hi,i'm fairly nooby here. car wise too. but i need some advice. my girlfriend has a 97 CL 2.2 that after a few months crapped out. it would stall but start after sitting a while her "mechanic friend" said it was the alternator. so he replaced it after we bought a new one. then it would take like 5 mins to start with almost continuous pumping of rhe gas. he said it was build up from driving with a bad alternator, or the fuel line was clogged. then it would start to smoke fairly bad from the tailpipe and it smelled sweet or like caramel almost. the next day it stalled again, and now when the key was turned the turning got slower and slower and sounded like it was struggling until the key was turned and nothing. luckily we were stranded downtown during SXSW. we killed a few hours came back and turnig was pretty much back to normal and started after pumping a couple of minutes. stalled again.. unless we were giving it gas. so at red lights we had to revve. then stalled again and the turnig was really slow again until nothing. we got it towed and her friend said itwas fuel pump..so we got a new fuel pump and filter. still wouldnt start.. i wasnt aroun when the job was done so idont know any details other than it still wont start. His next diagnosis was the timing belts. he said there were two. replaced them. nothing. Then he said his friend discovered lead in the engine and it would need a new engine. which his friend wants to buy and drop his engine in it fo 2000. she bought it for 2700 running plus the parts bought. Its just been sitting as of about a week or two. Ive had 2 trusted people with automotive knowledge say it sounds fishy, doesn't add up, and guys just looking to get the car for cheap. Ihad one of the friends look at it but it was dark and was unaware it was semi taken apart. he said there are 5 things that cause combustion he was going to check.. but noticed one of the timing belts were lose. And i thought it would be worth mentioning a harness close to the firewall on the left side (steering wheel side)has some paper clips or something in them like jumping or bridging them. any ideas on what could wrong? or opinions on the situation? your input will be greatly appropriated. Sorry for the long post, just wanted a complete timeline of events.

 

It sounds like you're definitely dealing with a mechanic that has no diagnostic skills whatsoever, who was just replacing parts hoping it would fix the problem. I'd take the car to a reputable shop to get diagnosed and have them find the problem which could be multiple issues at this point with a loose timing belt, paper clips bridging wire gaps and a sweet smell coming from the exhaust which could mean a headgasket issue because that sweet smell is usually from antifreeze being burnt. Get the car away from this guy immediately, that would definitely be the 1st step.

 

yeah, thats pretty much what we're doing now. He said if I were toget someone else to look at it he would cease to do anything to it anymore.

 

Have someone check the fuel pump. it might not be able to keep up with it's old age. I have had a couple jobs that confused me just like that. Simple solution, while checking the fuel pump then check to see if the is any clog in the line up to the filter and fuel rail. Don't spend to much money on diagnostics. It's cheaper to do the work yourself and not that hard to do.

 

I wouldn't trust anyone who says there is lead in the engine causing the problem. The car could have a cheap inexpensive problem with an easier solution.