"96" sunfire rough idle no power

[mikefin]

my grand duaghter has a 96 sunfire it idles rough and has no power while its in gear.
she took it to a shop but the guy said he cant find the problem.
triing to help her by long distance so i cant look at the car or listen to it.
she said it was running fine,then one day she started it the idle was rough and now power under load.
any thing i can tell her to look at would be nice
thank for the help

[GTP Dad]

Welcome to AF!!

How many miles on the car? This sounds like she could have a blocked catalytic converter. Rough idle and no power usually indicate some restriction in the exhaust system. The other thing would be a partially blocked fuel filter that is robbing the car of fuel pressure. Easy and inexpensive to change.

[mikefin]

Originally Posted by GTP Dad

Welcome to AF!!

How many miles on the car? This sounds like she could have a blocked catalytic converter. Rough idle and no power usually indicate some restriction in the exhaust system. The other thing would be a partially blocked fuel filter that is robbing the car of fuel pressure. Easy and inexpensive to change.

sorry for takeing so long to get back to you .
the car has close to 100,000 miles on it,and a machanic check the coverter said it was ok,the engine lite stays on too.it has an oil leak that is soaking one of the spark plugs.

[GTP Dad]

Did you have the computer scanned to see what the codes were? This will give you a good indication of what is going on with the engine. If you get it scanned post the codes here and someone will help you out.

[edmeric]

I have a 96 sunfire and have owned it sinnce day one. I'v had this problem twice. first replaced plugs, wires, and fuel filter. problem fixed. 2nd time alternator went out, idled rough and now power in gear. Has it ever had a tune up?