I have a 94 Chevy Lumina APV van with 200K miles on it. Starting a few months ago I noticed that the entire light system (headlights, dashboard lights) and fan blower would randomly die, all at the same time, for about 5 seconds and then come back on.
Some observations:
* It’s always happened at highway speeds.
* The engine runs normally during all this.
* The “blackout” always lasts about 5 seconds.
* It happens about once every couple of days.
This seems like too much of a chunk of the electrical system for it to be one particular circuit or a dislodged fuse. After all, we’re talking about lights and a fan blower. Any idea what is going on here or some tips for narrowing the problem down?
While we ruminate on the possible cause for this vehicle’s malaise, let’s not overlook the sublime irony of its name and its problems.
I would check the power distribution panel under the hood. There is most likely a main circuit supplying those areas and it gets divided up further down steam. You may be able to locate the trouble by tapping on suspected trouble connections using a screwdriver handle while watching for the trouble to occur. There may also be faulty relay causing this to happen.
I am beging to think it may be a problem with all luminas.My 96 lumina car does about the sme but only when you are stoped and changing gears,sometimes stalling the car.Also sometimes it wont turn over when starting it,you have to jiggle the wiring harness under the hood to make it work.I gave up on trying to track it down and deal with it till it dies.