I'm new to this forum and apologize in advance if I have posted this in the wrong place. Since I'm not sure what part of the car is broken, I put this request in the general area.....

I have had an ongoing problem with my '04 Supercharged Monte since I bought the car from a chevy dealer several years ago. It happened very rarely, but now it's more frequent and deadlines the car. Previously, when coming to a hill, or stopping at a stop sign, the car "bogs down" (you can hear and feel it) or nothing happens at all when the accelerator pedal is pushed. Then, the car finally snaps into gear and goes.

Convinced it was a fuel system problem, I brought it back to the dealer, and they couldn't find anything. The diagnostic equipment found nothing, and they were unable to get a code, "because they needed to recreate the problems the car had to get one. Therein lies the problem, because the car is possessed, some days it will act up (see above) and it will go a long time before doing it again.

Needless to say this situation had repeated itself over and over, with me taking the car to several garages for repair with the same excuse of "the car wouldn't act up for us, so we couldn't determine what it was with our diagnostic equipment."

So, I've been driving the car this way, enduring the aggravations, I can't ignore it anymore. Now its more frequent, and more serious. When the car "acts up" it runs rough in idle. If I push down the pedal, the more I do so, the more the car shudders, with a plume of white smoke and a heavy exhaust smell (not like rotten eggs).

If I manage to get the car going, it will stall if the rpms drop too low, causing me to do a neutral start as I'm rolling. Again, this happened to me last week, only this time starting from neutral didn't work. I was at a major intersection with my foot to the floor, and the car wouldn't move! Thank God for inertia to carry me through it. As I let up on the gas as I coasted to a stop, the car started to shudder again, telling me some small amount of fuel was getting through (I guess)

I've had the fuel pump and filter replaced within the last month, and still these problems persist. Having eliminated those two items, I was about to yank the catalytic converter after some advice from a AAA tow truck driver. Apparently his friend has a 2002 Monte with some of the same problems - turned out his converter was blocked. My mechanic refused to replace the converter, citing that if it was the culprit to my problems, it would be acting up on a permanent basis, that a blocked converter was not a sporadic thing.

So, I am once again back to square one, driving a "ticking time bomb". If any of you have experienced this problem and fixed it, could you please tell me what you did?

I'm going out of my mind….
Carl

 

It could be sporadic -- of course this was in 2000-2002 I believe, GM got a bad bunch of cats. Even though yours is past the dates, it could still have the issue they did. What happened is the materials inside would swell with the heat and clog it up. Turn you car on and let it run for about 15 minutes, drive it around the neighborhood for a bit, whatever. Then with the car still on, get underneath and look at the cat, if it's showing a red color it's clogged. If it's not red, but you're still having this problem, you can rule out the cat.

 

next time this is happening, unplug your MAF sensor and see if it still is doing it.

 

Chibi,
You mention unplugging the Mass Airflow Sensor. Come to think of it, the latest mechanic did mention a couple of readings from the MAF sensor, but said they weren't conclusive enough to do anything with.

If the MAF sensor gets unplugged the next time the car acts up, and the car runs OK, does that mean that the sensor itself just needs to be replaced?

Is unplugging the MAF sensor easily accessed and performed without tools, like say on the side of the road while heading home from work?

Thanks

 

I'm very interested in this thread. My 04 was only doing what your saying when I had it floored and climbing up in speed. She would hit 55 SUPER BOG. Then kick in and run like the wind. I changed my plugs and lowered the heat ratio down 2. Then tightened the gap 1000 (I think! I'm half blind when things are that small). Anyway, one gap. Our Supercharged motors must run on extra Super fuel. No crap allowed. 93 the lowest. Kept factory style wires and cleaned the throttle body. BANG!!! She's back running like the wind. I have her set for 147 MPH. Never have had her over 120 for a very short run. 1/4 mile max. She never faultered or has since.

Are you running Super fuels? Throttle body clean? Air filter clean? Over 100,000 miles? Do for plug/wire change?

If it's the MAF. Please let us know brother. Prepare us please

 

Sounds identically like my recent issue. Yes, MAF sensor needs to be replaced. Beware though I changed mine TWICE, first time with a generic brand and issue remained. Finally, decided to fork it over and get an ACDelco brand...and voila!
Found mine cheap @ Amazon.com
I also changed the IAC sensor while at it and no problem since.
Tools needed to remove and replace MAF: T20 security torx driver.
Good luck, its a do it your self repair, dealer wanted over 450+ to do this 5 minute swap.

 

torque converter. my old luminaz34 did this off and one for a while. the torque converter lock up solenoid or the torque converter itself is locking when its not supposed too it sounds. or doesn't unlock at the right times. the torque converter is like a syrupy connection of power. a lock up solenoid has the capability to physically encounter the trans to engine like a manual transmission does. result is better performace in higher gears. so if the solenoid or converter does the wrong thing at a stop sign or when you are coasting you notice rpms drop below normal i think your looking at a transmission issue rather than fuel air exhaust. but ur sympton could be soo many things, i went thru plenty of things before figuring this one out. maybe ur luckier than me though

 

you can buy special cleaner for the maf for a few bucks doesn't always work but worth a shot I've had many cats plugg up n break on me so I never rule out anything on the emissions system,

 

Had that start to happen to me in my 02 monte. it shudderd like crazy getting going! i traded it in :p

 

The maf is on the throttle body. It is the flat sensor where the air intake tube meets the throttle body. If you just drive around with the engine cover off, yes it is super easy to just unplug without any special tools.

To fully remove it though you do need the security t-20 torx bit.