Just bought a 95 Z24 2.4 w/ 5 speed. doesnt run, previous owner says it started stalling out and lossing power pretty bad, so he parked it and it never started back up. any ideas? cranks but doesnt start. i havent actually pick the car up yet so im not sure about spark and fuel. pickin it up the 26th, saturday, or maybe today.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/793000-793999/793660_41.jpg

fuel pump
clogged cat

isn't the 95 a 2.3? i know my old sunfire was...anyways, clogged injectors,bad plugs, boots, bad fuel pump, NO GAS , or bad gas, clogged cat as said already, stalling might be your throttle posistion sensor, really it could be lots of things....kind of wide open, you need to have it scanned seeing as it did run and before he took it off the road and now you can't start it, that could be a whole different problem, front the initial one.



"If you have no clue what's going on... STFU!"

hey thanks for replying, from what i understood the 95 Z24 ONLY came with a 2.3, but i guess sometime in this cars life, someone stuck a 2.4 in it. i hope it is out of gas, that would make my damn year, only paid $500 for the cavy. i dont think its the TPS sensor, i've been in my moms truck when it was acting up, it just stalled out at highway speeds, and it didnt just go out, it happened over time. My friends car did the same thing, it went out over time. the previous owner took it to 3 mechanics, and they all said timing chain, would the car act like that if it was the timing chain. if the chain broke, the car would have died, but it was stalling out and he shut it off. i'm gonna tear the car apart tommarrow when i get it. i planned on dropping the gas tank, cause the gas in it ( if there is any) has been setting for 2 1/2 years, im pretty sure its bad. does anyone know if the cat is just bolted on to the exhaust, or is it welded. if its bolt on i'll take it off and try to start the car. i'll post again when i get the car. thanks.

so, i picked up the car on saturday, what an ordeal. the kid that towed the car for me brought a damn car trailer the set about 3 foot up. take in mind the cavalier sets about 3 in. off the ground. so we found a hill in the previous owners yard and back the trailer to it, and got the car on it. then i get it to my house, and my dumb ass just sets the ramps up and had a friend set in it while i pushed it off. it made it a foot or two down the ramp when it high centered on the trailer, i feel like a dumbass, i broke both side skirts, the doors bent, and i busted a brake line in half.
but aside from that, the previous owner said that it didnt stall out or loose power, i said he just parked it and it never started again. i decided to pull the starter and take it to autozone to have it tested, never got it out, is it just me or is the starter really hard the get to? i could only get one bolt out of it.
if it is not the starter, i got a hunch that its the nuetral safety switch. but i dunno. the battery that came with the car has never actually been used but he hooked it up and let it set for 2 years and it's drained of power, do u think it will hold a charge if i charge it? i havent even gotta try the turn the car over yet. i took the battery out of my stratus, with has regular terminal posts, unlike the cavy battery, so i had to hold the round metal thingys on it while i had my girlfriend roll the windows down and open the sunroof.
but i was wondering if u guys had any other ideas since it didnt stall, or cut out, i just doesnt start. so some kinda starting problem. and could i completely rule out broken timing chain. thats the only thing im worried about, bent valves.

if it turns over....its not the neutral safety or the starter. try siphoning the gas tank before you try dropping it. i would start with normal maintenance....plugs air filter and a new battery.

Check the basics first, fuel pressure and spark.

I found out that the previous owner put a brand new battery in the car and the car will try to start 3 times, then the battery is dead. Someone told me to check the starter?

The starter was taken to auto zone and it passed.
does anyone think it could be wiring, cause what would cause the battery to fully drain that fast?

i tried to siphon the gas the other day and, there is no gas in the tank, at all! i dont think that all that gas would have evaporated, if there was any to evaporate. i've checked a few of the basics, the fuel pump definatlly works, it hums pretty loud considering it's trying to pump fuel thats not there, so all it's pumpin is air. the starter works. im gonna buy a new battery friday. if the car runs after a battery and some gas, does anyone know how much it would cost to fix the fuel gauge, if it is broken. cause i charged the battery a little and all the lights work, but the fuel gauge is not going down to empty, i hope this is the problem with the car, if so, i got a hell of a deal. the previous owner bought the car for $7,500, and i bought it for $500.

Sitting so long without gas in the tank could have caused the float in the tank to rust or seize up which would make the gas gauge stay in one spot... if you get it running... with a full tank of gas.... hit the brakes hard (come to a stop) a few times to get the gas sloshing and see if the needle moves.... it's a long shot... but sometimes it works and I would try it before I started tearing stuff apart.

Instead of cranking it until it starts... you can turn the key on... let the pump prime... shut the key off, and turn the key back on repeating the process several times in order to prime the fuel system also... or you can find the relay for the fuel pump and jump it. (once you have fuel in it.)

As far as the battery problem.... it sounds like there might be a pretty bad short in the charging system somewhere. If the voltage regulator in the alternator has gone out bad enough it can cause that also.... with a charged battery and the key on (car not running)... listen to the alternator.... if you hear any high pitch noise or electrical whine coming from it... replace it.

