1992 Pontiac Grand Am no power

KSRAIDER

MEMBER
1992 PONTIAC GRAND AM

Engine Performance problem
1992 Pontiac Grand Am 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

This is my daughters car. She called after getting off work and said her car was shaking and had very little power. My husband drove to where she was and noticed the catalytic converter was hot. The next day we removed the catalytic converter and replaced it. The car still had very little power so we checked the spark plugs and boots and replaced both items. The car still runs very rough and has the same power problem. We are desperate for help as we are one of the many who have had their income cut in half this year we have no money to buy her another car. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

1 Reply

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Welcome to the forum, did you visually check for spark at the plugs. A quick first test, without taking anything loose, is to use a digital multimeter, they sensitive enough to react, inductive reading. One lead of meter goes to ground, the other, engine running, you touch to plug wires, one at a time, You don't penetrate the insulation and don't take the plug wire loose. It's an inductive reading, look for the readings to be close to same on all plug wires, as an example, if three plug wires are showing around 1/2 volt and one plug wire showing zero, I know where to start looking. The test isn't conclusive, just a start. Use a gage and check fuel pressure. Also check the trouble codes.