Hey guys, I am new here so bear with me if I neglect to mention anything important or mention too much.
Problem: Intermittent No Start/No Start
Car: 04 Cavalier Sport Sedan
Engine: 2.2L L61 Ecotech
Mileage: On car/accessories/sensors 160,000
On engine 70,000
Present Problem and History: Currently the car will not start, it cranks and appears to have spark since it will start for a few seconds with starting fluid. At the start of this problem there was fuel released from the schrader valve when that was checked. I cleaned the IAC valve and the bore it was in. Eventually I replaced the IAC valve because of codes generated in the previous week. After replacing the IAC valve the car would still not start though it acted like it wanted to. The battery was ran down, so I got a jump, but still no luck. I rechecked the schrader valve and there was absolutely no fuel there. I swapped the ac and fuel pump relays with no benefit. Pulled off the fuel pressure regulator hose and inspected for gas and found none. While I had the resonator off I wiped the very little bit of dirt accumulation off the throttle body. Immediately prior to the no start the car was driven approximately 25 miles at highway speed during which time no problems were noticed. In the prior week. the car would intermittently pitch an engine code for the Idle Air Control System Malfunction, and run poorly - when you let off the gas the engine would lope between 500 and 1000 RPM's cycling about every two seconds and ran very rough with a significant vibration. When you got the car up to highway speeds it ran fine., this problem was primarily at idle. Also oddly enough the overhead dome light would occasionally flash on and off, which I expected maybe sensor for the door open was going bad. One other odd thing I noticed, the door ajar/headlights on alarm had not worked in months. When the car wouldn't start that alarm was working fine. Grrr. Repair history in the last few months: Changed the alternator in February. Also changed the fuel filter and pump in March. In late June the fuel pump (and filter) was changed again - apparently the fuel pump they put in failed prematurely and it was replaced. They also had an odd no start condition after changing that. They said they fixed wires on the ICM as well. A few times since then I have had other no start situations. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, both occurred when the gas gauge got down to about a quarter tank (same this most recent time). In each of the prior cases I did add additional gas, and also ran a can of seafoam through the car in case some kind of clog or dirty injectors were complicating my life. Both of those times it eventually started. Only other recent history I can think of is that a fuse somehow got unseated and it made the ac not function, it stopped the remote keyless entry from working and the internal lights. It also made the lights and blinkers flash erratically. I went to check the fuses, noticed that one was not properly seated and pushed it in, and all those issues appeared to be resolved. The only other thing I have noticed is that when the car is left sitting idling, like at a drivethru the temp gage goes up and the car gets warmer than it used to before the fan kicks in. Usually turning on the AC will bring the temp down quickly. I don't know if all that's relevant but maybe those clues will trip someones mind, because I am about out of ideas and getting sick of having this thing towed in. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
they messed with your ICM wires double check them in case they did a crappy job. no fuel could be a relay, do you hear it prime when you turn the key and don't crank it? is the SES light coming on when you crank it, does it blink? you may need to reset the VATS, esp since it tried to run after using some starter fluid.
It's at a loud gas station just off the interstate so it was hard to hear if it was priming or not. I'll have to take somebody with me and see if some lays back there if they can hear it. I did swap the AC and fuel pump relays to eliminate that possibility. I did not notice the security light on, but that is definitely worth a check after unhooking the battery and having it run dead and having it jump started, etc. I also think I will just buy a fuel pressure gauge and just test that to see if I can link this to a fuel system problem or something else electrical. I also remembered awhile back the car pitched a code for a EVAP slight leak (not gross leak) but it was quite strange because it came on and disappeared the next day before I could take it in. Again I don't know if that has any relevance but maybe somebody has an idea from that.
a bit hard to read, but definitely rent a fp gauge from autozone. If you don't see pressure turn the key on and off a few times to be sure GO TO: bad pump or pump wiring
Bad pump:
Get a tow, replace pump.
Bad FP pump wiring:
See if you can't get under the car with a volt meter from behind. You may have to have someone turn the key from off to on while you're back there.
Trace the circuit with a test light if something is off.
It's not an evap issue, but that could point to bad fp harness wires since the evap wires are in the same loom as the pump. Long shot though.
They "fixed" the wiring to the ICM? You sir need to go over that also with a volt meter. you can check for continuity by unplugging the PCM, grounding the corresponding wire on the ICM plug, and probing the PCM plug to +12 with a test light. That's how I did it when I was having ignition issues (bad coil pack, but usually both coils won't go bad at the same time, so it will run on 1/3 or 2/4 cylinders). I'd check for power and ground at the ICM, not necessarily the continuity to the computer right now.
You need a volt meter, a test light, FP gauge, a wiring diagram, plug pinout diagrams, and a friend to rule out fuel.
My overall best guess is that there's a short in the least suspected place where the wire was ran poorly with the engine swap, and it just corroded/burned/fell apart.
I roll on steelies. Work-in-progress daily-sleeper potential.
http://www.j-body.org/classifieds/engine/60493/
You could have fuel pressure but NO VOLUME, although that issue doesn't usually rear its ugly head until engine under load. I must admit, as soon as you said someone "repaired" ICM wires, that was a huge red flag. A NOID light on your injectors would be nice to see if your injectors are getting the proper signal from the PCM. Also. with a FP guage, see if you get FP leak down after turning the key off... if so you have a leaky injector, or faulty check ball at the fuel pump. Just cause you have new parts, doesn't mean they are good. Learned this the hard way myself. I know no solid answers here.... Just wanted to put my $0.02 in
