Questions and Answers
Firebird Revving Too High
Q. Hello, I am not sure if you can help answer this question, however here is my situation.
I purchased a 2002 Pontiac Firebird a short time ago, the car has 1,500 miles on it and while driving the car approaching the on-ramp to a highway, I would step on the gas and the engine would start to rev at 3,000 rpm while driving at 65 mph. The normal rev is 2,000 rpm.
The car would not rev back down until it was shut off and re-started a while later. The entire engine was revving high, (not just the tachometer).
The car is now is the shop for the 4th time. I believe each of the subsequent 3 times were mis-diagnosis.
I am now being told that they need to change the valve-body and (2) solenoids. Do you think this will solve the problem?
The dealership which I purchased the car has already changed a fuel injector, an ecm chip and re-installed the ecm chip. I am being told they now believe this is the cause of the problem, however they cannot seem to duplicate the exact the driving conditions and therefore cannot completely guarantee this is the problem. What do you think? Please advise. Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
JeanineA. The first step in diagnosing a problem is to verify the complaint. This is the only way a technician can know what he is trying to fix and later verify the problem has, indeed, been fixed. Failing that all they are doing is making educated guesses. If it's at all possible, you should drive the car with the technician and duplicate the problem for him. Some places will balk at this, but if you are insistent, they will do it.
Personally when I have a complaint that is difficult to duplicate, I will have the customer drive the car with me so I can see what is going on.
However, I think they are on the right track with their latest diagnosis. What I believe is happening is the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) is detecting a fault and putting the transmission into fail-safe mode. When you turn it off the PCM resets itself and will work fine until the fault was detected again.
If the problem can not be resolved in a reasonable period of time, you may also have recourse under your states Lemon Laws. These may include refunding of the purchase price or vehicle replacement.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
