Mystery of the 1988 Cavalier
Mystery of the 1988 Cavalier
Two years ago my car violently shuddered and stalled out at a red light just off the freeway, which I had driven home from work for sixty miles at 65-70 mph. Since the car was also reluctant to decelerate much below 20-25 mph when I let it coast, I though the transmission might be going and discovered that the fluid was low. Two years later I do not reliably remember how much I poured in, but it was at least one liter. Oddly, I never had to add any more since then.
As for the violent shuddering and stalling out at the first red light just off the freeway, this continued but only one or twice every few months. However, the car constantly resisted decelerating below 20-25 mph after each sixty-mile stretch of freeway between home and work. I would take my foot off the pedal and the car would coast down to as low as 15 mph, but then it would kick in and climb up to 30-35 mph even after a mile or more of coasting! I just let it coast, sometimes shifting to neutral to make it slow down just before our house, and I kept on driving, because I am determined to become the last man in America driving a 1988 Chevy Cavalier. (When I bought mine fifteen years ago, the country was teeming with them, but then these great herds were killed off as fast as the buffalo.)
Until one week ago the car was parked for two months for want of a new starter. I am back on the road, but now the car seems ready to shudder and stall out every day at the first stop at each end of my sixty-mile stretch of freeway. Worse, when the traffic light turns green the car tends to stall out again as soon as I restart the engine and shift to drive. With cars behind me waiting to drive through the intersection, I obviously cannot afford to let this problem continue. My mechanic’s first remedy, a new fuel filter, did not solve the problem, although the old filter was already dirty after just seven or eight months. (I now know not to run close to empty before refilling.) While the car was idle I replaced the spark plugs after seventy thousand miles. The electrodes were rough with dark deposits or corrosion. Otherwise, I change the oil and filter every three thousand miles, regularly check the fluid levels and tire pressure, replace the air filter and drive the car very gently. When I last checked in October I was still getting 32-34 mpg!
The car now has over 174,000 miles, and I want to keep driving it. However, I also want to stop worrying every time I get off the freeway and approach the first traffic light: will it turn red and make me stall out for good this time? I also do not want to get into an expensive routine of getting one part after another replaced, trial-and-error style. Can you give me any good advice? Is the car’s computer likely to say exactly where the problem is if I get an analyzer test ($40)? The car is most prone to stalling out and to resisting decelerating at the first red light after I get off the freeway. Then it gradually adjusts to city driving, but it never completely overcomes either tendency.
Two years ago my car violently shuddered and stalled out at a red light just off the freeway, which I had driven home from work for sixty miles at 65-70 mph. Since the car was also reluctant to decelerate much below 20-25 mph when I let it coast, I though the transmission might be going and discovered that the fluid was low. Two years later I do not reliably remember how much I poured in, but it was at least one liter. Oddly, I never had to add any more since then.
As for the violent shuddering and stalling out at the first red light just off the freeway, this continued but only one or twice every few months. However, the car constantly resisted decelerating below 20-25 mph after each sixty-mile stretch of freeway between home and work. I would take my foot off the pedal and the car would coast down to as low as 15 mph, but then it would kick in and climb up to 30-35 mph even after a mile or more of coasting! I just let it coast, sometimes shifting to neutral to make it slow down just before our house, and I kept on driving, because I am determined to become the last man in America driving a 1988 Chevy Cavalier. (When I bought mine fifteen years ago, the country was teeming with them, but then these great herds were killed off as fast as the buffalo.)
Until one week ago the car was parked for two months for want of a new starter. I am back on the road, but now the car seems ready to shudder and stall out every day at the first stop at each end of my sixty-mile stretch of freeway. Worse, when the traffic light turns green the car tends to stall out again as soon as I restart the engine and shift to drive. With cars behind me waiting to drive through the intersection, I obviously cannot afford to let this problem continue. My mechanic’s first remedy, a new fuel filter, did not solve the problem, although the old filter was already dirty after just seven or eight months. (I now know not to run close to empty before refilling.) While the car was idle I replaced the spark plugs after seventy thousand miles. The electrodes were rough with dark deposits or corrosion. Otherwise, I change the oil and filter every three thousand miles, regularly check the fluid levels and tire pressure, replace the air filter and drive the car very gently. When I last checked in October I was still getting 32-34 mpg!
The car now has over 174,000 miles, and I want to keep driving it. However, I also want to stop worrying every time I get off the freeway and approach the first traffic light: will it turn red and make me stall out for good this time? I also do not want to get into an expensive routine of getting one part after another replaced, trial-and-error style. Can you give me any good advice? Is the car’s computer likely to say exactly where the problem is if I get an analyzer test ($40)? The car is most prone to stalling out and to resisting decelerating at the first red light after I get off the freeway. Then it gradually adjusts to city driving, but it never completely overcomes either tendency.
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Comments
btw, have you had any other repairs to this vehicle over the years? I recently had to replace her alternator other than that she's had normal maintence.
My roommate has a '98 Tracker that had just the opposite problem...the converter wouldn't lock up, and would send a code to the computer that made the check engine light come on.
Congratulations though, on keeping your Cavalier for that long! I had two buddies back in college that had Cavaliers. One had a base 1985 4-door sedan that had electrical problems around 1994, with about 110K or so miles on it. One day it just wouldn't start, and a new battery wouldn't do the trick so they got rid of it.
My other buddy had an '89 Z-24 coupe that was a pretty hot car in its day. It blew a head gasket, also around the 110K mark, and his family donated it for a tax writeoff.
Come to think of it, I had another buddy with an '87 Z-24, and it blew a head gasket too. His dad was a mechanic though, so he fixed it for him.
With the pace he is driving, he probably can beat you, dchroust.Hehehe.
Did I mention there is no unleaded gasoline in Ukraine?(catalitic converter had to be removed:)
She has that dex cool orange stuff and I heard that stuff was crap. I don't even know if she has even had the coolant changed. I've known her since 99; the car is a 96 sunfire with 89k miles
andre, what are the typical lifespans of thermostats?
As for how long a thermostat lasts, that's a good question. I really don't know. I've only had one new car in my life, which is my '00 Intrepid, which currently has about 74,500 miles on it. I've had to replace thermostats in old cars before, but I don't know how long they had been in there before.
I think thermostats are usually designed to fail in the open position, which should make the car run cooler (and also take longer to warm up in the mornings). Occasionally though, I'm sure they can fail closed, which would make you overheat pretty quickly!