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Chevrolet Lumina A/C & Heating Problems

jamesmollyjamesmolly Member Posts: 1
edited October 2014 in Chevrolet
I have a 98 lumina sdn with a 3.1 lt engine. I have a problem w/ the A/C and the heat not functioning. I have replaced the controls,& have charged the R134a. Is there any other trouble shooting techniques I can use to locate the problem... PLEASE HELP!
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  • jonrambojonrambo Member Posts: 1
    I am 46 and I've been driving since 1976.
    Of all the 35 cars I have owend and the several score more I have driven.The chevy lumina is secound to none! I have read many questions about this model and have felt the same reservations. The older model i am not familure with. Though I think it would be a fine car to own as well. You see; know matter what car you my drive and own.They are not perfect machines and they need certin amounts of care and maintence to last. I bought my lumina 3 yrs ago,it is a 1998 model 4dr. my brother has owend a APV van since 1993.It has now got 230.000 miles! Mine is a pup yet...173k!! when i got mine i did not look at the blogs to learn enything. I am happy to be here though..I am very interested to share what i know and would like to hear from others too. What i bought this i got it from a car dealer.I paid 6000, for a 3000 doller car. I was very worried..about the longevity of this car. I had a windshiled put in before i picked this car up.
    The origanal was cracked. I insisted on a transmission back flush too. Since the reason i was there was a burnd out tranny in my prior car. So with some trpidation i picked it up and very soon fell in love with this car.
    I have heard of some problems with the 3.1 but the one funny thing i have in common would be on cold start-up she likes t rattle the lifters. When i first hard this i was scared. But a call to my bro.. revield that this was a common thing with his engine too.. dont worry about it.
    I am the worst person in the world next to a woman when it comes to oil!!! I do try to keep it around full. but I have only changed the oil in this car 4 times in 3 yrs...heh heh.. dont try this one at home.. so the average milage on this car between changes are about 21k miles.Am i sounding proud or boasting?? Sorry i am illistraiting the dependability of the car..I bought.I have put 90k miles onthe car. I had to replace a failing starter. I have had to replace the rotors and pads. the master window swich whent on the fritz.. i was going to chang this out but it started to work again..so i just leave it alone for now.
    Its all simple maintenance things with her. I have a fondness for this car! This car takes me to work every day. It takes me and my kids around to all the places familys go. wgen i feel loke racing she will go to a hundred in about 7 secounds. when we need economy,she gets 26 miles per gallon!!! Not to shabby for a 4000 pound car with a v6.
    I live in the arctic too. alaska. we had an un global warming moment of - 45F for a week. She ..my lumina froze up! the car had frost all over it. The engine too if you touched it with moistfingers..you would stick to it! I started a fire under the car.. she started 3 hours later:>
    One question I need to have answerd though is the trans..has a slip in it. Its only when i get down hard on the peddel. Ill try a hard burn out and the trans will slip and ill over rev the engine! when i let up on it she runs normally. I noticed this 3 months after i bought it. trans oil is clean and the trans dont leak. soooo. if enyone has an idea??? Well enyway i will not trade this car for a new vett.. ill write again later ..have fun
  • fato1959fato1959 Member Posts: 1
    ac not cooling
    replaced compressor, resivior and check valve
    still not cooling

    what other parts may be resoponsible for this problem
  • punky67punky67 Member Posts: 1
    is my fans suppost to come on when my car gets hot i have 1991 chevy lumina 3.1 i just replaced the water pump...i don't think my fan is coming on
  • habsfanhabsfan Member Posts: 1
    My heater motor fan is not working how do get it out to repair it?

    Please help.
  • amopar4meamopar4me Member Posts: 1
    I have a 1990 chevy lumina. The a/c was working fine but suddenly stop. I have check all switch on lines and compressor with volt and ohm meter. I have no ground for a/c relay to complete circuit. I have trace wiring to and from the computer connectors with ohm meter too.The coolant fan relay that is suppose to energize at the same time has no ground either. But if manually ground either one that circuits work .. any help?
  • mcdiarmidmcdiarmid Member Posts: 13
    Hello. I have a `95 Lumina car with a 3.1, with 280 000KMs. Single zone heat and A/C. I bought it used last August. It`s used as a taxi. I`ve replaced 2 head and intake gaskets as well as a rad, heater core and pump and installed a used head! All new parts. I`ve also replaced the thermostat 3 times, 2 of the themostats are OEM. Most of this work was done before the cold weather. I just can`t get enough heat to the vents on any setting. I`ve checked the heater hoses for heat...both are hot. I`ve tried many times to get any remaining air out of the system. There is sometimes a gurgling in the heater core, but not always. I know...air. But, every couple of days I try to bleed any air out. None.
    Could this simply be a switch problem?? I put about 400KMs per day on this car...there shouldn`t be anymore air. Anyone had a similar problem?

