2000 Chevy Cavalier Stalled (long post, probs).
July 13th, 2014, 9:48 AM
#1
CF Beginner
Thread Starter
2000 Chevy Cavalier Stalled (long post, probs).
Hey, I'm new here. c: I signed up to get some insight from those who may have the same experience with a Cavalier.
Let me first start by saying that this is my first car, & essentially is my baby. lol. Although it gives me hella issues, I would like to keep it as long as I can. I do know that if it ends up being a costly fix (i.e., more than its worth) I'll have to let it go.
Okay, so I'll give a brief history & lead that up to the events that occurred last week.
I bought this car about two years ago from a Craigslist post. My first mistake probably haha. But! The only thing wrong with it at the time was the lack of A/C, which was no big deal to me. It drove decently for about a year until the next summer, when the timing chain snapped. In fact, it broke twice in that year. The first time my dad was able to fix it on his own, the second time it caused enough damage where I had to put it in a shop. A 1400$ fix I'm still paying for to this day. :'/
Anyway. It ran fine for -exactly- another year. Around mid-June, it started "acting up." It would not pick up great speed, "putt-putts," pulls off slow, etc. The car would stall & after a few cranks would start up again. I replaced the battery which fixed the problem temporarily. It started stalling again, this time while the car was in motion (on streets, on a busy highway, etc.). Most times the car would crank up immediately & we could get it back home but this time it didn't.
Last Wednesday, in stop-and-go traffic, my Cavalier stalled. It would not start up. Had to push it to the side of the road. Popped the hood. No idea what's going on. The car sounds like it's starting, but won't "hold" it, if that makes sense. Instead it quits, making a loud "clunk" noise & some smoke or whatever rises. A nice guy thought it was just that I ran out of gas--he went & got some gas for me but that didn't help. Ended up having it towed to a shop, where I should hear about its fate in a few days. In the meantime, I can't stop thinking about what it could be.
Could anyone offer any insight? Possible causes, possible estimated costs along with those? I keep seeing the fuel pump being mentioned in various places of the web. I am wholly guilty of only putting about 1/4 tank of gas in this car very often (broke life). So I hope I didn't kill my car because of that.
Thanks for any possible insight !
Let me first start by saying that this is my first car, & essentially is my baby. lol. Although it gives me hella issues, I would like to keep it as long as I can. I do know that if it ends up being a costly fix (i.e., more than its worth) I'll have to let it go.
Okay, so I'll give a brief history & lead that up to the events that occurred last week.
I bought this car about two years ago from a Craigslist post. My first mistake probably haha. But! The only thing wrong with it at the time was the lack of A/C, which was no big deal to me. It drove decently for about a year until the next summer, when the timing chain snapped. In fact, it broke twice in that year. The first time my dad was able to fix it on his own, the second time it caused enough damage where I had to put it in a shop. A 1400$ fix I'm still paying for to this day. :'/
Anyway. It ran fine for -exactly- another year. Around mid-June, it started "acting up." It would not pick up great speed, "putt-putts," pulls off slow, etc. The car would stall & after a few cranks would start up again. I replaced the battery which fixed the problem temporarily. It started stalling again, this time while the car was in motion (on streets, on a busy highway, etc.). Most times the car would crank up immediately & we could get it back home but this time it didn't.
Last Wednesday, in stop-and-go traffic, my Cavalier stalled. It would not start up. Had to push it to the side of the road. Popped the hood. No idea what's going on. The car sounds like it's starting, but won't "hold" it, if that makes sense. Instead it quits, making a loud "clunk" noise & some smoke or whatever rises. A nice guy thought it was just that I ran out of gas--he went & got some gas for me but that didn't help. Ended up having it towed to a shop, where I should hear about its fate in a few days. In the meantime, I can't stop thinking about what it could be.
Could anyone offer any insight? Possible causes, possible estimated costs along with those? I keep seeing the fuel pump being mentioned in various places of the web. I am wholly guilty of only putting about 1/4 tank of gas in this car very often (broke life). So I hope I didn't kill my car because of that.
Thanks for any possible insight !
July 16th, 2014, 11:38 PM
#2
CF Beginner
Thread Starter
Update #1 | Called mechanic a couple of days ago; he's stumped. 8I Says that he's still looking the car over. My brother claims (he looked at it briefly before it was towed) that it was out of time. Since we have continuous problems with the timing chain I wouldn't be surprised. Will call the mechanic tomorrow to see if there are any updates.
July 18th, 2014, 8:52 AM
#3
CF Beginner
Thread Starter
Update #2 | Mechanic says he still cannot find out why it didn't start that day. He says my fuel pressure was a bit high, but other than that he can't find any fault. Car started up today with no issue. He says there's still a bit of a noise with it, so he's going to find the source of it today.
Very interesting. The car did manage to start back up. Will update again once the mechanic calls. These updates only serve as assistance for those with similar Cavalier problems. I hated combing the web & finding issues but no solutions.
Very interesting. The car did manage to start back up. Will update again once the mechanic calls. These updates only serve as assistance for those with similar Cavalier problems. I hated combing the web & finding issues but no solutions.
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