ok i recently got a 1994 cavalier rs 2.2l and it had been sitting for almost a year. drove it across town (a mile or two) and it was running fine it sat for about a week here and then i pulled it around back to clean it out real good and it stubled a little not bad but it had some hesitation. after i cleaned it out it wouldnt start it would unless the gas was all the way down even then though it sounded like was only running on 2 cylinders. that was about 3 days ago now it wont even do that. the fuel pump and filter are fine. its getting fuel to the fuel rail. its also getting spark the plugs and wires are good. i replaced the map sensor i have checked all electrical connections and vacum hoses and both are good. i am kind of at a loss at what to check next or what it could be any suggestions would be much appreicated and thank you in advanced.
Check your air filter. Make sure no squirrels filled the air box with nuts and leaves.
Its clean and the filter looks almost brand new.
One weird thing I have seen is the diaphragm in the fuel pressure regulator goes bad on some of them, which will cause too much fuel to go through and it will run like crap, it at all. When it is running like that try pulling the fuel pump fuse and see what happens. If it smooths out some before dying pull the vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator (after you start and run it again with the fuel pump fuse in) and see if fuel comes out, and even if it is a tiny bit replace the fuel pressure regulator. Another thing is if you have a dead short or a bad injector since they are fired in pairs one will take the other out. Test the resistance across the pins on each injector and compare it to spec and to each other. If one is way off replace it. If you see nothing there (sometimes an ohm meter will NOT find an issue) then you can try to unplug one injector at a time and see if it smooths out some. If one being unplugged makes it run better then replace it.
i will test the injectors tomorrow thanks. is there any other way to test the regulator? i am only asking because it will turn over but it wont actually run.
Pull the vacuum line from it and see if fuel comes out when you turn the ignition switch on. If fuel comes out it's bad, even if it is a drop.
i will check that in the morning as well. thanks again.
well the regulator seems to be fine and so fo the injectors. i am begining to believe that this car just hates me hahaha.
ok well i believe i have figured out the problem. to start with it has been showing more symptoms now, like back firing through the intake.which has led me to a timing problem. I checked and changed the crankshaft position sensor sine it was bad but it still was doing the same thing. i decided to check the timing chain. well the chain and sprokets are good but the tensioner is down to just the plate. apparently it was torn apart and allowed the chain to jump and throw the timing way off. hopefully i can reset the timing and put on a new tensioner and it will start. does anyone have any suggestions? any tips would be greatly appreciated. thank you in advance and i will post to let ya'll know if it does get her running again.
