If a car shakes when the gas petal is stepped on and it won’t go fast, then you probably have an ignition problem. This is generally a problem caused by a spark plug wire arcing to the engine ground. The other possibility can be a bad spark plug. This is a 1996 pontiac grand am, 2.4 liter engine with a coil pack. This means that there are no spark plug wires but instead an intermediate plug that fits between the plug and the coil. If a car stumbles when the gas petal is stepped on it is because the spark is grounding to the engine instead of reaching the spark plug. If your car has not had a tune up lately now would be a good time to do that. To find the problem first the spark plugs need to be removed.
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Many cars today use timing belts instead of timing chains that were used in the past. Most import automobiles use them and some new domestic autos are switching to them. There are advantages and disadvantages to using timing belts. Timing belts are more quiet than a timing chain. This is good for high performance applications that use knock sensors to detect detonation. The lesser noise minimizes the background noise caused by a timing chain. The downside is that the timing belt should be replaced every 60,000 miles. A timing chain will generally never need to be replaced. Many times people will wait past 120,000 miles and their belt will break. If the timing belt breaks the car will stop wherever it happens to be. Depending on what type of car you own the timing belt breaking can be very costly.
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Does your car idle rough or the speed cycle up and down. You probably have a bad idle air control valve. The only purpose of the idle air control valve is to keep the engine’s idle smooth. The engine’s computer gives the idle air control valve the feedback it needs to hold a constant rpm. The idle will be around 1000 rpm’s when not in gear and around 800 rpm’s in gear. This iac valve is on a Nissan Maxima and is similar to most idle air control valves.
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Rebuilding a clutch slave cylinder is sometimes needed after the clutch petal is no longer working. First you should check the clutch fluid container to verify it is full. If not follow the line down to the slave cylinder while looking for leaks to identify the problem. The clutch slave cylinder is located behind the passenger side wheel on this vehicle, a miata. Remove the two bolts and the clutch line and the slave cylinder should come off to the right side.
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If your clutch petal has ever lost pressure and the petal will not dis-engage the clutch, there is a leak. The leak may be air sucking in or fluid leaking out. First check the clutch fluid reserve, if it is low you will need to identify the leak. There should be a puddle of fluid at the leak. If a leaking line is not the culprit it may be the clutch master cylinder. If the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder is faulty, there may be no loss of fluid. The clutch master cylinder is located on the firewall attached underneath the fluid reserve tank.
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An air temperature sensor is used on fuel injected engines. The purpose of an air temperature sensor is to help the computer calculate air density. A change in temperature changes the resistance in the sensor. Simply stated, the higher the air temperature gets the less dense the air becomes. As the air becomes less dense the computer knows that it needs to lessen the fuel flow. If the fuel flow was not changed the engine would become rich, possibly losing power and consuming more fuel. The temp sender is generally located in the air inlet tube or the air box. The wire running to the sensor can be disconnected then the sensor can be unscrewed and replaced. Some aftermarket companies trick this sensor with a resistor (false temp reading) to make the engine run richer. If a engine has been tuned lean this trickery can show mild power gains.
Ignition switches are a common problem with cars. When an ignition switch dies, the engine will still spin over but will not start. The 12 volt power will never go to the ignition module to power the ignition coils. Ignition switches are similar on all cars and this procedure should work on most. This car is a sunfire and shares the same parts with a cavalier. First you will need to remove the three screws on the underside of the steering column cover.
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