1998 Chevy Cavalier - Getting Too Much Fuel and Won't Run

Autozone (plus most NAPA stores) rent tools like fuel pressure gauges or you can make one for GM products using an old R12 gauge set, the test port is the same thread as R12 gauges. Anyway, test the fuel pressure to see if it is too much or too little. The fuel test port is on the fuel rail and is easy to access. The other thing you need to do is pull all the spark plugs and clean or replace them. If "overfuelling" has been a problem, they may be so fuel soaked as to be ineffective.

you can pull the fuel relay and the car will start and run for a few seconds or until you put the relay back in and it quits. will not start back until you pull the relay again. ive already changed the plugs and that didnt help~any other suggestions?~

Read fuel pressure.

It sounds more like an electrical problem. When you pulled the plugs, were they fuel fouled? Is that why you decided the problem was over fuelling? The computer actually controls the fuel pump relay, so there may be other problems. The more information I have the better answer I can give. BTW, I agree with Bob C knwoing what the fuel pressure is doing would be very helpful.

Is the over-fueling a cause, or a result?

If your ignition coil has poor output, your plugs may foul.

If your air filter is too restrictive, your plugs may foul.

If your catalytic converter is too restrictive, your engine may not run, and foul your plugs.

If the fuel pressure regulator were to fail in a closed position, it would increase the fuel pressure delivered, but the fuel delivery rate would still be controlled by the injectors. How many fuel injectors do you think failed at exactly the same time as the regulator?

Many good intentioned people are going to tell you what they replaced on their car, and telling you to replace that part on your car. That does not mean that that part is defective on your car. Please allow me to explain.

Many Chevy Vegas had defective engine blocks.

Not ALL Vegas had defective engine blocks.

And, not everything that ever went bad on a Vega was an engine block.

I have two suggestions for you. 1) Beg, borrow, or steal a fuel pressure gauge, and know for sure what your pressure is relative to the factory specifications. OR, 2) Replace the spark plugs. New plugs are cheap. If that cures your problem, you are done. If not, at least you will have new plugs to work with while you solve the problem.

You should stop throwing new parts at the problem, and diagnose the problem. There are many very good people hear that will help you get the right answer.

All these posts on caviliers makes me glad I dont own one

I agree.

The Chevy Cavalier shows up on these forums with automotive problems then any other car.

I used to sell cars and we had a few Cavaliers on the lot and we had to spend an hour with each one to get them started in the mornings and let them run for awhile in order for them to start up regularly for the rest of the day. We had no problems like that with any other car.

In my opinion Cavaliers are junk and people would be better off just getting different model.

I disagree... My wife bought hers with 40K miles and got 100K miles out of it before it's first major breakdown (about a month ago). I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure it out but when i do she'll drive it till we get every last mile out of it....it's been used and abused and been through alot.....

We had four on the lot and every morning we had to get an act of congress to get them started. They never sold the entire time I was there. These cars were supposedly not in need of any repairs. If someone wanted to depend on them to get to work on time, good luck.

Since coming to these forums and getting the newsletter, the most common car to appear with people wanting help fixing them is the Cavalier.

I had a Honda Accord that went 300,000 before it needed any major repairs.

Dodge Caravan with 168,000 before needing any major repairs.

whoa buddy......i don't mean to start an arguement......maybe my wife's car has been the exception to the rule but it's been extremely reliable for the 8 years we've owned it, and we've never had a major problem with it.(until now)

kashjeff

There were hundreds of thousands of these cars sold to the rent a car fleets. They were also a common vehicle for municipal use .

If the vehicles did not work well and reliably, these buyers would not have purchased them year after year.

Probably because they got a good deal price wise.

All I know is that from my observation, I will never own one. I'd buy a used Yugo first.

G'day, is this vehicle fuel injected or carburettored? I ask because the comment re removing the pump relay suggests that there is a fuel bowl somewhere. Please advise and I have a think on it.

RRV

I had the same problem on a V8 injection Rover. After chasing round everywhere fuel pressure related & getting nowhere I called out the mobile diagnostics guy. He found a faulty temperature sender which was constantly telling the ECU that the engine was cold.

The temp sensor that was giving faulty information to the ECU should have tripped the "check engine" light. This was not reported in the OP 's post. Early feedback Ford products were notorious for rolling black smoke out of the tail pipe when the temp sensor was damaged. And the computer temp sensor was mounted near the water pump, where it was vulnerable to physical damage.

You may be 100% right, but at this time we have not heard of any codes or check engine light conditions.

If you are NOT getting fuel you might look for a relay that shuts off the fuel pump due to an impact from collision. They sometimes have tripped and keep the fuel pump off. I'm not sure if this relay is bypassed by the "start position" which is why the engine runs for a few seconds after cranking.

As far as I have found, the inertia switches are only on Ford Motor Company vehicles. If anyone has found one on any other brand, please let us know. Thank you.

Is this engine a throttle body fuel injection of a multi-port fuel injection engine? A problem I have found with a number of throttle body injection engines is the idle bypass valve getting full of carbon soot and sticking. If it is a throttle body (most likely since it is the cheapest injection system there is.) try pulling the throttle body from the engine and disassembling it and cleaning the heck out of it. It'll probably fix the problem.

I think it is the Multi Port FI, but will have to have the OP reply.

Check the MAP sensor, it also controls the amout of feul the engine gets, it may not send a code when bad.