1998 chevrolet cavalier

[Exekiel69]

A friend of mine asked Me to help Him fix a problem on His car, I know little about gas engines just the basics. The engine will start fine and run but as soon as You give it gas it will stall but if You let go right away it will keep running at an idle. Is this the fuel pump? Throttle looked dirty but I would think giving it gas would keep it running which is why I thought it could be a fuel pump. A FP for this car cost $170 so I don't want to recommend that and it turns out it is not the problem. Could someone help Me out with this?

Thank You.

 

[towcat]

ez-
at minimum change the fuel filter first. That's cheap and GM's will run with a filter darn near completely plugged. If that doesn't solve it, see if you can find someone with a fuel pressure gauge. If it is a TBI unitl, you need 12-15 psi for operation.

 

[Exekiel69]

Calvin, I have a fuel pressure gauge that will take 12psi but I always used it for the trucks (diesel) will this do the job, I want to help My buddy but I'm lost when it comes to gas. Btw the fuel filter is new, he installed it, but I don't understand why He used a fuel hose with clamps for it, AFAIK He bought a stock filter looks GM/chevy to Me, I believe th stall problems was prior to this and the new filter didn't fix it. Where should I plug the fuel pressure gauge for a good reading?

Also, I forgot to mention but the speedometer isn't working as well as the mile counter (electronic) some times it will go up then stop and even go back and keep counting , I haven't seen this but He reminded Me and I thought it might be relevant for You gurus.

 

[Exekiel69]

Anyone? I will be looking a this again during the week so if there is any more tips I'd like to know before I get to it. I was thinking to check if there is power to the pump and then give it 12v and see if it pumps any fuel out of the tank, the tank is down anyways.



Thank You.

 

[snicklas]

EZ,

One other thing to check, take a look at all the control wiring on the engine. I had a 92 Bonneville with the 3.8 that a small woodland creature thought the wiring harness looked tasty. The car would start and run, but as soon as you touched the throttle it would die. Hit the key and start back up. That was fun idling to the shop to get it fixed.....

 

[Exekiel69]

I will, this thing has a lot of oil on the back of the engine between the engine and the firewall and I noticed there are a lot of sensors in that area. I will check this as well when I see it again.

Thank You.