Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
2003 Chevy Cavalier occasionally dies at stop signs, throttle sticks, engine throttles up?
I'm trying to troubleshoot my mom's car and I'm getting a bit stuck. She has a 2003 Chevy Cavalier and it'll run fine most of time but keeps having major occasional problems. These problems only happen in winter (when it gets below freezing).
1. Sometimes dies at stop signs. Have to leave car off for about 1 minute and then try starting, otherwise it dies again right away.
2. Throttle occasionally sticks. If I pull over and wait 20ish seconds the throttle will unstick, but won't unstick if I keep driving.
3. Engine throttles up by itself up to 2000RPM. This can happen when driving or when stopped.
Since this happens during winter, number 2 and 3 are dangerous and I'm confused with what it could be. I was thinking Idle Air Control but it just doesn't seem to fully fit the picture. One other thing that wrong with the car is that the cooling fan isn't working, I haven't put the new one in yet but I don't see why that would make the car not work in winter, it was still working ok in summer/fall.
Ideas?
No codes are snowing, I hooked it up to my OBD but nothing looks glaringly wrong with the live data.
The car is maintained fairly well and usually runs perfect, its just when it has it's hicups here, they could get someone killed.
Just an FYI if anyone finds this in a search:
The issue was resolved by replacing the intake air temperature sensor (11 dollars and 1 minute job), and replacing an end on a fuel/vacuum cable that connects to the air intake. The split cable was dumping gas into the intake and spraying it around the engine compartment. I also replaced the gas cap since the seal was shot.
4 Answers
- JosephLv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
the throttle sticking sounds like wear. the other could be caused by a bad temp sensor or the car not getting warmed up enough- is the thermostat in? there is a possibility that there may be a vacuum leak in there as well. idle air is also a good place to start, but do you have any codes showing?
Source(s): mech - 1 decade ago
Sounds more like the TPS (throttle position sensor), is the check engine light on in the dash? If it's on, have an OBDII scanner hooked up to it to have it checked out. This is even done for free at alot of auto parts stores. Hope this helps, good luck.
Source(s): Mechanic for 18 years - 5 years ago
More questions for you. Did you mean that when you depress the accelerator half-way the engine dies? Can you restart it easily? Does this accerator bit happen while idling as well as moving? Between start and half-way acceleration, does the vehicle run OK otherwise? When it "dies", does the engine stop cold totally, or does it seem to cut out? At this point it appears that you have fuel system problem. Check your fuel filter and if that's OK check fuel pressure at the rail.
- FrankieLv 71 decade ago
Sounds like the throttle body needs some serious cleaning. The fan is probably good, the temp sensor is failing.
Do you ever service this vehicle? If not, it may be time. They don't run forever without preventative maintenance.
Source(s): Just my opinion