Does the z24 have a check valve in the tank. I tried siphoning my 03 but theres a ball check valve so you can't actually siphon it. Had to disconnect the front fuel rail and cross the terminals on the fuel pump relay socket to drain her out.


-Chris

learned some new stuff about the my cavy today. first of all, it is a 2.3, i went to wal-mart and bought a oil filter for a 2.4 DOHC, and it doesnt fit. i guess the car really did have gas in it, i couldnt siphon it, but the gauge went up when i put gas in it. i guess i misunderstood the previous owner, he said he drove the cavy to school and it never started back up, no power loss, no stalling out or anything. i had the battery tested the other day, it was bad, so i bought one yesterday. the car doesnt even attempt to start. i tried turning the lights on and turning the car to see if the lights dim, they dont. does anyone think it is the ignition switch or the nuetral safety switch? i laid a screwdriver across the terminals on the soleniod, and the engine cranks and cranks but doesnt start, i had my girlfriend sit in the car and pump the gas pedal, it tries a little harder, but no start still. other than the key not trying to start the car, something else is not letting the car start, and i'm leaning towards to coil pack, so i'm gonna check tomarrow and see if i have spark, any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. i'm running out of ideas. if the ignition switch is bad, should i buy a new one, or just run a push button start, push button sounds easier and cheaper.

I don't think it would be the iginiton switch if everything else comes on. I would check for fuel or spark first like everyone else said. If it is getting spark i'd worry about the coils then work my way up the line. You could get a can of starting fluid and pop the intake off and hold the throttle blade open and spray a lil in while someone starts. But be careful because it will probably back fire through the intake. I was have been told not to use starting fluid on a fuel injected car but i don't see what it would really hurt. You could have a bad crank or cam sensor though. If it isn't getting spark atleast. Um do you smell gas out the exhaust? Take on of the plus out by taking the 4 bolts out of the idi cover and see if you can smell gas in the cyclinder. You might have to use something to smell down in the cyclinder. If not put a new fuel filter on it and if you still don't get no fuel take a test light and stick in the injector pig tails and see if it lights while trying to start. You could list the milage as that may help.

Take the ICM out and have autozone test it.. If that's good, then test resistance in the coils, if thats good, check spark plugs for fuel. A bad crank or cam sensor would DEFINATELY throw a CEL.

o sorry didn't see where you said the part about the ignition switch, but you said the pump and all runs so the switch has to be working to a certian point. also when you jump the prongs it won't let the fuel pump run. so you would have to leave the key on or something.

the car has 172,531 miles on it. when i jumped the starter, i left the key on the on position, so the fuel pump was working. i didnt know that these cars dont have plug wires, just short stubby little black things. im just gonna run a wire from the battery to a toggle switch and to the starter, so i dont have to jump the starter. and if it starts i cant flip the toggle off. there is two connectors under the hood thats not plugged into anything, not sure if thats a problem, and not sure what they are. one of them goes to the sensor in the intake, but the car doesnt have a intake, kinda,. it has a cone filter clamped straight to the throttle body, not too sure how good that is on the engine, but i found my old cold air intake pipe from my stealth, suprisingly it fits. other than that, i know the fuel pump works, how do i check and see if the cylinder is getting fuel? should i pull a injector out and try to start it, or should i pull some plugs out and see if i can smell gas? and lastly, where is the ICM located?

ok so, nevermind about the "where's the ICM", i found it, took it off, took it to autozone, but they said they could not test that the ICM for that engine model. so im gonna put all the @!#$ back on the car, plus run a power wire from the battery to a toggle switch, then to the starter so i can try to start the car from the inside instead of having to cross the terminals on the starter, would that bypass the neutral safety switch? also found that the small vacuum hose on the throttle body, isn't there, not sure what happened to it. could that make the car not start and there is what looks like a vacuum hose coming out of the black box thing inbetween the intake manifold and the valve cover that has been cut and they put a little air breather on, that shouldnt be like that, should it? last thing i found was that the bolts that hold the coil pack cover, were not put back on the car, and the braided ground cable for the coil pack is held in place by one of those bolts, so i think possibly the coil packs isnt grounded.

All i got to say is wow i feel sorry for u bro thats a lot of headach for $500
Your best bet id to take it to a Shop and have them fix it for you... it would save you from any more gray hairs than the car has given you

hey guys, thanks for all the replys. i'm afraid that i was laid off last week and can no longer fund my cavalier. plus, the timing is off 3 teeth, so im not gonna pay more to fix the car than what i bought it for. so this saturday, its going to a scrap yard. but, i believe i got my money out of the car, i got some ICW 17" wheels that fits on my stratus SXT, and i'm putting the racing seats from the cavy in the stratus, plus the aftermarket gauges and other stuff, i think i made my $500 back pretty easy. If anyone wants a shaved trunk lid off my cavy, i'll sell it to ya cheap.