Hello,
The car is 2002 Cavalier. Some months back it has a serious overheating issue and I had to park the car. It overheated quite badly in the hot Mexican sun.
I came back to the bar some months later (I was not here in Mexico for awhile so it just sat). The battery was dead. I had the battery charged (supposedly) only to find they did not charge the battery. I connected it to my truck and boosted the car.
I was relieved to find the car turned over fine. So the motor was not seized. That was good news.
The car turns over but will not start. I checked for spark-there was spark.
I poured a little bit of gas in the air filter tube leading to the throttle body but that did not help. I fear it may be broken pistons. Could this be the problem or maybe the fuel pump? The fuel pump is not very old (a few years) but was changed here and parts are quite sub par from here in Mexico.
What I would like to know is if there is internal damage to the motor I will not repair the car and I will scrap it. If it is something like a fuel pump I will have it fixed. I would like to diagnose the car myself as mechanics here are not very good and can only take off and replace parts-they cannot seem to diagnose anything correctly other than changing parts and hoping that is the problem (even then not very good at replacing parts either). Would instant spray work better than pouring gas into the throttle body?
Can you please help me diagnose what the problem is before taking it to the mechanics?
I only have basic tools. I could, if needed buy a compression gauge if you think that is necessary to check the internal parts.
Please help,
Car stranded in Mexico
Ryan
The car is 2002 Cavalier. Some months back it has a serious overheating issue and I had to park the car. It overheated quite badly in the hot Mexican sun.
I came back to the bar some months later (I was not here in Mexico for awhile so it just sat). The battery was dead. I had the battery charged (supposedly) only to find they did not charge the battery. I connected it to my truck and boosted the car.
I was relieved to find the car turned over fine. So the motor was not seized. That was good news.
The car turns over but will not start. I checked for spark-there was spark.
I poured a little bit of gas in the air filter tube leading to the throttle body but that did not help. I fear it may be broken pistons. Could this be the problem or maybe the fuel pump? The fuel pump is not very old (a few years) but was changed here and parts are quite sub par from here in Mexico.
What I would like to know is if there is internal damage to the motor I will not repair the car and I will scrap it. If it is something like a fuel pump I will have it fixed. I would like to diagnose the car myself as mechanics here are not very good and can only take off and replace parts-they cannot seem to diagnose anything correctly other than changing parts and hoping that is the problem (even then not very good at replacing parts either). Would instant spray work better than pouring gas into the throttle body?
Can you please help me diagnose what the problem is before taking it to the mechanics?
I only have basic tools. I could, if needed buy a compression gauge if you think that is necessary to check the internal parts.
Please help,
Car stranded in Mexico
Ryan
Sep 12, 2014 at 9:24 AM
