1998 Cavalier stalls

Hey, I am new and found this place via Google. Hopefully someone could maybe help me out. I have a 1998 Chevy Cavalier LS 2.4L 111,000 miles Auto. I bought the car in Oct and with in a month I had to replace the water pump and all that jazz.....not fun. Anyway, once in a while when I would shift from park to reverse or drive, the car would go a few feet, then drop suddenly in RPMs and either stall or if I hit the gas fast enough, it would catch and keep running. At first it only happened maybe once a month if that, but lately it has been occurring more and more. I'm going to guess plugs, wires and fuel pump, but I was wondering if maybe there was something else I should check. Thanks.

I have a feeling it may be the alternator, could that cause the car to stall by any chance?

Plugs may need replaced, and if they do, replace them before doing anything else. The 2.4 doesn't have wires, it has boots (which may be called wires depending on the parts store you go to).

Test the fuel pressure before replacing the pump... From what you've described, it doesn't sound like the pump is bad.

The alternator cannot cause the problems described, the car could run just fine on the battery alone for several hours, depending on electrical load and condition of the battery.

Sometimes the torque converter can go into lock up at idle when it shouldn't and this will cause the car to act just like if you let the clutch out on a manual real fast and didn't give it gas-shudder and stall. I assume you have the 4T40E, I'm not sure if you can simply unplug the torque convertor solenoid on those, but on the 3 speed autos you could and if the problem goes away then you know you have something wrong with the torque converter or the lock up solenoid electrical/mechanical system.

Ok update. I was driving today going 60mph and out of no where my check engine light and ETS light came on. Now the car is running really off and rough and feels like it is chugging when I his the gas. I have no idea what in the world happened....

Well you need to have the code pulled. By "ETS" light, do you mean engine temperature or the traction control light? If it's the temperature and the gauge isn't reading high, you are probably low on coolant.

I believe it is the traction control light.

I believe it is the traction control light.

Correct. Electronic Traction Control. It comes on any time the check engine light is on. Check the codes, fix the problem, and the ETC light will go out.

The high temp light uses the same input as the gauge.

Alright, thanks. I'll be bring it to the shop Wednesday. Hopefully this isn't costly.

Ok, went to a shop, he says valve cover seals or leaking, it is an 8 hour job? Wow. He said that the oil leaked out and fouled the spark plug. Replaced them for now and he is willing to do the covers, so that will save me on cash.

Also does anyone know if Hankook tires or decent? Mine are pretty much gone and I got a quote of H714, 4 of them for $300.

Ok, went to a shop, he says valve cover seals or leaking, it is an 8 hour job? Wow. He said that the oil leaked out and fouled the spark plug. Replaced them for now and he is willing to do the covers, so that will save me on cash.

8 hours to change the valve cover gasket doesn't sound right. Neither would a valve cover "foul" the plugs? Are sure it wasn't the valve guide seals? That can oil foul plugs and maybe 8 hours laor is reasonable because I think the cams would have to come out to get to the valve seals. I don't know, this diagnosis doesn't sound that good. Does it use much oil or and blue smoke in the exhaust?


Also does anyone know if Hankook tires or decent? Mine are pretty much gone and I got a quote of H714, 4 of them for $300.

They might be just decent. They are chinese made tires. You can't go wrong with the right model of GoodYear or BfGoodrich.

If it's the 2.4L, it doesn't have a valve cover, it has two camshaft housings. to replace the gaskets, you have to pull the timing chain housing off the engine... couldn't tell you the exact time, but that doesn't sound too high to me. What usually happens is oil gets in the boots/plugs and lets to spark arc to the head instead of through to plug. It may be best for you to lean to replace the boot(s) and plug(s) that are getting fouled and just replace them when it starts acting up. If you do replace the gaskets, have him do the water pump while the engine's that far apart, they leak a lot, and it all has to come back apart to replace it later
If it's the 2.2ohv, stop going there... I can't imagine that being more than 2 hours, probably less.

I agree with the tires.. you get what you pay for, don't go cheap with tires or brakes!

I just replaced the water pump only a few months ago...I don't see replacing that again already to be worth it. I am already starting to not be a fan of this car and the engine(seems everything takes much longer on the 2.4L) J-Ri, I am guessing you are right, i really have no clue about the Cavalier.

I just replaced the water pump only a few months ago...I don't see replacing that again already to be worth it. I am already starting to not be a fan of this car and the engine(seems everything takes much longer on the 2.4L) J-Ri, I am guessing you are right, i really have no clue about the Cavalier.

If it's that new, there's no sense is doing it again, just wanted to suggest it if it hadn't been done.

They're very good cars overall, but that engine is overly complicated in many ways. It's much better than the 2.2 OHV for performance, but more expensive and time consuming to work on.

What was I right about?