96 2.2 auto. Stalling making me crazy.

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

It happens after it's warm/hot and driven a while. I can actually feel a misfire at highway speeds at a light load - maintaining a constant speed. Full throttle is fine. It will stall while sitting still in traffic at a stop. It doesn't happen all the time but in B2B traffic it can do it several times but starts right back up without a hitch. We purchased the car with 57K. It has 108 now. I've replaced the fuel filter, ignition module, crank sensor, plugs,O2 sensor, IAC motor and cleaned the injectors. No codes stored and no C/E light. I checked the EGR valve and the plunger moves freely. I can sometimes duplicate the misfire by holding the idle at about 2000-2200 rpms for about 30 seconds. It will sputter out of the tailpipe but it doesn't actually sound like an outright misfire. It's not the TCC solenoid as I've unplugged that too. It stalls while sitting still, not when coming to a stop. I disconnected the coolant temp sensor and drove it around for a while. The idle picked up and it didn't stall. It put the C/E light on and ran the cooling fan constantly. I used my friend's Snap-On scanner but he doesn't have the right cartridge for the car. I'm only able to look at "Generic OBD-II" codes and info. All seems to be well. The cooling fan kicks on at 225 f and off at 215f. Before I break down and resort to takeing it to a dealer and paying 2-3 hrs diagnoistic time, anyone have suggestions ?? Poss a bad coolant sensor or ecu ?? Thanks...

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

Anyone ?? Beuler ??

[WhiteCavaliac]

Its your fuel pump, I had the same problems. Have you listened to the whining of the fuel pump while its on and when its about to stall. When its about to stall it should whine really high then stop then the engine will stall. All I did was contact a salvage yard and got a used one for $50 bucks compared to $300 to $350 for a new one.

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

Thanks. I'm gonna try that Saturday am....

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

I assume the tank has to be dropped on this puppy ?!?!?!?

[Three_Fingers]

YUp. Tanko droppo...
Check your TPS with an ohmmeter (off the car) or with a DC voltmeter (on the car) while you move the throttle.
Ground lead in the center terminal.
Check resistance from both sides.
From one side-the resistance should rise steadily as you move the throttle towards WOT position.
The other side should steadily decrease as you move the throttle back towards idle position.
Any weird, severe fluctuations means bad TPS.
The TPS works like a two-way volume control.
(Remember the cheap stereos? The volume control would get crunchy and one minute you'd have low volume and then you'd hit a bump or touch it and it would suddenly BLARE?)
Same thing happens to the TPS after long, hard service. Except instead of blaring it'll cause uncontrolled bursts of fuel or intermittent no fuel from the injector(s) because the TPS thinks the throttle is moving when it really isn't.

[-Jayson-]

umm sounds like the problem i was having with my 95 2.2L cav. It wouldnt stall out, just at a low RPM it would feel the it was mis firing, the engine would shake and almost stall but it never did. Also i noticed it would do it more often after a rain storm. . .

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

Originally Posted by Three_Fingers

YUp. Tanko droppo...
Check your TPS with an ohmmeter (off the car) or with a DC voltmeter (on the car) while you move the throttle.
Ground lead in the center terminal.
Check resistance from both sides.
From one side-the resistance should rise steadily as you move the throttle towards WOT position.
The other side should steadily decrease as you move the throttle back towards idle position.
Any weird, severe fluctuations means bad TPS.
The TPS works like a two-way volume control.
(Remember the cheap stereos? The volume control would get crunchy and one minute you'd have low volume and then you'd hit a bump or touch it and it would suddenly BLARE?)
Same thing happens to the TPS after long, hard service. Except instead of blaring it'll cause uncontrolled bursts of fuel or intermittent no fuel from the injector(s) because the TPS thinks the throttle is moving when it really isn't.

Thanks, I'll try that tonight. The fuel pump was an excercise in futility. The tank is spotless inside but at least it has a new fuel pump now.... Actually got a Check Engine light finally on Wednesday. 0302 I believe it was - cyl #2 misfire. When we looked at misfire history with a Snap-On scanner, it actually showed 400+ misfires on cylinder #3 !! We cleared the code then checked again. Looking at misfire history, it showed 2 misfires on cyl #2, then the count changed back to zero. It did this several times - 2 misfires then back to 0.

[WhiteCavaliac]

Jayson's problem is probably the ignition, exspecially since it start to occur after the rainstorm.
My cavalier 97 2.2 auto with no reverse was up to the windshield with water when I dove into 30 yards of flooded road. My friend and I was quite intoxicated for we where both running on about six flavored vodka shots and working on a bottle of wine and didnt see all the cars parked on the side of the road and people standing around hold there heads in disblief. It wasn't the smartest thing I have ever done but the cavalier pulled all the way through and I was impressed. It was also thanks to the intake mounted next to the battery. The car now has a slight miss but I don't think its the flood but the plug wires.

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

TPS didn't do it either... I found a mobile diagnostician. $140 flat fee to find the problem. No charge if he doesn't find it. Heard good things about him. Have appt set for next week.

[VW/CHEVYGUY]

Problem solved !!!! Neutral Safety Switch terminals were corroded AND the new TPS was bad. It had no readings until about 1/4 throttle... SO the whole time it was the safety switch. It was corroded badly and grounding. At speed it was actually bucking in & out of drive & neutral. The TPS was losing signal and shutting fuel down... Now that the damn car has new: timing chain,radiator, ignition module,o2 sensor,crank sensor,TPS,IAC motor,ecu and fuel pump, it's prectically new....