1997 Chevy Cavalier still wont pass emissions... What now?

152k. The car is done. It's on borrowed time. 1st: Clean throttle body, PCV valve, and squirt that stuff right into the PCV valve when the car is running. Will have to wedge open the throttle, it will bog down on you...... 2nd : oil and filter change.... 3rd : Guaranteed to Pass in the tank ..... 4th : 3 bottles of HEET dry gas ( red bottle, not yellow ) .. 5th: Couple of gallons of 93 octane .. 6th: Take it on the highway and run the dickens out of it ( watch for po-po) 7th: Straight to inspection... 8th : It will pass ... 9th: Go to Home Depot and buy some FOR SALE signs. 10th: GET RID OF IT to any idiot willing to buy it near you're asking price.
 
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Ok Update. My dad went out on a limb and we put no-name dirt cheap Amazon fuel injectors in. Then hosed down the intake, throttle body, and maf sensor with cleaner. IT PASSED! It dropped to a .510 with a .8000 cap for HC and 1.309 with a 1.500 cap for NOx.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
152k. The car is done. It's on borrowed time. 1st: Clean throttle body, PCV valve, and squirt that stuff right into the PCV valve when the car is running. Will have to wedge open the throttle, it will bog down on you...... 2nd : oil and filter change.... 3rd : Guaranteed to Pass in the tank ..... 4th : 3 bottles of HEET dry gas ( red bottle, not yellow ) .. 5th: Couple of gallons of 93 octane .. 6th: Take it on the highway and run the dickens out of it ( watch for po-po) 7th: Straight to inspection... 8th : It will pass ... 9th: Go to Home Depot and buy some FOR SALE signs. 10th: GET RID OF IT to any idiot willing to buy it near you're asking price.
Click to expand...
It did finally pass with the third set of injectors. I filled the tank with premium, mixed in a whole bottle of Berrymans, got an oil change ran it for a while. The pull-n-pay injectors apparently were dirty and needed a rebuild. I finally found a place that would rebuild them but it's a two week turn around which I didnt have. The Valvoline oil change lady was hilarious. She tild me she started changing oil when these were new but hadn't seen a Cavalier in ten years.
 
When it was a requirement in North Carolina to have an emissions check with state inspection, there was a waiver if a vehicle couldn’t pass and it was a hardship on the owner to repair.
 
Sounds like good news. Maybe get a set of injectors rebuilt and swap in when they are done (assuming they aren't too expensive to do), and maybe eek out the last years. Sounds like a labor of love. Certainly haven't seen a Cavalier in a number of years, been at least 5, and they were not in good shape.
 
YAY !!!! Congrats !!!!!! :) Now decision time. The car is coming up on 29 yrs old Jan 1 , 2026.......152k on the ODO now.....There are a million OTHER things that can go on that car, besides fuel injectors. I know the Cavalier. Use to work on them ( Yeah, I'm OLD ok ). I luved those little peppy things. But, their not lifetime power trains. The tranny's are very good. You're decision as to what to do with it now. Congrats again !!!!! Separate note: 97 prizm ,( if you owned one), came with a re-branded Toyota engine. Now, that engine was lifetime.
 
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Q

Thread 'Life ends at 359,833 miles - 1998 Chevy Cavalier'

I finally got rid of the car after 15 years. One thing that was confirmed with my ownership of the Cavalier is that proper maintenance is everything.

I honestly don't think I'll ever own another vehicle and accumulate that many miles on it, but I have to say it was a great experience. I have nothing but fond memories of the car and it still ran and shifted well, but it was time to move on.

One thing I never got a chance to do was take the valve cover to see what it looked like. As far as oil choices, early on when I first got it, I used Exxon Superflo Synthetic or M1. After Superflo was...
 
50yr Street Mech said:
YAY !!!! Congrats !!!!!! :) Now decision time. The car is coming up on 29 yrs old Jan 1 , 2026.......152k on the ODO now.....There are a million OTHER things that can go on that car, besides fuel injectors. I know the Cavalier. Use to work on them ( Yeah, I'm OLD ok ). I luved those little peppy things. But, their not lifetime power trains. The tranny's are very good. You're decision as to what to do with it now. Congrats again !!!!! Separate note: 97 prizm ,( if you owned one), came with a re-branded Toyota engine. Now, that engine was lifetime.
Click to expand...

These ran as long as a Toyota as long as you didn't overheat them (and even then the headgasket on these were a breeze and could be done in 2 hours). You could buy two for the price of a Corolla, and the interior on both the Cavi and Corolla were equally terrible. As long as it's not rusty, it'll stay on the road for very little money indefinitely.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
152k. The car is done. It's on borrowed time. 1st: Clean throttle body, PCV valve, and squirt that stuff right into the PCV valve when the car is running. Will have to wedge open the throttle, it will bog down on you...... 2nd : oil and filter change.... 3rd : Guaranteed to Pass in the tank ..... 4th : 3 bottles of HEET dry gas ( red bottle, not yellow ) .. 5th: Couple of gallons of 93 octane .. 6th: Take it on the highway and run the dickens out of it ( watch for po-po) 7th: Straight to inspection... 8th : It will pass ... 9th: Go to Home Depot and buy some FOR SALE signs. 10th: GET RID OF IT to any idiot willing to buy it near you're asking price.
Click to expand...
Thats the second time in this thread you told the guy to sell his car. You truly don't understand the mindset around here.
 
97prizm said:
It did finally pass with the third set of injectors. I filled the tank with premium, mixed in a whole bottle of Berrymans, got an oil change ran it for a while. The pull-n-pay injectors apparently were dirty and needed a rebuild. I finally found a place that would rebuild them but it's a two week turn around which I didnt have. The Valvoline oil change lady was hilarious. She tild me she started changing oil when these were new but hadn't seen a Cavalier in ten years.
Click to expand...

Yay glad you passed :D :cool:
 
50yr Street Mech said:
YAY !!!! Congrats !!!!!! :) Now decision time. The car is coming up on 29 yrs old Jan 1 , 2026.......152k on the ODO now.....There are a million OTHER things that can go on that car, besides fuel injectors. I know the Cavalier. Use to work on them ( Yeah, I'm OLD ok ). I luved those little peppy things. But, their not lifetime power trains. The tranny's are very good. You're decision as to what to do with it now. Congrats again !!!!! Separate note: 97 prizm ,( if you owned one), came with a re-branded Toyota engine. Now, that engine was lifetime.
Click to expand...
My prizm is long gone unfortunately. The balance shaft sheared one day and it was looking like an expensive engine swap. It had the 4a-fe 1.6 I really wanted to drop in a turbo 3s-gte as that would have been sweet.
 
supton said:
Sounds like good news. Maybe get a set of injectors rebuilt and swap in when they are done (assuming they aren't too expensive to do), and maybe eek out the last years. Sounds like a labor of love. Certainly haven't seen a Cavalier in a number of years, been at least 5, and they were not in good shape.
Click to expand...
A museum back east has a rare one of 19 yellow cavalier z24 or Beretta with 44 original miles on the odometer. Quite the time capsule
 
dishdude said:
ran as long as a Toyota as long as you didn't overheat them (and even then the headgasket on these were a breeze and could be done in 2 hours). You could buy two for the price of a Corolla, and the interior on both the Cavi and Corolla were equally terrible. As long as it's not rusty, it'll stay on the road for very little money indefinitely.
Click to expand...
Parts are becoming expensive to source unfortunately
 
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