Hi, I have a 99 cavalier 2.2l and I have had it almost 8 years now. Recently, I have been having a ticking sound and after some reading on the internet I believe it to be a lifter. I have driven the car for quite a while with no problems with it other than the ticking sound. The car has 167,000 miles on it and I haven't changed the lifters on it since I have owned the car. I did have a misfire on it that I fixed a year ago and I noticed that the lifter tick was louder coming from piston one (the same one I had a misfire on)or possibly the timing chain. I keep reading that the timing chain makes a similar tap sound and that may be my issue.

Yesterday on my way to work my car died on the highway and when it did, it fell like it misfired then lost power and when that happened my check engine light, battery light and oil light all came on at the same time. I pulled over and got a tow. I have tried to restart the vehicle since then but it tries to start but it wont turn over. I checked my oil and the oil is still good and there is plenty in the engine. My battery is fine, but I do not know what my check engine light is referring to. I bought a cheap scan tool today and after I tried to use it it told me it couldn't find any trouble codes wrong with my car. I have asked this question to some of my coworkers and friends and I was told that a stuck lifter wouldn't return a check engine light, but would it keep my car from starting? And could my car not starting be giving me a check engine light even though I cannot find a trouble code?

 

Did you check to see what your fuel pressure is? Spray some gas into your throttle body and try to start it. If it runs for a few seconds then you have a fuel issue, probably a bad fuel pump. When you first turn the key on, the check engine light comes on along with the other lights. It goes off after the car starts. So you may not have a code to read.

 

Ok, I will try that and see if that happens. I will make another post when I have found out the problem.

 

Ok, so wait, dumb question but, would a bad fuel pump return a trouble code?

 

Ok, I didn't have a way to test the pressure, but I got a friend to help me and we sprayed starter fluid into the throttle body to see if it would fire and nothing.

 

This shows that it is not a fuel problem. It is an ignition problem but they should throw a code. Crank sensor, cam sensor, coil, etc are possibilities.

 

My buddy tested the spark plugs to see if they worked and he said that they did. They are only a year old. He also tested to see if there was igition by putting a spark plug in the spark plug wire and by sitting them by the engine block to see if they would spark. The car doesn't return a trouble code. I guess I should ask if a really cheap scan tool will be able to detect all the possible trouble codes there are?