Hello!
I just bought a 1990 Cavalier for $500. It's ugly (there is a God awful wing on the back, it needs a grille, a turn signal and a side marker) , but it runs and drives, and it's what's getting me back and forth to work right now.
It is about as base model as you can get: No AC, Radio Delete, Manual Steering, etc. It is a 2.2/5-speed.
I am having an issue with a misfire at idle, and at cruising speed sometimes. Also, when cold, it will completely lose power, and will die (just like if I had turned the key off) if I give it anything over quarter throttle when accelerating. When at operating temp, it will pull like crazy through all the gears at WOT.
I figure a set of plugs and wires (and maybe a seafoam cleaning) are in order, but is there much else I might be missing? I don't know much about the 2.2. I'm more of a 60* V6 guy.
Also, did any first gen Cavalier come with a tachometer from factory? If so, would I be better off doing a dash swap, or just buying an aftermarket tach?
Thanks much!
Whoops! Sorry, I just noticed the years at the top of the page, and realized I posted in the wrong gen. My mistake. Sorry!
It's all good. Welcome to the forum, we're pretty cool around here.
It's really not a bad idea to post in both 1st & 2nd gen for your stuff, since the cars are very similar. I'm always trolling both forums and except for one person (who seems to be recent to 2nd gen forum) nobody rags you about putting things in the wrong place or anything like that.
have you checked the coil packs? i had a similar problem on my 3.1 90 cavalier
Chris Redfield wrote:Hello!
Also, did any first gen Cavalier come with a tachometer from factory? If so, would I be better off doing a dash swap, or just buying an aftermarket tach?
Thanks much!
If there is a flawlessly working tach in a first gen (Z24 primarily) you have a
unicorn.
I would go with wiring an aftermarket tach.
Well, I found some of my issues...
One of the spark plugs was loose in the hole, and was gapped about the width of a gnats ass. On another, the wire wasn't even touching the connector.
New plugs and wires are definitely going to happen here soon, but she runs a hell of a lot better than she did.
I also discovered a coolant leak tonight. Not sure where it's coming from, but it's all over the place. I am going to suspect the usual culprits and say a hose or the water pump is leaking.
Oh the joys of a $500 car!
Chris Redfield wrote:
Oh the joys of a $500 car!
That's the fun part though!
The 1st gen RS Cavaliers came with tachs as an option. But you have to be careful because the RS model could have either a V6 or a 4cyl and the tach will read different depending on this.
