1993 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

This car was given to me by a friend that no longer wanted to pay for repairs. The problem was a cracked head and blown head gasket.

In 3 boxes, were all the parts to put the top end back together. Keep in mind now I still had to hunt for a head that was still usable. After a 2 week search, a head was found and was certified as being a good part.

The car was then reassembled. I was very pleased with how smooth the engine ran.

I drove it on real short trips less than 10 miles at a time to make sure all the "bugs" were worked out and was ready to be put to good use.

The problems then started. On a family cruise in the Grand Am, the overdrive seemed to not disengage, the car violently shook and died while trying to come to a complete stop. After a few attempts to get rolling again, I was able drive the rest of the way home.

At every stop that I had to make the car would keep doing the same exact thing. Limping home was no fun.

The following day came and it was time to work on the Grand Am once again. This time the Grand Am would no start. Frustration and borderline anger was showing it's ugly head. The best thing I did that day was walk away. The next day, the trouble maker was found, turns out that the problem was within my shifter. I know how to get it to start, but cannot pinpoint the actual source.

Oh yeah, I forgot to also mention that the front motor mount seems to be bad. there is a terrible noise when shifting in reverse that sounds like marbles are under the hood. You can push against the mount and the noise goes away, let it go and here comes the marbles again. I think that when all the bugs get worked out this will be a fine car and hope it lasts as long as my 1992 Ford Explorer has, that has 332,500 miles on it and still goes everyday.

This car for its age was very well kept.

The interior looks like brand new.

The seating is more than comfortable and I imagine it would be comfortable on a long trip.

The overall ride that it gives is underrated. Comparable to luxury.

Low interior noise.

Great braking response.

User friendly cockpit.

Rather easy to work on. (for me anyway)

I don't even know if you'll even get this. Just curious, were you ever able to figure out why your car would violently shake and die? Did it happen often after that?

I've spent close to $1000 trying to figure out what is wrong with my '93 Grand Am for doing the same exact thing and no mechanic can figure it out! It happens for me if I go over 40mph.

MY 93 SE does the same thing, shakes cuts off and to me feels like the transmission was gonna drop out every time I tried to put in in reverse and restart took a while. I noticed in one of the comments that someone said the oxygen sensor was a cut off problem.

I had shudder problem with my 93 se, the transmission torque converter is the problem. Should be able to have fixed at a good trans shop for $150 -$200.

I have a 93 pontiac grand am SE (motor sport) V-6 only 1,000 of them were made. When I bought the car the sales person said that there were many different things different about this car than other pontiac's, well I guess not it seems to be a common problem when coming to a stop it will shake, make a weird nose then stop. Then when I start it back up an put it into D, R,gear2,or1 it sound like the engine fell out the car or somthing. but one thing that I do that will overide that from happening, is if I don't have to come to a stop I will push the gas pedal about half way down so it can get out of the 3rd or 4th gear. Is only seems to do that if I'm going about 60 m.p.h. or over or the computer of the trans tell's the car to shift in to over drive.

I have a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am SE (2.3L DOHC Quad 4 HO) with the same problem. When the car is brought to a stop it shutters and then stalls. This is caused by the TCC lockup not releasing.

When you're in D1 or D2, your drive from the engine is transferred to the wheels through the torque converter. In these gears, there are finned plates turning in transmission fluid that are used to transfer power from the plate attached to the engine, through the fluid to the plate that goes to the wheels.

When you are in third gear, there is a lockup device that connects these plate together no longer, allowing the slippage of these plates through the fluid. This is so you get good gas mileage and no overheating of the transmission fluid. If this lockup does not release when you come to a stop, you will stall the engine. Thus the shudder. If someone came along and lifted the front of your car before it came to a complete stop, this stall would not happen. (LOL) Obviously this is not practical. So it's best to get it fixed.

The part is not that expensive, but the labor can be depending on where you take it. Hope this helps.