Topic: 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier - troubles...

[Bodin]

This my friends car and this problem has been happening for the last 2 weeks. It'll run fine for a while but all of a sudden it kind of loses power and starts to hesitate/sputter before it dies. When this happens and you push on the gas pedal, you get nothing. You can tell when it is going to die and he is able to pull over to the side of the road before it does.

It happens at random. sometimes at startup it will act up... sometimes 30 minutes, when on the road, it will act up. If we pull the car over to the side of the road for a couple minutes and then start it up, it'll be fine.

We just replaced the fuel filter, and he took it to Wal-Mart for an oil change and they said they cleaned the injectors but I don't think Wal-Mart has the tools to clean the injectors properly. He got the fuel system serviced by Wal-Mart but it still dies (sputtering/hesitation then dies).

We think there might be water in his fuel system and he told me that he got gas at Shell 2 weeks ago, when this started happening, and he thought he might have gotten bad gas.

My sister had this problem in her 2000 Focus, but I can't remember what was wrong with it.

any advice will be greatly appreciated.. I know Barrie might be able to diagnose this problem.

thanks in advance,
Bodin

[articsteve]

OK, I'll let Barrie handle it. 

[barrie1]

Thanks Bodin in the confidence in this repair as if it only cuts out on occasion its a unusual type of problem. What was  the weather around you when it did this last time.  If it was wet out then I would suggest something like wires or distributor cap that has moisture getting in to it. Crappy Tire did the work but did they do it all correctly as well. This something your friend has to find out as there could be many reasons why this car is acting up including the injectors. I suggest he plug the car into a proper computor and have it read as it will pay off in the long run in costing of the repair. A visit to a Good Garage he trusts will help him the best. 

[Bodin]

Thanks Barrie. We replaced the fuel filter 2 days ago and it has only stalled(died) once since then, and it was on the day that we installed it. It ran fine today(Friday). I am wondering if this would have fixed the problem. Could it be possible that he got bad gas from a gas station?

But you are right, he should take it to a mechanic and get it checked out... just that we are university students and don't have much money left after paying tuition and books :/

thanks again,
Bodin

[barrie1]

Your Welcome Bodin and I do understand how poor students are. I was one myself years ago. There may have been some dirt in the line which has since passed thru the system and could have been the cause of the last stalling. A can or bottle of good cleaner will help finnish off any gum buildup in the system with a full tank of good fuel. Hope that helps as well.