1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

[wayne h]

well i was just given a 1987 bayliner capri 16 footer with a force 90 on it .boat is like new it belonged to my girlfreinds grandparents and was used 3 times and parked in ther barn till it was offer to us . i was looking for something smaller since i dont have much of a tow vehicle but it was free so how can i say no lol .. anyway i have a 1991 lumina sedan with a 3.1 v6 already hitched i use to pull a trailer and have used for smaller boats . do you think this would be ok for a tow / launch vehicle ? the boat ramp is about 10 miles from my home and the ramps are very nice grade nothing steep

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

Yes. It will be fine. Not the best combination for a cross-country boating vacation but for local trips it will work fine.

 

[jljue]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

While it may work, I hope that you don't have to back into the water too far, and it probably won't last too long without a lot of maintenance to the transmission.

 

[wayne h]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

thanks a ton i was not to sure but thought it would get me by local ..

 

[wayne h]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

i am a mechanic so i do service the tranny .. its really just a beater car that i use for work .but i do take care of it . it does have synthetic tranny fluid in it .. the boat ramps around here are not that steep they are build very car friendly. guess the only thing to do is give it a try and see how it goes

 

[The-Machinist]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

I tow with a 89 toyota camry. My boat is lighter than yours, but I know my Bass tracker, vro 40 johnson, and a lot, and I mean a lot of gear cant be all that different weight wise. and my toy only has a 4banger in it. I would suggest picking up an aux. trans cooler. Im pretty sure thats the only reason that she still tows this well at 275,xxx miles

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

Several years ago I drove my dad's 91 Lumina van (same engine I suppose) while towing an older 15' tri-hull w/75HP outboard (guessing it's similar weight to your boat as it was heavy for a small boat). The Lumina van towed the boat without problems, but,,, I was only driving on 55MPH county roads and towing 15-20 miles to local lakes.

I'm not sure how it would do on long hauls, but do remember a conversation with my dad about him towing a loaded Uhaul trailer from AZ to WI with the Lumina,,, and it was still running strong years later...

 

[Mkos1980]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

used a 90 Lumina 3.1 for years when i had my 16ft boat with 9.9 Evinrude on it. Never had one issue with it driving or at the ramp. It was only 70lbs TW. Sold the car with 156K on it and its still running with over 200 on it now.

 

[wayne h]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

yep 147,ooo on it now ans still going strong .. i never really liked the way they idled i have had a few 3.1s and they all seemed to have idled a little weird . but other then that there great motors , o YAA and the notorious intake gasket leak that they all seem to get at about 80ish thousand miles , but an after noon of wrenching takes care of that .

 

[Mkos1980]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

My idle was messed up when hot. Ended up being 3 bad injectors. The multec injectors an known to go. If you have a multimeter check the ohms on the injectors hot. Should be 13-17 Anything more or less is no good. Technically you want them all around 16.

 

[wayne h]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

thanks for the heads up i will have to check that

 

[Stepney55]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

Yeah it will tow fine. Grandparents towed an '89 Panther 16 footer with a Johnson 70 horse. It nearly killedd their 94 Mitsubishi Galant with a 4 banger, so they put a hitch on the '98 Grand Prix GTP (Supercharged and bored out version of your Lumina's engine) towed without a problem, even though it slipped ocationally on the ramp. They gave that boat to my dad a few years ago. he towed it on a dirt ramp that was very long and steep (about 60 feet of climbing). His 2000 Olds Silhouette usually didn't have any problems with it. Once we forgot to put the plug in and the boat filled up with water. We had lots of trouble getting out that day. The ramp we use now is much better, and we now have a much bigger boat, a 21 foot cuddy.

 

[wayne h]

Re: 1991 lumina tow vehicle ?

just wanted to chime in and tell you that i did use synthetic tranny fluid and all seems well with pulling and launching of the boat .. i have only had it out about 4 time .. i usually place the car at a slight angle in the ramp when loading so i have alittle more foot to come out with ..