necessarily feel any 'drag' especially with the torque of the V6 and the action of the auto tranny.
That's why there's a dash light for 'Brake'; it *should* come on when the handle is lifted even a tad, thus reminding you to check and release it.
Actually, it is best to always use the parking brake when parking, to avoid excessive stress on the little tranny piece that actuates 'P' (it's called a "pawl", and it's an expensive PITA to fix when it shears-off if somebody plows into your parked car).

Finally,driving with the parking brake set can do some harm.
The shoes create tremendous friction and heat, if they are pressing against the drum continuously for miles.
* The friction material on the shoes can develop a 'glaze', making them practically useless.
* The drums can get to near-orange 'glow' temperature, like irons in a fire.
When you park, and the shoes are still pressing outward on the sides of the drum, the iron drums are so soft (from heat) that they oval shaped as they cool.
Then you get a weird kind of vibration, and a pulsing when driving very slowly while stopping, and possibly brake lock-up on a rear tire when you stop in gravel or slush (the ABS seems to not work at less than a couple miles per hour).

Anyhow, you might want to check your rear brakes soon.

Hope this helps,
-Rick

PS:
I would double-check and triple-check the oil level.
Is it the factory dipstick, or some aftermarket POS that I previous owner might have installed?
IMO, a sensor failure is pretty rare.
I would first rule out human error.

Are you sure it's the 'Check Oil' light (meaning oil level), rather than the 'Oil Pressure' light/icon??

[BPBAIR]

umm how bout the fuel pump... hook a gauge up to see what ur fuel pressure

[woundedspartan]

Yeah, its the "Check Oil" light, its on the left hand side of the gauge cluster thing. And the dip stick is factory stock.