1994 Grand Am 2.3 L no power on acceleration.. PLEASE HELP!

I have a 1994 Pontiac Grand Am 2.3 L. I went 3 blocks yesterday to the highway and as i got ready to pull out onto the highway I lost power (like foot feed to the floor and going 20 mph). Drove it back home (3 blocks) and the engine is over heating within 3 blocks but temp gage isn't registering over heating (Incredibly hot under the car within 3 blocks). Engine was shaking badly and whatever it was blew a hole in my muffler? Put on all new spark plugs, oil change, oil filter... No more shaking in the motor but still no power when trying to go. Cut catalytic converter off and tried to drive out of the driveway, still no power on acceleration. So now I am at a loss and have no idea what to look at now! Can anyone please help me, I am a single mother and this is my only means of transportation.

Hi, your symptoms are clear indication that something is restricting the flow of your exhaust gases (also engine overheating) is another strong sign that hot exhaust gases are not able to escape from the engine on time and thus chocking your engine. Exploding muffler is big indication that there is restriction before the muffler or in the muffler itself. So I would cut the pipe in front of the muffler and see what happens. I don't know who, how or where they cut the cat but that should help if the cut was before cat. Maybe it was too noisy so you were afraid to step on the gas when cat was cut, so you were not able to verify if power is back or not. Also you have to consider that once the exhaust is cut you are loosing back pressure and at starts your car will act like it has no power.

- I need to know what happens when you press pedal to the floor, is engine raving high but car is not moving as it should with the movement of gas pedal?

other things to check:

-when you press gas pedal to the floor, does the butterfly in the throttle body open completely?

I still think it is one of the two: clogged CAT or muffler.

Engine revs but no power like it should be ( i mean like crawling with the foot feed to the floor) cant be the cat clogged cause we cut the cat off, still no power. if it is the muffler that is clogged it would have to be upline from the cat. Also, when i start it i get pure gas smell fumes for about 5 minutes which never happened until this all happened?

- so engine revs normally with the accelerator pedal movement but car is not moving at all right? Check your transmission fluid level please. Shift in reverse and see if power is normal in reverse or is it acting the same?

- check fuel pressure regulator for signs of fuel in the vacuum line: here is how fuel pressure regulator looks:

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1994/pontiac/grand_am/fuel_injection/fuel_pressure_regulator.html

open this picture and right below where it says 16V is the pressure regulator check that vacuum line for signs of fuel

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/4553/4101/23882050029_large.jpg



also find obd1 connector under the steering column and use paper clip to jump terminals A and B, turn ignition key to on position and read number of flashes for the check engine light. First code you will see is code 12 it will show as one flash then pause and then two flashes - that means that you are able to read codes then wait for other codes counting the number of flashes. Example for code 34 you will see 3 flashes then pause then 4 flashes.

tell us what codes you have,

also there is vacuum modulator on your transmission please check that vacuum line is connected to it and that the same vacuum line does not have any leaks. Here is how vacuum modulator looks like:

http://images.wrenchead.com/smartpages/partinfo_resize/DUS/8662967.jpg

that is the original, if it doesn't look like this then it is smaller and gold color.


also: you did not tell me if throttle plate is opening completely when gas pedal is pressed to the floor?
if you don't know what throttle plate is, you can try this: Shift into Park, turn engine on and ask someone to press the accelerator pedal several times until you see something that is moving in the engine compartment and it will be connected via accelerator pedal cable, then stay on the side of the car and try to move that moving part by hand more back and fort if you can and listen to the engine sound. Is it reving more when you move it by hand all the way or is it the same as when someone presses the accelerator pedal to the floor. It can be that cable is out of adjustment now and is not opening the plate as it should. Please answer all the questions it is important to diagnose the problem.

Umm Hi I have did everything that you have told her to do and my car is doing the same thing her is. when u give it gas it doesn't want to go. but as soon as it pick up it will go. But when u come to a stop and the go it cut out really bad. plz help me I cjange everything on the car

candyf, you should have started your own thread, it get confusing when your "steal" someone else's thread, even when it's a dead one...