My friend has a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am. The problem is his car won't accelerate past 30 MPH and when it gets to that point it begins to jerk and then will eventually die for some reason and it accelrates poorly anyway. He had work done on the catalytic converter about a year ago and he believes that may be the problem again now. He said when it happened last time his car accelrated poorly and if his car had not been under warranty the repair bill would've been $700-$800 to have it corrected. Here's the thing, cars and trucks have run without catalytic converters before, my cousin removed his off his mini SUV a few months ago and ordered a new one but he was still able to drive it and get around although it made a horrible rumbling noise. So, my question could it be the catalytic converter or could it be something he isn't thinking about that may cost him less to get fixed because he is no longer under warranty? If you have any ideas please post away. Thanks for the input.
im not a genius when it comes to cars...but it does sound like a transmission problem? im not sure though....not accelerating past 30 and the jerking..
It might have something to do with gas not flowing right, maybe a bad pump, filter, or something like that. My car (Pontiac as well) had a similar problem and it had something to do with the flow of gasoline, I forgot what it was exactly but it didn't cost too much. EDIT: Don't go to a mechanic telling him there's something wrong with my transmission. He'll take one look at your car and say, "Ya. There is something wrong, it needs a new one, that'll be $2500.00".
Maybe try putting it in neutral while its parked and try to rev up the engine. If the engine works fine even at high RPMs then it's probably something with the transmission.
1st thing to try is a new fuel filter and fuel system treatment. Maybe a tune-up too. Those are cheap fixes to start out with. I doubt its a transmission problem.
It could be anything. You're probably better off just going in and getting the diagnostic test and finding out what is wrong with it right off the bat. It'll probably cost around $80 dollars. I had an acceleration problem on my old car 2 years ago. A spark plug was jammed into my engine head. It cost $800 dollars to fix. About 2.5 months ago i had another acceleration problem. This time it was either a blown gasket or cracked head. At $1,300 dollars i wasn't willing to find out.
Like others have said, it could be anything. Best to take it to the dealership and have them diag it. I had a similiar issues a few years ago, turned out that the computer that controls that was messed up. I'd be trying to slow down by pressing my brakes, and the car would actually start accelerating. Funny now, not so funny then.
If it is a transmission problem, you should take it to Thunderbolt. They put the yee-ha back in your motor and transmission. Seriously, they did an awesome job on my Oldsmobile . . . too bad the rest of the car fell apart soon afterwards.
The cheap fixes on this post caught our eye and we tried those. EUREEKA! It was a bad fuel filter. We went from a $700 to $50. Thanks a lot!
