2002 cavalier stalls when cold hesitates and sputters new plugs and air filter

Asked by cdaguy Oct 17, 2012 at 11:37 AM about the 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

1 Answer

190

Many possible problems can cause those symptoms, so how is it when its warmed up? If it runs great, I would assume a tiny head gasket leak. The car has built up pressure in the coolant system when its parked and shut off, sometimes that little pressure will be enough to flood out a cylinder with coolant over time. then when started, it runs rough until all the coolant is burnt out of the cylinder and continues to burn any leakage while running.....check for smoke and other sympoms like water drops in oil.

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