1998 Pontiac Firefly Rough start and stalls when put into d

Tiny
VINNIECORBETT
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 PONTIAC FIREFLY
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 12,000 MILES
My 1998 Firefly (with 120,000 km on it) wouldn't start this morning. It took multiple trys to get the engine to catch. It was turning over, but sounded rough, like it wasn't getting gas to it properly. When it did start up finally it sounded fine, and all electrical was working. When I put it in drive it stalled right away. After that it took a lot more tries to get it started again, and when I turned on the heater fan it stalled out. Attempts after that to get it started failed, and the exhaust started making "popping" sounds when I'd stop trying to get the engine to fire up. It was still turning over, just really rough and chugging sounding. Last time I drove it I took it through a car wash just before I parked it, and it has sat without running for two days in very cool humid weather. Any thoughts?
Monday, March 8th, 2010 AT 11:37 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Hi, thanks for the donation. When was the last tune-up? With an extended crank, have a helper crank it, while you check for spark at the plugs, if you have spark everywhere, use a gage and check fuel pressure. It is possible you got something wet at the car wash, you didn't wash the engine?
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Monday, March 8th, 2010 AT 11:47 AM
Tiny
VINNIECORBETT
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Thanks for the quick response. I just did a normal car wash, no under the hood action. It's been extremely damp and foggy here, so dampness doing damage was my first thought. I had the spark plug wires replaced about a year ago, and will follow your advice and check the spark. More later!
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Monday, March 8th, 2010 AT 11:50 AM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Some of the national brand autostores used to loan out a fuel pressure gage, if you don't have one.
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Monday, March 8th, 2010 AT 1:33 PM

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