2002 Cavalier No Start/Run

[dauber65]

Alright guys I need a brain trust here,
My g/f's 2002 Cavi is giving me issues. She left my house last night around 10. She was fairly low on gas (like one bar left). She went to Hucks near my house to fill up with no problems. She filled up and was turning left out of Hucks when her car died on her turning onto Allen (I checked and she did get unleaded and not diesel). She called me and I went over there. First thing I did was push her off the road into the apartment parking lot. When you try to start the car it will start and run normal for a few seconds around 1,100 RPM. Then it suddenly falls to around 500 struggles and dies. It was doing this over and over last night. I was curious if it was a battery/alternator issue so I hooked my jumpers up to her car with my truck running. It was still doing the same thing. I called my dad who asked me if I could hear the fuel pump prime when the key is "on". And I could hear the pump flutter, but then I also noticed another noise. Under the intake around the fuel rail I could hear an odd noise. It also made the same noise when you turned the key "off". It sounds like a hissing or bubbling noise and sometimes it makes a funny small clank noise. For a second I thought it sounded like a small dinosaur under there. There was a small green cap that my dad told me to take off to see if there is fuel pressure in the lines. Between a lack of communication issues between my g/f and I and the darkness that didn't let me see anything, I couldn't really test anything. I just gave up because I was getting cold. This morning I had my g/f go out with me to her car to see if anything "reset" itself over night. Well her car just turns over now and doesn't even try to start like it was last night. It turns over good, so its not the battery. I'm guessing a fuel pump issue, but I'm open to suggestions and ideas.

[ubercav]

I had a fairly similar problem. I could start the car and it would run for approximately 3 seconds before sputtering and then dying. I had it towed and fixed the next day, turned out to be arcing from the spark plug wires. Somebody else might be able to offer more insight. Hopefully, it's the same problem I had and not your fuel pump.

[Classicrocjunkie]

Could be frozen lines ( water in tank with letting it get that low in winter) clogged fuel filter letting the tank be that low tends for the pump to suck up junk on bottom, or what the guy said above. But that would be more of a really bad stumble.

[dauber65]

I plan on dumping in a can of HEET (it is like 15 degrees outside) and changing out the fuel filter in the process. I'll look at the arcing situation if I still run into issues. Thanks for some insight guys, keep it coming!

[dauber65]

Just an update. Got the car pushed into my garage (around 45 degrees) a few days back. I added a can of heet to the tank. I've now changed plugs and wires (didn't set out to, but I broke a wire in half, so I decided why not). After this the car didn't start (I really didn't expect it to though). We tore the intake, ECM's, and all that garbage off the top of the motor attempting to find a test port in the fuel rail for pressure. Turns out a 2002 Cavi doesn't have one, how wonderful. I also didn't have a large enough metric wrench to change the fuel filter. So tonight will be fuel filter and possibly renting a special gauge from somewhere to tap into a fuel line for a Cavi, maybe around the filter. I'm not to happy with GM for making this car not servicable on the fuel rails.

[rustymac]

Any luck yet. My 2000 had the same problem when I ran it low on fuel. I changed the filter and that did not help. I could here my pump running, but that did not mean it had enough pressure. What I found was the sock filter on the bottom of my pump was clogged. Some will tell you it is not serviceable. It is. GM will sell you one. My suggestion is to drop the tank, remove the filter and bring it to GM. There is two different styles of socks so you will need to know what it looks like. The sock filter is white. Mine was very dark, a very ugly brown.

[kezia]

my friend's honda awhile back had something similar. it just turned out that she needed new spark plugs. we were turning into a gas station and it just started sputtering like hell and shut off. so we pushed it into a parking spot and popped the hood. that was all.