Car chugging/stalling/poor acceleration

[cward123]

Hi,
I have been having many problems with my 98 sunfire lately and I need help diagnosing the cause. It used to occasionally stall after I was stopped at a stop light or in stop-and-go traffic. Recently it has been been stalling more frequently, sometimes even after I just started the car. Last time I was on the highway for about 30 minutes and all of a sudden it began chugging, but it passed after about 5 minutes of continued driving. Last night when I was leaving the store about 10 minutes from my house, it stalled as soon as I started the car. I eventually got it going, and by the time I got onto the main street, it would barely accelerate. I could essentially put the pedal to the floor and it felt as though the car was just going to die. After keeping the gas down, it started chugging and very slowly gaining some speed. All of a sudden the car jolted and it began speeding up. This happened many times, and it occured after every stop I made the whole way home. I get different responses from everyone as to what the cause might be, so it would be really great to hear another opinion. Any help/ideas as to what it is or what I should do would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[89man]

yeah probably insufficient amount of fuel to intake or blown head gasket

[dwb985]

how long has it been since you replaced the fuel filter its recommended to be changed every 50,000 miles or 24 months which ever comes first. my bet is its never been changed and is the factory one. its one of the most ignored filter on cars and it will clog up and stop the car from running. the good news is it costs under 10 bucks.

[jackferg]

Sounds like your torque convertor cylinoid is sticking, causing your car to stay in higher gears. All you have to do is unplug it, I had this happen about a year ago and haven't had any problems associated with it since. Mine was located on driver side front and could easily be reached from the top.

Good luck.