bparmer

For starters, I had a check engine light on about two months ago. I took it to a mechanic and he put it on the computer. He said it was a minor evap system problem and shouldn't cause any issues.

I filled up at a Sam's Club gas station about a month ago. The automatic full shutoff was apparently broken and I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been and overfilled the tank.

That evening, I had driven my car about 10 miles and stopped at the store. I was inside for about 20 minutes. When I came back out and started the car, it turned over, cranked, and immediately stalled out. It did this twice and finally started when I gave it some gas. I didn't have any more problems with it for about a week.

Then, I noticed when I put the car in reverse, sometimes it jerks really hard until I put it in drive and continue forward. It doesn't always do this, though.

About a week after I first noticed this, my car had been parked for about three hours. I tried to turn the car on and it stalled out again like it did the first time and would not start, no matter the gas I gave it.

Any ideas as to what this could be and how to fix it?

kenny111111

hello
what i would do 1st is spray a little eather (instant start) into the (carb,thottle body)
if it starts and dont stay running. then its a fuel problem.(fuel pump, fuel filter)
if it dont start at all. then its an electrical problem or a compression problem
does the motor turn over VERY fast?(faster than it used to)
try this 1st it will tell you alot
good luck

PS be VERY careful with the eather it is very flammable

bparmer

We put it on the computer and cleared out all the little codes. We waited for the engine light to come back on and it said I had a bad O2 sensor. We replaced that and it was running fine, no engine light. Got home, turned the car off. About two hours later we got in the car to get something for dinner and it does the same thing.

Once it starts, it runs fine. It's just getting it to start that is the problem.

octaneman

Hi bparmer

Hard starting can be a real pain to narrow down because there are many factors that affect it. If the engine has to turn over several dozen times for it to start then it maybe a clear indication of a blocked fuel filter. Fuel delivery plays a major role in cases of hard starting problems bad spark plugs, wires, air/fuel filters, are the usually the primary culprits.

mack1

Hi bparmer and welcome to TSF,

Try turning the key from off to on(not start). Wait 3 seconds and repeat. Each time the switch goes to start, the fuel pump comes on for 2 seconds. The on/off sequence will give it a chance to build up more pressure if you have a weak pump. If you had a pressure guage on the fuel line, you could see this happen. The spray starter fluid that
kenny111111 mentioned would also tell you if you had a fuel problem.

The starter pulls more current than any other power device on the car. When the starter engages, it can pull the battery voltage down to 10 volts or lower. Under 10 volts will start affecting the ignition system. In that case, the engine will spin, but no spark. A good test for spark is to use a spare spark plug (or take one out of the engine) and place it on the block with the ingition wire connected to it. Turn the engine over and look for a rich blue spark agross the gap. A weak red or no spark means the problem is ignition. When it won't start, try jumpering it to a known good battery. If that solves the problem, have the battery tested. Also, make sure the battery terminals are clean and the connections at the starter are good.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Mack1