1991 Pontiac Grand Am No designation (regular 2 door from North America - Comments

Been keeping up with the normal maintenance i.e. spark plugs, shocks, wires, brakes, etc.

Replaced heater core at over 100,000 but less than 200,000 miles.

Replaced ORIGINAL water pump and ORIGINAL fuel pump between 270,000 and 285,000 miles.

Replaced ORIGINAL crankcase censor and ORIGINAL ignition module between 270,000 and 280,000 miles. (Car was stalling unexpectedly after jolting a bit. Thought it was fuel lines, but turns out it wasn't--it was the ignition module and crankcase censor!)

Currently we're on our fourth alternator.

Currently we are on our fourth starter (the third one in a year). (see next problem)

Most recent problem... start car and drive somewhere, shut it off, get back in a few minutes later, it doesn't want to start. Let it sit, it starts fine. But start it up right after shutting it off and it won't start. When it happened, they put in a new starter, but it's still doing it. It's in the shop right now being looked at.

Window problems. Bought it w/o AC so windows are used daily. Windows come off track, window comes out of clips that hold it into the door.

Passenger seat doesn't click back into place unless you force it.

It's losing it's pickup a little over time, but I'd attribute that directly to the mileage!

This car will NEVER be traded in for anything. Even when we get a new vehicle, we're still going to run this Pontiac. It must have been a damn fine day when they made this, because overall I'd rate it a 9 out of 10.

I have a 93 grand am manual 4 cylinder... also have the same stalling problem and window problem!! (did you find out what the stalling problem is)???

Hey! I love my Grand Am, now... For a while it had the same problem of starting and running fine, and then it wouldn't turn over to save it's life. But it had a habit of starting just fine on the wrecker and for the shop, couldn't for the life of them find what was wrong with it.

Started replacing logical parts, starter, battery, ignition switch in steering column. FINALLY (sp) it looks as if it was the Neutral Safety Switch. This switch is in the engine compartment and may or may not be affixed to the engine I'm not sure. It prevents the car from starting if it detects the transmission is in gear. This is a feature held over from older cars (Pontiac and otherwise) to keep the car from leaping off cause you accidentally left it in gear and didn't know it. Apparently people used to not be careful and make sure they're cars were in park before leaving them and not drive or reverse.

But when it starts to go out, it'll sometimes at random think the transmission is in gear and won't let the car start. You then rock the car (ie-putting it on a wrecker) and it'll turn over just fine. I spent over a month replacing what I thought was wrong, just to have it run for a week or so and then refuse to start. It's not expensive, but not cheap either, but try replacing the Neutral Safety Switch and let me know if that helped or if you already got it fixed.

Bello

Bello@Webtv.net.

I have a 1993 grand am SE and its nothing but a piece of junk I will never buy another. My car is in the shop every other day.

WAY tooo many problems I am very disappointed with it.

I have a 1991 grand am I have the same problem it will die on me and let it sit for 10 minutes then it will start back up and die again I have had the crank sensor replaced and spark pug wires and all filters. when it dose start it will sputter then it will die. Any ideas

Hello.

1990 Grand Am 2.5L here. I had the same problem as all of you. Engine stalls when the engine is warm with no warning. Once it stalls, it'll turn over all day long-but only after you let it cool down will it start right up again. This is the CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR, a little plastic sensor that GM decided would be just fine inside the 2000+ degree engine block.

Good luck, Grand Am owners!!

I recently purchased a 1991 Grand AM (No LE or SE) with he standard 2.5L and 5 speed manual tranny. I bought it for an extra car, as it was so cheap and I knew both myself and my room mate would be doing work on our vehicles, enough to put them out of commission for a day or two here and there. So the GA would come in handy for work etc. Everything was great for a month, then on the very day I had taken it farthest from home, it just died! Eventually found a blown fuel pump fuse. Replaced the fuse and only have to turn the key to "on" to blow it again and again. Got the wiring diagrams, did some testing and decided for $60, I'd try replacing the fuel pump first. Put it all back together and had the same problem. Decided that I had to have a dead short going back to the pump somewhere. So, started tracing wires and found that the connectors entrance from the pump harness to the inside of the car was cracked on the inside of the car. This due to the fact that GM put the entrance point right where all the pressure from the lower part of the back seat would apply crushing pressure to the plastic connector. After a few years of the foam sliding downward it was bound to happen, especially if you have people riding in he back seat often. Straightened out the wires, taped up the clip, and it now runs like a champ. A bargain now, but what a pain to fix that one!

I have a 91 with the 2.5. I had the same problem. If I went above 70 mph or needed a quick burst of speed it would chug a bit and die on me. I sat on a few interstates for this one. It turned out the be the crankshaft position sensor, so that seems like the logical choice for anyone having this problem. Later when the weather started getting warmer if the car sat running in a drive-thru and got to about 200 degrees the fan would kick on, but I'd shut it off, go inside a store and it wouldn't even crank. Almost like when the starter locks up. Once again when you waited 10 minutes it starts right up... more annoying than anything. My father is a mechanic and we have both racked our brains with this one. It's not the starter, it's not the ignition module because all electrical comes on when you turn the key, and it's not the neutral switch. By the way, all the neutral switch is, is just a crude metal contact that hits a sensor when it's fully in park and can expand when hot making it not hit the sensor and not start. So finally we just ran a simple electrical from a push button in the cabin to the starter, so if it ever doesn't start I turn the key on and kit the button, pretty much shorting the starter to crank. The funny thing, we seemed to fix the problem while doing this because I haven't had to use it yet in 2 months when it did not wanna start every other day. So your guys guesses are as good as mine.

I bought a 91 Pontiac grand am about 8 months ago. It ran fine four 7 months now it will cut off after driving it for 45 min. when you come to a stop, but it will start right back up. then when you put in in drive it will die again. So I have to start it and then give it a lot of gas then put it in drive to take back off do you know what this is.