    Ian
  • mike356mike356 Member Posts: 2
    one of the fans should come on after idleing for about 5-10 minutes.
    otherwise im sure you'd have overheating problems.
  • tracey12_12tracey12_12 Member Posts: 6
    It appears that I have a worn out fan motor on the a/c blower.

    The a/c fan won't blow cool air, or any air for that matter. But at times when I crank the car, you can hear the fan turn for a few seconds but it never reaches high rpm's and then it stops turning.

    The auto parts store says the fan is $40.00. But I looked and cant see where the fan motor is located. I was told that its not hard to replace, or reach.

    Has anyone replaced one of these, if so please tell me what I'm up against and where in heck is that fan motor located?

    Thanks much,

    Tracey
  • emmanuelchokeemmanuelchoke Member Posts: 97
    I have a 98 Lumina with the A/C problem of no air, cold or warm, when accelerating (most likely a vacuum leak) so I've been looking under the dashboard and I found where the blower motor is located. It's on the passenger side, under the glove compartment almost against the firewall. You have to remove the sound deadening material from directly below the glove compartment to see it. It's a dull metallic color, round on the bottom, about the size of a small coffee cup, with one electrical connector attached. It's an uncomfortable working area, your head will need to be where the passengers feet normally go. It's looks like only a couple of small screws hold it in place, but repairs like this tend to be extremely aggravating so have a couple of aspirin ready.
  • tracey12_12tracey12_12 Member Posts: 6
    THANKS! Thats a huge help. I'm sure I can find it now, but I'm not the kind of guy that can easily fit in that spot. I'm 6' 4" and 250 so its going to be real fun, especially in the heat. Maybe I'll get a light and do it after dark. Thanks again.
  • emmanuelchokeemmanuelchoke Member Posts: 97
    You're welcome, I hope it fixed the problem. Speaking of which, this may be of help to others. My Lumina (98 with 3.8) would stop blowing air, hot or cold regardless of the ventilation switch setting or fan speed whenever the engine was under load (not w/o throttle,map sensor over 23). The fix, for my car anyway, was to replace the vacuum line to the vacuum reservoir. The line runs from a T connector near the positive terminal of the battery, under the windshield washer fluid tank into the driver side fender. It hooks to the vacuum reservoir, a black, hard plastic sphere about the size of a large grapefruit. You can access the reservoir by removing the battery or from underneath by removing the plastic panel directly below the driver's side side marker. Somehow the line had been crushed, most likely when I replaced the battery.
  • tracey12_12tracey12_12 Member Posts: 6
    Here's is what its doing: Lately, I've had to give it a little gas at startup to keep it from dropping down to a very low idle and then it dies. This happens in seconds and it does not stop at about 700 rpm where it would normally unless I give it that little bit of gas and let off the gas slowly. Then, the Lumina would sit at 700 and idle just fine.

    Tonight, things got a little worse. Now, unless I keep giving it gas, it will drop right off and die. It will no longer fall down to 700 rpm and idle there as usual though I give it gas at the start.

    So, as I drove home tonight, the engine ran fine, but as soon as I let off the gas, the car died on the spot. At lights, I had to depress the brake and gas at the same time to keep the car running.

    Ideas please! What is it!?

    (possible dirty air filter, way past needing new oil change, been too busy, and gas filter is a year old. New spark plugs about 8 months back. Spark plug wires OEM from day 1, got a CEL but no ideas yet as to what it is. Going to autozone to use their reader)
  • luis21luis21 Member Posts: 1
    Hi I am having a starting ploblem on expsress van 2005 I replaced the starter relay and it work for a few starts, but now I am back to the same problem. Please if any one can help.

    Thank you
  • tracey12_12tracey12_12 Member Posts: 6
  • wuckawucka Member Posts: 4
    Hello, I have a '97 Lumina (car) and the A/C blows but not too cold. I bought a can of r134 with a gauge, but connected the can and read 120 lbs of pressure. So I did not add any.
    It seems as though the compressor is turning on there is a slight drop in rpms when I turn it on.
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Thank, Ben
  • wuckawucka Member Posts: 4
  • ebjos5ebjos5 Member Posts: 3
    Compresser not coming on, rad fans not coming on - even what the defrost is turned on. Not cooling at all
  • ebjos5ebjos5 Member Posts: 3
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,148
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