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Though, in the summer of 1999 GM changed the design somewhat (mostly the engine intake), and currently the engine makes 170-175 hp, instead of 150-155.
Concerning the injectors:
I have a 98 Chevy Malibu with the same 3.1l engine. My dealer cleaned the injectors with the 30k miles maintenance. It cost about $100 (injectors only: total was about $400, including serpentine belt, thorough inspection of the car, and several small things).
Did not feel anything bad with the engine before cleaning, and did not notice any difference after. Probably, you are using a gas producing more deposits, or have a bad fuel filter.
Is the seat problem related to the split bench, cloth buckets or any available seat? The one I'm looking at has cloth buckets. Any other areas of concern I should consider when looking at this vehicle?
GM finally discontinued this beast in the late 1990's and the Lumina was given (as it should have been a long time before) the powerful and bulletproof 3800 engine. When buying a used Lumina, make sure the car doesn't have the 3400 DOHC engine in it. The Lumina should be a reliable car with either pushrod V-6 on 3.1L and 3.8L displacements.
Also check out the 2000/01 Impala, a cut above the Lumina.
Note: the 3400 OHV V-6 found on the base Y2K Impala is in NO WAY RELATED to the infamous 3400 DOHC V-6 engine on earlier Luminas. The 3400 found on the Impala is a solid reliable engine (Altough the 3800 Series II is the best of the best)and it is used in many other GM vehicle applications:
* Pontiac Grand AM
* Oldsmobile Alero
* Chevrolet Impala (Base)
* Chevy Venture and Pontiac Montana Minivans.
The 3400 DOHC V-6 is no longer in production. Beware of this engine!
Was looking to get a Impala LS, but it just didn't fit me to well. After driving Chevy's for the last 15 years, I ended up leasing a loaded 2000 Mercury Sable LS Premium with adjustable pedals. This car fits me perfectly. I hope other car manufactures start incorporating adjustable pedals. Again, if you can lay your hands on a 3.8 LTZ, do it. Good luck NASCAR!
Buck
My 90 Euro started leaking oil real bad and I thought I was from the main seal. Come to find out, the intake manifolds still have a hole in them where the distributor used to install. There is a cover with 1 bolt and an -ring. My mechanic called it the "oil pump seal". It was about $100 to diagnose and repair. He put a die in my oil to make sure he knew exactly were the leak was coming from. Hope this helps. I know your post was a long time ago.
Yes the pcv valve is a pain to get to on the 3.1. I never did replace mine because of the cost involved just to get to the bang thing. You cannot see it without disassembling the top of the engine according to my mechanic who was the shop foreman for years with a Chevy dealer.
I just purchased a 99 LTZ with 25K on it. It has bench seats in the front. It also has the LTZ emblem on the dash above the glove box and the LTZ embroidered in the middle of the rear seat and the LTZ emblem at the right rear of the trunk lid just below the spoiler. It also has the 3800 Series II, the 16" spoke rims, and the spoiler on the trunk lid. I also drove 3 LTZ's before I purchased this one (mine being one of the 3 I drove) and all had bench seats in the front as well as all the markings of an LTZ. I just now looked up the LTZ on Edmunds under used cars since it is no longer manufactured and the buckets are listed as an option. Check it for yourself. this_is_nascar, just because we didn't get buckets doesn't mean we didn't get an LTZ. After all, I didn't by it for the seats, I bought for that 3800 Series II horsepower! No offense, please. Have a nice day or night.
Last year, 2000MY was the last year for public to be able to purchase Lumina from the Chevy dealers. in 2000CY ( part 2000 and part 2001) only some 45,000 Lumina were built for fleet use only. GM will stop building Lumina's all together this year.
If you are looking for a good, roomy, and reliable car, look for 95-99 Lumina's.
smart
I drove a 1998 Lumina LTZ for 3 years and really enjoyed it except for one major problem. The problem is that I'm only 5'1 and had to sit very near the steering wheel in order to reach the pedals.
While driving my LTZ for three years (overall, it was a great car!) I worried about the possibility of an accident severe enough to deploy the airbags, fortunately, that moment never came. When looking for another car to lease this last summer, I did look long and hard at the new Chevy Impala LS, but it just didn't fit me well. I ended up with a 2000 Mercury Sable LS Premium which had a great feature, factory installed electric adjustable pedals! (These pedals adjust up to three inches with the touch of a button!) I had found a car that perfectly fit me! Now I sit about 12 inches from the steering wheel.
Ford Motor Company makes several cars with the adjustable pedals, the Ford Tarus, Crown Victoria, thier near twins, the Mecury Sable and the Mercury Grand Marquis.
I drove Chevy's for 15 years and hope they will soon incorporate adjustable pedals in their vehicles.
I know of several sites on the Internet that sell pedal extensions. They are.........
www.automobility.com/page2.htm
www.garyecolleinc.com
www.pedalextenders.com
Hope some of this info will prove useful to you Majikjenie. Take care
It has acceptable power but i'd like to try to get a few more hp out of it if possiable.
Are there any reasonably affordable ways to make this motor perform better?
Ive heard of the K&N air filters helping, but by how much?
What about a new computer chip?
Thanks
I've looked before, and was pleasantly surprised at 7.8 ratings on
Edmunds, but those were for 1994 or 1993 models.
I just saw a '95 for sale today. When I checked the reliability rating,
I was shocked to see it drop down to 5.6 !
In '96 it goes back up, above 7.5 . . ..
Why is there such a notable dip for the 1995 car?
Can anybody give me some background on this?
To the na-sayers of the Impala I'd say drive it. I have and I absoulty love it it is large and strong. In 2005 when it goes to a rear wheel platform and gets the V-8 i'll be first in line to buy one. For the short women who bought the Ford Taurus or Sable I pitty you, Fords are quite crappy cars. The 3.1 may be an old dinosaur engine but it stays storng, and has decent power for it's price.
Felipe47.