i do not own a j-body. a friend of mine has a 2001 cavalier 2.2 ohv automatic with issues. today his car overheated, blew a hole in the overflow and made a clicking sound that increased in speed until stalling. he had it towed home and we let it cool down then tried to start it and it cranks but no start. i removed the spark plugs to check for coolant in cylinders, none present. i check all plugs for spark, all good. i can hear the fuel pump working. im going to rent a compression tester tomorrow and check that. i was thinking maybe a bad timing component. any j-body experts here have any advice?

My car did the samething I have a 98 sunfire 2.2 mine is a cracked head.

Hi,

After it cooled down did you refill the cooling system and fix the leak I assume? Without coolant, there will be none in a plug hole.

Yes, check compression first. The odds are very high you warped the head and blew out the head gasket. The odds are also quite good you've cracked the cylinder head also but this isn't always the case. If it turns out you have compression issues and you take the head off, take it to a machine shop to be planed or at least checked for flatness and also have them test it for cracks that you may not see. They crack around the exhaust valves including the valve seat and also around the spark plug holes and sometimes from the plug hole to the intake valve (the bigger valve).

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Dave