Chugging / Bucking Cavalier

[NJH_Habitatpro]

My friends caviler is doing it now. Have not had the chance to really check it out but on the back of the motor there is this hard hose above the spark plugs that is loose and I think its a vacuum hose. Dont know if that would cause problems or not but im going to check that clip out back there that someone said something about.

[JGarretson]

^mikemartin
Wow! It seems as though you have covered all your bases and the problem still exists. You described my problem precisely, except that it has yet to die out completely.
I refuse to plop the amount of coin you have into this car that has 140000 miles on it. It's my beater and my goal is to keep it running and for it to be "safe". I've had more stupid little things go wrong than I care to have with any car. Such as two springs in the seat back that are still within the fabric, but jab at me as I drive. One side of the headlights had quit working and the notorious broken wire on the CTS, and the rear defroster button/wiring burns/smokes when activated.
I just want it to last until my stang is pd in full so that I can get another car. Maybe I'll buy a gas scooter for ~$1G to tide me over during the summer months.

Oh well. Anyone else with a suggestion to the topic at hand?

[Ryan066]

anyone do a back pressure test?
its a possibly that the converter is pluged ,,, but you would think that wouldnt interminent,, its worth checking tho.

[ImSoBored]

i had the exact same problem a couple of months ago. my brother-in-law changed the oil, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and a the distributor.
i think thats what it is called. one end of the spark plug wire goes to the spark plug and the other goes to the distributor.
i bought it like a year before and never used it so i decided to put it on and when i started the car it was fine. then like a day later it started to mess up. went to the shop and found out it was the distributor.
i spent 250 to replace that 50 dollar part.

[03cavPA]

Don't bad mouth the Cav just yet. I just picked up a 95 Ford Contour with 83k miles that is starting to do the same thing. We can't figure it out, either, but we've been the same route everyone else has, no luck.

I'll let you guys know if I find out what it is, but I'm ready to let the car roll off a cliff.

[JGarretson]

Originally Posted by 03cavPA

Don't bad mouth the Cav just yet. I just picked up a 95 Ford Contour with 83k miles that is starting to do the same thing. We can't figure it out, either, but we've been the same route everyone else has, no luck.

I'll let you guys know if I find out what it is, but I'm ready to let the car roll off a cliff.

That sucks! BUT, time kills cars as much or more than mileage does. Not to mention you haven't owned that car since new and don't know it's service history. I've owned this cavvy since new and now has 141,000 miles. It's the "stupid stuff" that's been going out on it. When something major goes, the car will probably too.

[dmellott47]

the problem to the cavalier chugging/bucking is the intake gasket. i had the car running and pushed on the intake{Plastic}by the way and the engine started to die. so i changed the gasket and it runs perfect now.