History --- 2000 Cavalier z24, 5 speed, 139xxx km ---- recent spark plugs(135km), fuel filter(135km), and oil change(138,500km).
so yesterday i started the car and it sputtered some like it was not running on all cylinders, then today at lunch it was cold and it sputtered again, not as bad this time. Then coming home from work tonight going down the highway the car starts slowing down fast... i push the clutch in and rpm's drop right down and the engine dies. I coasted into town got out looked under the hood, checked oil and it seem a little low, got back in tried to start it and it started right up and i finished driving home about a mile and a half with no problems.
Dad keeps saying its a sensor but im leaning towards the uhhh i cant remember what its called but its basically what generates the spark, i think.
o and there have never been any check engine lights on or anything, Dash is free of any warning lights....
im confused, hopefully someone can help me.
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2000 Cavalier z24-5 spd, 2.4L
stock....for now, no big things in mind just intake....muffler....short throw shifter...clear climates........supercharger!!!(if i ever get the money lol)
are you talking about that box inside the 2.4 twin cam cover?
maybe...
Robby002 wrote:are you talking about that box inside the 2.4 twin cam cover?
maybe...
yes that little dohicky
thing. I cant remember what its called but ive been told it has a short life span because of all the heat it is exposed to, and i think someone said when its going it will at times only fire on a couple cylinders.....and thats what it seemed like when it was sputtering...
is there a test to figure out if its that or not? Is it an expensive part?
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2000 Cavalier z24-5 spd, 2.4L
stock....for now, no big things in mind just intake....muffler....short throw shifter...clear climates........supercharger!!!(if i ever get the money lol)
It seems like your car is sputtering on cold startup.
With your motor off, try cleaning with "Gunk intake medic" the throttle body (choke) and idle air control (IAC) valve. Relube the IAC with oil before reinstalling.
Search the forum for pictures.
If it has been acting up IMMEDIATELY after you replaced the spark plugs I would check the boots(?). Perhaps one did not line up properly when replacing the top plate (labelled 2.4 L DOHC).
Best of luck.
i checked the gaps before i installed...and the plugs were done long ago....
*UPDATE*
----It has become worse!!!!
.... when it is warm after driving 15-20 minutes on the highway it dies.... and it has been doing this alot now and when i do get it started it only runs for a few minutes before dieing again!!!!!
it threw a code jsut before i got to work so i had a guy scan it for me and he said the code was saying its running lean ????? he said it might have water in the tank...i think its more than just that but i just dumbed a bottle of gasline antifreeze so we will see what happens
i am now leaning towards bad fuel pump or some dumbass put something in my tank
also a guy at work said his car(not cavy) would die just like mine and then he would stop and start it again...it ended up being a crank shaft sensor... i dont think thats my problem but any takes???
.....it confuses me, it will be good for like 15-20 minutes then all of a sudden it will be a huge pain in the ass and wont run worth a @!#$... i can sort of even feel a power loss after i get it going again after it has died...
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2000 Cavalier z24-5 spd, 2.4L
stock....for now, no big things in mind just intake....muffler....short throw shifter...clear climates........supercharger!!!(if i ever get the money lol)
when you turn the key ignition to ON, can you hear the fuel pump kick in?
it sounds like "HUMMMMMMMMM" for 1.5sec
The fuel pump is located inside the fuel tank.
TRY THIS:
when the car dies, turn the radio off
do not try to start the car yet,
but<-----------
turn the key ON just to see if you can hear the fuel pump kick in for 1sec or 2
if you can hear the fuel pump kick in (I call it kick in when it sends fuel to the injectors) and the car does not start, even after you hear the fuel pump "MMMMMMMMMMMMM" then it may not be the fuel pump
but<---------------------------
I could be wrong anyway
maybe you should let the car run for 15minutes until it dies and then do the fuel pump test
What brand of spark plug did you use for replacements?
yes i can still hear the fuel pump.... i also tried turning the key on wait for the pump to quit and repeat a couple times but that made no diffrence...........and for the spark plugs i think they were AC Delco..... possibly... i cant remember.
what sensors would mess with the amount of fuel being sent to the engine?
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2000 Cavalier z24-5 spd, 2.4L
stock....for now, no big things in mind just intake....muffler....short throw shifter...clear climates........supercharger!!!(if i ever get the money lol)
Gives you problems when it is cold? Maybe O2 sensor.
FU Tuning
a couple days back i had 2 or 3 times when it gave me problems when cold... it sputtered a little.... but now the problems are so much worse than just a little sputtering....although the problems now come after 15-20 minutes of driving after everything is all warmed up...ive also leaned away from any spark problem and i now believe it is fuel related and the sputtering when cold is not very important since it hasnt done it in a day or two but has died on the highway at 60mph many many times today...
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2000 Cavalier z24-5 spd, 2.4L
stock....for now, no big things in mind just intake....muffler....short throw shifter...clear climates........supercharger!!!(if i ever get the money lol)
If the new plugs are AC Delco Platinum, all should be well there. Some of the older cavaliers owners (1995 model) used to save some money and go with a non platinum plug and this would cause similar problems as you are describing here.
1) Have a look under the hood for the big fuse box and in that box check the relays. Swap the relay for the fuel pump for the AC relay (should they be the same).
2) Check you ground wire that goes from your battery to the engine block. Clean up the contact point at the block.
3) Clean the throttle body and IAC as mentioned earlier
If that doesn't work let me know.
