tdellaringa

Yes, it did in fact do the trick. I'll check my owners manual, I was only going by what the mechanic told me. Thanks!

Excellent, thank you I will try that today!

Just to follow up - no warning lights and I took the car in to get the wire (singular) replaced that was damaged. It ran fine for a few weeks, then I got the service engine light. Guy put it on the machine and said I simply needed a tuneup. So he tuned it up, complete new set of wires and plugs and it runs fine. There was more than one damaged wire, and both had pretty significant areas where the insulation had been worn or torn away. No idea how it got that way in the first place. The guy also claimed I had Bosch platinum plugs in the car, which are the "worst plugs you can put in your car" for some reason. He said Bosch are normally fine except for those. I had never heard that. He said they simply don't perform well... Ocnblu - this is the 3800 engine, not the 3.4. The engine at this point runs really strong, the only issues being at certain speeds (like around 50ish) it will hesitate at times. But in general the pickup is still good.

Hi there, I have a 1998 Lumina LTZ with 134,000 miles. I get the oil changes about every 3-6k miles, usually closer to 6 than 3. I have a dummy "change oil soon" light that comes on pretty much every time I start the car - even the day I get the oil changed. It's stays on for a couple a minutes and then goes off. The guy at the shop said the sensor measures the oil viscosity - so if it is brand new oil what is the problem? Is this just a faulty sensor on a old car? Anything I can do about it? Also, is there a quick fix for rusty rotors? I got my brakes done fairly recently but they are a bit rusty and squeak, wondering if there is something simple I can do. Thanks

Yeah, I concur just like I said - around here pretty much nobody shuts down the car this time of year. Putting the oil in while running, well that's a separate issue and I shouldn't have been so stupid. I'm taking the car in tomorrow to get new wires on it. Well, I *used* to have a rear wheel drive car, my '77 Vette, but I had to sell it during the dot.com bust. But in all seriousness, this car has treated me real well. A real workhorse, and with 131,000 miles on it the engine still has a lot of punch.

You guys are just full of good news eh? Why would you get rid of the car? Wouldn't replacing the wires be enough? And honestly, I know you're supposed to turn off your car when you gas up, but let's be honest here. In the Midwest, in winter, 90% of the people in any given gas station are gassing up a car that is running. I guarantee you that morning there were some 12-15 cars gassing up there, and they were pretty much all running. Doesn't make it right, or smart, but hey that's life. Doesn't make me any less stupid, either I guess.

Ok, I admit I did a stupid thing, but man it was seriously cold. I have a 1998 Chevy Lumina LTZ with 131,000 miles on it. The car has been really good to me for the most part and still runs well. Yesterday I went to get my weekly fillup. The car burns a bit of oil, and thus I get the "change oil" dummy light far more often than I think the car needs it. (I generally change oil every 6-8k). When the oil light starts coming on, I generally start adding a quart of oil here and there until I get in for an oil change. So I pull in, start gassing up and get a quart of oil. I didn't turn the car off due to the cold (I know, bad idea). I open the hood, unscrew the cap and start pouring in the oil. Well, I have no funnel so some of it spills on to the front of the block - and a fire starts. It's 5:30 am and way too early for such hijinks! I quickly turn off the car, pull out the gas line (which had finished) and run inside the station to get a extinguisher (which turns out to be outside). Long story short, I got the extinguisher and with one quick burst put out the small fire. So... now I'm wondering what damage I did to the car. The fire burned for maybe 2-3 minutes, and it was small. I'm fairly sure what was burning was the small amount of oil that spilled. It's dark and I can't see anything. I start the car and it seems to run fine. I drive to work, and it's fine. Drive home, fine, and no problems today. However, when it got light out I took a look and I could see that the middle spark plug wire has a small section (say half the size of a dime) where the insulation is gone. I don't know if this is from the fire, or if this caused the fire (electrical current mixed with oil = stupid fire?) - maybe it was like that, I really don't know. In any event, I assume I should at least replace the wire. Am I in any imminent danger driving with it slightly exposed like that? Should I tape it up until I can bring it in? The engine looks fine and seems to run fine other than that. Is there any other damage I should check for? Could I have been any more stupid? (Ignore that last question). I do believe also that the car has synthetic oil in it, which I usually request but the gas station didn't have that so I was putting in regular, I assume that isn't too big a deal. The LTZ has been a great car up to this point, I was hoping to drive this thing until the cows come home... if I can avoid burning it to the ground that is... Any tips are appreciated! Tom