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2001 Cavalier Z24-Engine cranks but will not run

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cavalier_2001

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Posting for a friend of mine.

He tries starting the car. It cranks and tries to start but will not stay running unless he sprays carbon choke cleaner into throttle body. We tried draining the gas thinking the gas may be too old or something in it. He bought this car hoping he could get it started and run for little money.

He changed the fuel filter. I replaced the O2 sensor. Trouble code P0300 comes up as "miss fire".

When he first bought the car and brought it home (he drove it) a few days later after trying to get it to run steady a wire harness fell from under the steering column. It turns out that the previous owner had attempted to install a remote start system. The security light was on at that time. Since then the car would not run properly and the accessories were all messed up meaning when he put on the windshield wipers that directional would go on. After research of the remote system I was able to with 98% surety that I have removed the remote system. The security light is no longer on in the dashboard, and the accessories are now functioning correctly.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
the fact that it runs when you spray fluid indicates you have a fuel delivery problem. If you run power directly to the fuel pump will the car stay running? If so check back from the pump to the relay to the ignition switch for power. You are sure you didnt fail to connect something from the ignition switch?
 
zora said:
the fact that it runs when you spray fluid indicates you have a fuel delivery problem. If you run power directly to the fuel pump will the car stay running? If so check back from the pump to the relay to the ignition switch for power. You are sure you didnt fail to connect something from the ignition switch?
Click to expand...

Thanks Zora for your quick reply.

I will relay this to my friend here with me. I am almost certain I did not miss any connections as the connections this guy made when installing the remote was tapping into existing wires, not cutting wires except for one. I may want to check that one under the steering column. I only temporarily twisted the wires together and then taped them. I wanted to see if he could start the car first and if the security light went off. Maybe my connection is not so good. I wanted to see what happened before I made the connections permanent.

I would post a picture of the wiring in the steering column but it asks for a URL. I know that means Universal Resource Location but where do I post the picture online for you to see.
 
The fuel pump is on when the car is running while spraying the carbon choke cleaner in the throttle body my friend says.
 
Here is a few pics of the steering column wires as they were when the guy attempted to install the remote start. I have since then cut the wires that were tapped from the remote start to the original car wires.

Question: Do we have to reset the passlock system on the car? I have been a little reading up on that. As we thought there may be some "gunk" in the gas we drained some of the gas from the car by turning the key and the gas would pump through the hose we attached to the "fuel line to fuel rail" (see pic E). The fuel pump engages and pumps gas into the container. We can keep turning the key on and it does the same thing. We only turn the key far enough to engage the fuel pump though. The gas seems clear to us.

Pic A - I had a problem finding the other end of this yellow wire but found it burried in electrical tape and a purple wire was attached to it. So I just attached the green to the purple temporarily not knowing for sure if it was correct. Once I know all the wiring is correct I will make permanent connections and secure them well with liquid electrical tape. Don't have a soldering iron etc.

Pic C/D I connected this wire together again.
 

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you only need a Passlock reset if the security light stays on
for any engine to start it needs a minimum PSI, seeing gas flow out of the line is not a pressure test.
you need a wiring diagram rather than guessing what wire connects to what. The factory would never have one color wire connect to another color wire without a connector.
 
UPDATE:

He replaced the fuel pump and sender and also cleaned out the fuel tank while he had the tank out to replace the pump.

Sometimes it runs once it starts but hardly any RPM at all. If he puts his foot all the way down on the gas pedal it just barely reaches 1100 RPM, if he takes his foot off it normally stalls soon afterward. When he attempts to crank the engine it sounds like a coughing from the exhaust and the engine kind of sputters. I wish I was able to upload either a sound file or a video so you can hear the engine. I think it would help. As he releases the key to try and start it again it almost sounds as though it wants to backfire.

Checked the wiring and all seems ok. However when we tried to check for the power to the injectors we were not getting 12v, I did make sure I had a good solid ground connection to the body of the car with one of the probes. I am used to only checking voltage on AC. Do we have to use a specific probe on the ground and then use the other on each of the two pins on the injector. I tried checking each pin one at a time on each injector while the key was in the on position and did not attempt to crank the engine. Also, when we tried checking the voltage on the injectors we had all four disconnected at one time. Would this make a difference. I googled it but could not seem to find out if it would.

I also checked the resistance of the injectors and they all seemed to be around the same readings.

If there was an issue with the ignition connection or switch would it even start at all? We are just trying to eliminate things.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
so did you ever do a fuel pressure test either before or after replacing the pump?
you dont have a check engine light on and you see the light come on when you first turn the key to verify the light is working?
 
zora said:
so did you ever do a fuel pressure test either before or after replacing the pump?
you dont have a check engine light on and you see the light come on when you first turn the key to verify the light is working?
Click to expand...
No,have not done pressure test before or after new pump. This does not have the port to be able to do test.
When trying to start it the check engine light goes on but car won't start and light goes off.
 
a fuel pressure test kit comes with the proper adapter to place in the line to perform the test
 
zora said:
a fuel pressure test kit comes with the proper adapter to place in the line to perform the test
Click to expand...

Thank you for telling me that. I did not know. I will see if maybe Advanced Auto rents them.

Meantime, I am still confused as to why I am not getting any voltage on the injectors when I test them. This is concerning me. I believe I followed the procedures properly for testing to see if there is any voltage at the injectors. But if in fact no voltage at injectors even if the pressure test came out fine I would still have a problem with the engine starting and running. I am only saying this because of my lack of experience and understanding and only going by logic in this case. If my thinking is off base, please by all means correct it. It would be highly appreciated. Again, thank you for your help so far.
 

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