96 Cavalier Mystery

Shortly after Thanksgiving, my 96 Cavalier started giving me problems by slowly dying as I was driving along. When I tired to accelerate, the car would slow down even more. After less than a minute it would reset itself and accelerate again. I brought my car to the mechanic and he fixed my ignition coils and plugs. The car stopped doing all that nonsense while still driving on the interestate, but kept dying on when stopped or when I'm rolling backward to back out of my drive way. It also will hesitate while driving sometimes like it is a starvation for fuel. I brought it back to the mechanic for a second time and he changed the crankshaft sensor, fuel filter, and gave my car a tune up. It didn't work! I brought it back for one last time and he changed another sensor (I'm car illiterate, the sensor was having to do with the ignition system). I also found out that the fuel pump relay was overheating and melting the black foamy stuff. He said that it has nothing to do with why my car is acting the way it is. After changing my entire ignition system, my car still shuts off when stopped or rolling AND still hesitates while driving.

It remains a mystery and is really bringing down my Christmas spirit b/c I am supposed to make a long 2 hr trip in a week. Can anybody help me out? Fuel pump? Something connected to the fuel pump? That has been my and my brother's (used to be a mechanic) guess all along, but my mechanic said can't be. Could it?

how many miles(cavaliers are nice but not the most dependable)

how many miles(cavaliers are nice but not the most dependable)
maybe its just yours;....i have 98 z24 w/209000 miles,& 97 w/2.2 with 190000 miles.

My Cavalier was owned by an old lady who only went to the store and back to her house. When I bought it a year ago, it was at 30,000 or so. Now, it is 43,000. Not that much.

My father is coming over tomorrow to see what he can do. We are now thinking that it is electrical, but how do I go about finding out what it could be. Electrical problems are way pesky to find.

is it a 2.2 or 2.4?

is it a 2.2 or 2.4?

2.2

well, I will say the symptoms seem like the fuel pump.. I work for a warranty co and most of the calls we get for cavys are for the fuel pump, even more for 95-99 cavys.... u might wanna check that out dude

i could be wrong,but i dont think it is the fuelpump.and i hate to sound like a broken record,but did you check the IAC valve?this damn valve/sensor seems to be one of the #1 problems for these cars.also,you said you got the coils changed,maybe there bad also (i bought 4 or 5 sets before finding good ones;and yeah they were all new) did you check the ignition control module,also

how does it start after it stalls.does it start right up?

well, I will say the symptoms seem like the fuel pump.. I work for a warranty co and most of the calls we get for cavys are for the fuel pump, even more for 95-99 cavys.... u might wanna check that out dude

The only reason why we are trying to rule out the fuel pump is because the car will start right back up after shutting off. $200 dollars is a lot to put out if that isn't the problem.

how does it start after it stalls.does it start right up?

They changed the ignition control module as well...yes, it starts right up.

Not sure about the IAC ...I'll pass that onto my father.

your problems sounds like the one i had on my 94 cav check you cat

your problems sounds like the one i had on my 94 cav check you cat
yeah,i never thought about the cat

thats right, it could possibly be the cat !!

thats right, it could possibly be the cat !!

I know that I sound like an idiot, but I am seriously car illiterate. What is the cat?

catylatic converter (in the exhaust system)

catylatic converter (in the exhaust system)

what if you just take it out?

well,you can if you dont mind a check engine light,& your car sounding like shit....you could also get a high-flow cat,thats what i did.you usually gain some top-end power w/a high flow cat but you also loose a little low-end

just to make sure that you dont have a fuel problem, you might want to switch out your fuel filter.. your pump could be drawing alot of power to blow thru a close to clogged filter.. that could make your relay heat up a bit

and if you havent switched your filter in a while, its a cheap and easy thing to do that will prolong the life of your pump

Brandolyn: thats cool, we all were car illiterate at once.... the catalytic converter, part of the exhaust system

oh well, I just saw page #1, thats why I just answered what the cat was...!! hehehe
anyway, did u find the problem??

Grab a bottle of some high-grade fuel injector cleaner from Auto Zone. Toss it in while grabbing a full tank of 91oct gas.

Fixed my problem completely in my 96 cavalier. Now, I can also rev the engine while parked and not have the engine reving up and down.

Catalytic converter is part of you exhaust system and has a ceramic honeycomb, sometimes the ceramic honeycomb will break up and plug your exhaust system when this happens it will not allow the engine to breath and will stop or just barley go at all. Each condition can vary depends on how the exhaust is blocked. This is a definite possiblity and should be checked. Do you get any codes (dose you check engine light come on), you mechanic should be able to read the engine codes and tell what the trouble is, that's what the OBS (on board systems) is all about. Fuel pump can be checked for propper preasure somtimes a pump will fail when it gets hot quit working and when you restart your car it will work again. Your mechanic should be able to find the problem with proper equipment and diagnostics there should not be all this hit and miss changing of components hoping to hit the fix.

you should change the fuel filter regardless.. its cheap

Buddy already had the fuel filter changed! I would say problem in the fuel line. Something causing starvation. Something I always do an any car whether carb spi mpi or efi in this case is throw in some fuel system cleaner with highest octane fuel available and do this for a couple of tankfuls and this usually work. If the old lady did very little mileage and only went locla in it the car may never have gotten out cold running cycle so the car mey be coked/gummed up as it's like always running a carbed motor on choke. this is the cheapest way to find out and you have to put gas in it anyhow!

oh well, I just saw page #1, thats why I just answered what the cat was...!! hehehe
anyway, did u find the problem??

No, we still haven't fixed the problem. Just a few days ago, my check engine light came on. The code showed the MAP sensor. The mechanic said that if somebody played with the idle, the MAP sensor got effected and the idle just needs to be ajusted. I think that the MAP sensor needs to be changed b/c before anybody played with the idle, the car was doing the same thing. So, I will see what happens after I get it back.

If this doesn't work, I'm getting another used car thanks to my fiance.

I'll post if I find out what's up with the car.

Thank you so much for your help!

you should change the fuel filter regardless.. its cheap

Fuel Filter was the first thing changed when the problem started.

catalliac converter

It was my fuel pump. If anybody ever has this problem, I want ya'll to know what it could be related to. The pressure in my fuel pump was below normal level and needed to be changed.

Thank goodness that's over. Now, my brakes are starting to act up..but that's an easy fix.

Thanks to all that tried to help me in this!

oh well, I just saw page #1, thats why I just answered what the cat was...!! hehehe
anyway, did u find the problem??


It was the fuel pump! LoL

catylatic converter (in the exhaust system)

Thanks for your help. We found out that it was the fuel pump.

Thanks for your help. We found out that it was the fuel pump.

Not trying to sound big-headed but I said it was fuel starvation! I am hapy for you to have the problem rectified now. Good luck with the brakes!