petrol engine cutting out at speed.....any ideas?????

[timedragon]

im hoping someone can help me fix a problem on my F reg 1.6 cavalier. apart from a bit of 'mayonaise' in the oil filler cap, it seemed to be running sweet. it was fine until we opened it up a bit on the straight and it started chugging and then cut out completely. after a minute or two it started fine and ran for another mile or so before the same thing happened. we got some petrol injector cleaner and put the whole bottle into a part tank of fuel so it was more concentrated. that seemed to do the trick, until the return journey in the rain when it started all over again. now two days and three bottles of fuel cleaner later, we are none the wiser and its happening more often. i dont think it can be electrical as it happens in dry and wet weather and it is intermittant. there does seem to be a lot of oil around the carburettor and we were advised to take out the air filter to help things for now. it seemed to do it when the engine is under pressure going uphill or speeding up but it doesnt happen every time, and sometimes when we accelerate it does it.we did manage to ride through it once by letting up on the throttle pedal, but normally it just goes. it also stalls when slowing down at a junction, so could it be anything to do with the timing aswell . it was suggested that maybe a large bit of gunk may be being sucked up every so often to block the fuel getting through which could be the reason why it restarts ok after a minute or two, but it smells like its flooded when it coughs and splutters as it dies. my uncle wants to try and fix it himself as he is quite good with cars once he knows whats wrong with it. he was going to fit new leads and plugs but im not sure if this will cure the problem which im sure is to do with the fuel system. does anyone have any ideas what it could be and if there are any valves that could be sticking, or any links to any fault diagnosis sites which may narrow it down...... i do hope someone can help... thanks.

[ianess]

It sounds to me very much a fuel starvation problem.

The first thing to check, in fact replace it anyway, should be the fuel filter.  Your problems may be solved in an instant.  Good luck.

[ianess]

I maybe should have mentioned that it's located at the back end, just under the fuel tank.  At least it was on my F-reg 1.8 Cavalier.

[MORELLO]

Sounds to me like a 17 year old jollopy that needs scrapping.

[smudge]

Your plight reminded me of many years ago & the day after I'd passed my driving test. I thought I'd venture out onto the M1 & brave a fifty mile trip to visit my parents, along with our two little girls happily drawing away in the back of the car. After a few miles, the engine kept chugging & finally came to a halt. The car was towed away to a garage, where a split fuel pipe was diagnosed. The mechanic felt sorry for us & only charged me 50p.

[FastBarry]

Yeah, hard luck for getting a Vauxhall in the first place but try changing the fuel filter. Works every time.

[smudge]

In my case, the car was a Ford Anglia - so it shows how many years ago that was! lol.

[BillyBB]

The older Vauxhalls had a mechanical fuel pump, if so this sounds like a split diaphram. Could be a dodgy contact to an electric pump too.

[jake-the-peg]

I'd agree

I had exactly what you describe with an earlier Cavalier

Turned out to be the mechanical fuel pump.