Saturday, Gimlet and I attempted to diagnose an intermittent problem with Grandma Gimlet's '92 Olds Cutlass Ciera. While driving the car, it would sometimes behave as if it were struggling along in the wrong gear (it's an automatic). The car would shudder as you approached a stop, and would stall as soon as the car stopped moving. Then, after a few blocks of trying to give just enough gas to keep rolling without lugging the engine, things would smooth out and everything would be hunky-dory.
I suspected a problem with the lock-up torque converter, as Mrs Merc Man's '86 Cutlass Supreme suffered a similar malady earlier in its career. Still, I wasn't quite convinced GM would allow a chronic problem like this to go on for 6 model years without a fix.
Anyhoo, Gimlet and I headed out on a test drive, with Gimlet behind the wheel. I ran the passenger-side power window down for a little fresh air, then discovered that said window would not go back up. So far, our drive had not started out on a good note!
We drove for a long time, pausing only at the QT on Page to let the car heat soak and refresh ourselves before the next leg of our journey. After another 15-20 minutes of trouble-free cruising, we were just heading home when, all of a sudden, SHIMMY!, SHAKE!, SHUDDER!, the ol' car started doing its imitation of a belly dancer on speed! After several white-knuckle moments, we were finally able to limp the car home, at which time it proceeded to run just fine. Diagnosis: NEW CAR!!!!
Naw, just kidding, maybe. We're pretty sure it IS the lock-up converter, which we can disable by jacking up the car, putting it on stands, and unplugging its power source.
Now, about that passenger-side window..........
4 comments:
Yeah, leave it to GM not to fix a chronic transmission problem in their sedans. Although, it must be said, my Grandpa, a man who owned a prolific amount of cars in his lifetime, did remark before his passing that the Ciera was the "best car" he'd ever owned.
As annoying as the car can be (all post-Carter Cutlasses have it in for me & my dad), in it's 14 year, 120k mile lifetime, the only major repairs it has needed have been the passenger side window motor (now twice), an A/C recharge, and the transmission.
I just wish he'd have kept the '58 Impala with the 348!!! Or the '70 Monte Carlo. Or the MG TD. Although I think that when I was 16, I would've gone for the '80 Malibu with the 90 degree V6.
Btw, QuikTrip's chicken taquitos are pretty good...especially when you wash it down with a "Kiss the Rooster":
1/3 Rooster Booster
1/3 Wally's Puckerberry Freezoni
1/3 Rooster Booster Freezoni
What can I say? QT has a hold of me...
Hmmm...Gimlet had quite a day with misbehaving motorized windows. The passenger back window in my car has quit going up and down...at least we got it up and it can stay up!
My Waterloo seems to be red Cutlasses. No matter how nicely I treat them, the always rise up and bite me. That's why my favorite car color is blue!
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