'94 Cavalier ran last night, but not today??? won't start?

Question

I have a '94 Cavalier, has been running great since I had the head gasket replaced about 5k miles ago because it was leaking coolant. Drove it into the driveway last night, no problems. I go out tonight to drive it and it will not start. Cranks fine but its not 'kicking' at all. The only time I get a kick out of it is when its floored and while I am cranking it. Then it seems like it really wants to start but just cant. My guess is a clogged fuel filter or clogged something. But, ended up checking the oil in the process and it was barely touching the bottom of the dipstick. So I put about 1.5 quarts in it and it didn't really help. Odd thing is that when I try to start it with the dipsick pulled out, quite a bit of smoke comes out of the dipstick tube... might just be from all the friction and not much oil pressure yet as it is not started. Well, any help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

i own a repair shop,and it shouldn't smoke from the dip stick like that ,,it sounds like the oil pressure switch may have went out on it,,this has a built in safety on it to shut the ignition down if it senses it is low on oil,this was designed to help save engines,,and i guess it has saved a few ,but its a pain when it goes out,,it drives some of the younger mechanics crazy trying to find out whats wrong with it,,but id check that first,,what it does is shut the fuel pump off,,so the car cant run,,it was a good idea to have it on cars,,and it has helped save a lot of engines,,but this is what id try first,,good luck,,i hope this help,s.

Answer 2

There is a distinct possibility that the little car is flooded for some reason. When you put the throttle all the way down to the floor (technical jargon -- WOT --"wide open throttle") during cranking mode, the computer interprets this as "clear Flood" command, and will turn off the fuel injectors until it "sees" throttle position < 75%.
You might remove the plugs, hold the throttle wide open and crank it 5 - 10 seconds two or three times, then replace the plugs, clean and dried with brake cleaner, carb cleaner or either, or new plugs and try again.
The only clue to this is that you say it will "try" when the throttle is all the way down.

Good Luck & Merry Christmas

Answer 3

sometimes when an engine is overheated it can cause a number of problems. the rings on the pistons can seize on to the pistons,or the cylinders can glaze. this in turn can cause excessive blow by. gases passing past the rings into the crankcase.. you can try a little trick i have used a number of times over the years.get some transmission fluid about half a litre,disable the ignition, have someone crank the engine over and pour the transmission oil into the intake this may be awkward on some applications. continue until fluid is in cylinder wait about half an hour. enable fuel or spark and start engine.remember this will smoke real bad for a while when started,white smoke everywhere,you may get neighbours mad! drive car and very speed up and down until smoke clears. this has worked on some vehicles for me if your engine has a cracked block or head this will not help but it is worth a try if it is rings.

Answer 4

Larry R Your Extra ! Your Extra!!...
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