Thread: Issue when car is warm

OK, today it was unseasonably warm. I drove the car and stopped for maybe 20mins. I got back in the car and started driving. All of a sudden there was no power. I hit the gas and heard the engine strain but the RPM's didn't go passed 1500. I shut the car off turned it back on and it drove ok for about 2 miles then the same thing. When I put the car in park the engine was stuttering. I let the car sit for a few mins and started it up. It drove ok for another few miles and the same issue. When I finally got home and parked the car the engine was stuttering again before I turned the car off. (Thanks for reading up to this point). The check engine light isn't on so it makes it hard to diagnose. I have a code scanner but no codes are showing up.

Now, before this happened if I hit the gas accellerating on the highway the car would stutter a bit also, but would be fine once it was up to speed.

Could it be a bad MAF, plugged cat, or bad fuel pump? Or is there something else I'm not thinking of?

It's a possibility for sure. I'm going to start with the cat. My wife's Grand AM had the same issues when her cat was plugged. Fuel injectors are harder to replace than a cat lol.

fuel injectors on these cars are a breeze.

Bleed pressure by pulling fuel pump relay then starting car. Let run till dies, attempt to start for 3-5 seconds.

Remove engine cover (then throw it out, causes nothing but problems), find the four 10 mm nuts that hold the fuel rail on, undo and store safely on the window cowl. gently pry up on the rail in different areas till it comes out, pull the injector in question out, install new one with new o rings. Reverse and away you go.

Note nut torque spec is 18 inch pounds or so...

So be careful with it.

Cat might result in broken studs which can be a PITA to fix.

Regardless, try removing the pre-cat O2 sensor to see if the problem reoccurs.

If its better, its probably a plugged cat.

I agree fuel injectors are much easier on these cars! On my Camaro it was a full day's work to replace them. As for the cat I have a high-flow on order but I need to drive the car. Luckily I have a shop to work in so it's going to be a quick cut, gut, and weld to see if it's the cat today.

Well, just got back from the auto club. Yup, the cat was plugged big time! However, I had quite the adventure with the car today!

OK, so I get in the car around 3:10pm. I start the car and it dies right away. OK, so I try again and no power at all. Dead! I'm thinking "great, what now!". I pop the hood and look at the positive battery connector. Sure enough it looks pretty corroded. I go back inside and grab my tools and some sandpaper. I take off the battery post and sand it all down, and sand down the screw. Clean it up and put it back in. Power is resored and the car started yay!

On my way to the auto club the car had no guts when I hit the gas. Going passed 65kph was a struggle for the car. So, I get to the auto club and unbolt the cat and cut it from the front pipe. Gut it out, put it back, weld it and it looks good. I go to start the car and it goes click-click-click but no start. Tried again and the same thing. Wow is my luck great or what!!!

I take the battery tester and sure enough the battery is reading at 9V. So here I am at 9:30pm without a battery and I need my car tomorrow. Luckily the Camaro was sitting in the parking lot with a brand new 3 month old battery! (By the way changing a battery in a Grand Prix is a royal pain!). So, I swap the battery and sure enough the car started first try! On my way home I played with the car a little. Wow! I have power now! The boost doesn't need to kick in to take me uphill! Unless of course I floor it, lol!

I'm thinking that because the connection to the battery was bad that it wasn't charging the battery properly. So, I'm going to put the old battery on the charger and see if she holds a charge!

For reference, here are some pictures of the auto club where I am lucky to be able to work on my car!





My Camaro:

Ah who cares... E-tests might allow us to get away without cats next year.

Nice shop!

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

goood jerb.

I bet you will have a SES light now, because the cat is basically gone.

Yup most likely, but I have a code reader so I can reset the SES light when it annoys me lol.

Well, I went for a long drive yesterday. When I stopped at the store and got back in thae car, it was sputtering and dying again. Now I hear a loud buzzing from the rear of the car. So, time for a new fuel pump! Cheapest I found was $400.00 new too. I checked the relay and fuses under the hood and they all are fine. I changed the gas tank and filler neck recently because they had holes and were completely gone/ I don't know how long the gas tank was bad so it could have damaged the fuel pump over time sucking in air.

TRE performance or something or other?

Drops in the stock canister.

Well, I found a new one locally for $283 at Carquest! That's better!