ok so im drivin down the road in my 98 cavi z24 and all of a sudden it seems like its going to die like i hit the gas and nothin it drops in RPMs and so the first thing i do is look at the gas gauge and i have 14 of a tank so that couldnt be it so i keep drivin as best i can well i pull into a development and for some reason i turn off my ac and it seems to be acting better, so i turned off the hole car left it there for about 5 mins and drove it home. now my question is what would do that? like make the car act like that then as soon as i turn off the ac its fine? please any one with knoledge of what might be goin on help me out?

if your air conditioning compressor is seized or seizing it could bog your motor down, I've seen it on celicas and stuff before, and the guy that brought his in for service just wanted us to unplug it so we did. Sounds the same, but it could be something totally different. Just an idea anyway....

^^ Along those lines, how long has it been since a tune-up? The a/c puts a big strain on the motor, and makes it bog even when in new/good running condition... you might be losing power from something else (bad gas, fuel filter, dirty injectors, dirty air filter, bad plugs, something electrical) and then putting on the a/c puts more stress on the motor causing it to run like poop...

i was alos thinking that i might have to replace my altinator, could that do it? and i havent had time or a chance to go to get a tune up ive had the car for a year and its a daily driver ive only put about 4-5k on it not much and its been doin it for a while i brought it to a garge and the put fuel injector cleaner in it and they said all better but its not, so i think im going to get new plugs get my altanator looked at and a full tune up and if that doesnt work i thinkin im going to get a F-body or a new J, but thanks guys this helps out alot, glad i can count on the org for people that know what thier talkin about

Brian Fuller wrote:i was alos thinking that i might have to replace my altinator, could that do it? and i havent had time or a chance to go to get a tune up ive had the car for a year and its a daily driver ive only put about 4-5k on it not much and its been doin it for a while i brought it to a garge and the put fuel injector cleaner in it and they said all better but its not, so i think im going to get new plugs get my altanator looked at and a full tune up and if that doesnt work i thinkin im going to get a F-body or a new J, but thanks guys this helps out alot, glad i can count on the org for people that know what thier talkin about

All and all - this should really be in the maintenance forum. Anyhow... What makes you think it needs a new alternator? - take it to a Autozone, Advanced Auto, etc - they can test it without removing anything.

Go ahead and give it a full tune up - new air and fuel filter, new plugs(I'd recomend the standard copper AC Delco ones) and wires, buy a bottle of Chevron Techron Fuel Injector Cleaner(pretty good stuff), and check for any trouble codes - if you don't know how then your local autoparts store should do it for you. Of course while you're at it - change the oil if you haven't recently.

Also, did you look at your tempurature gauge when this was happening? If you're overheating, then you might need to check for leaks - and if there are no leaks(radiator is full) then you would need a new thermostat. And as the first responder mentioned - it could actually just be your AC. In that case roll your windows down.




I've never heard of this "part throttle" before. Does it just bolt on?

nah my temp gauge is good still below 195, i was thinking it may be the alternator because my ac and my sub is on and may be drawing to much power and not giving enough spark but yet i dont know

hook up a voltmeter to it and see that your still making 14.4 ish while it's running. Alot of times the alternator will make a pile of noise if it's going.....buddy of mine has a gtp and his car won't even start with the ac compressor seized, so at least yours runs....