My friend is having a problem with his cavalier. We pulled away from a light and suddenly when he gave the car gas the car wouldn't accelerate much at all and eventually died after a block or two of trying to get back to our apartment complex. The car will now turn over but can stay running. We can keep it running slightly longer by giving it gas, but even then it dies quickly and then makes a pop, almost like the sound of a backfire. We checked the spark plugs and they all look fine. The oil was changed just a few days ago and the fuel filter was changed 5-10,000 miles ago. Any help would be appreciated.


2.4 2002 Cavalier, btw


Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, January 07, 2007 7:11 PM

try turning the key on and listening for a faint buzzing sound... this is your fuel pump working at first... if you hear this, then your fuel pump is working, but i would check that first... i would think that would be your problem

also, make sure theres gas in it i was victim to that once a longg time ago haha

More info:

Went out and swapped TPS sensors from a 1999 2200 OHV. The car actually ran longer, however it didn't sound great and the motor was vibrating a lot (however, we just installed an upper mount yesterday). I noticed that the two TPS sensors were slightly different in the way the TPS prong sat in the sensor.

The fuel pump definately engages, however we could not get to the fuel filter line to pull it and test if the pump was actually pumping fuel.

The gas tank was filled Friday, and the car was only driven aprox 60 miles.

i would say try and get to the fuel line and check for gas.... if you can hear the pump, then most likely it works fine... i would say try the fuel filter. also, pull the line and shooting starting fluid straight into the throttle body while trying to start it.... if it starts and stays running, it has to be with the fuel getting to the engine so backtrack fuel lines for blockages/leaks, fuel filter and possibly pump

Is it possible that, with the addition of installing the upper motor mount, the engine is vibrating a little more and causing the knock sensor to go nuts (and pull timing)?

A slight update. We rented a code scanner from Auto Zone and it came up with a code for the Throttle Position Sensor and a Random Misfire code (P0300). We replaced the tps sensor and erased the codes. The car still runs horrible, and we only got the PO300 random/multiple misfire code again. Any ideas here? Could this be the ignition control module, or the coil packs? Thanks for the help.

randome misfire could be a few things... most basic being spark plug wires... try replacing those (20 for stock replacement set, 40 for performance accel wires) also replace the spark plugs while youre at it... if still nothing, try the ignition coil but i would suspect the wires... good luck

It's a 2.4 so there are no wires, just the coil pack. We figured we'd try changing out the ignition control module, but now the engine won't turn over at all. We put the old module back in there but the same thing. It's not the battery or anything as the lights and cd player and everything works fine with the key turned to accesories, but it just won't turn over at all now. It would before and just run horribly and then sputter out.