abenites

Hey y'all. Got a 1997 z24 (2.4L, 5spd man. if that makes a difference) that's been acting up lately... Some times more than others. Upon acceleration, it's recently unbearably slow, especially trying to get it over 30 mph. The sound it makes (bear with me) is like an airy, hissy "fffffffffffffff." Make that sound. Okay, now roll your tongue like you're purring behind the "ffff" sound. That's what my engine sounds like. It occasionally sputters and trembles while I am accelerating as well, and on a couple of occasions the check engine light has begun to flash while it's trembling really badly. I am no longer driving the car, since today it took me two miles to get up to 55 mph. I had to take it home with my hazards on and switch cars with my wife. Any thoughts on what this could be? I'm thinking it's possibly fuel or spark related. My wife said she thought it was the transmission, but I'm praying she's wrong. She said when she was driving it, it was fine up until 3rd gear, and the sensation of driving so slowly reminded her of trying to start rolling on a bike in high gear... Spinning and spinning, but getting nowhere. Thoughts?

todds96cav

Check for broken vacuum lines,check your plug wires and make sure they didn't come loose.Check your spark plugs.Doesn't sound like a tranny problem.Possibly your fuel pump could be failing and maybe your not getting enough fuel pressure.My check gauges light came on the day before my fuel pump failed on my 96.Could also be a faulty oxygen sensor or a dirty fuel filter.Both are easy fixes.

jrussell1495

I had the same problem with my 98 cav automatic, as far as the taking forever to get to a higher speed, It was the oxygen sensor

abenites

Changed spark plugs, oil, oil filter, checked cables, changed fuel filter, all with no change... My neighbor came by and checked out the car and it hit him that it might be the cat. We let it cool down, got under there, and he gutted the cat (the substrate was all black, burned up looking, and broken into chunks) and we started her up... Problem solved! Got a new cat on order--$150!

Thanks for the help y'all--just figured I'd update you on the situation and let you know how it wound up!