1985 Chevy Celebrity Four years without a diagnosis and it'

I inherited an '85 Celebrity from my aunt a few years ago. While old in age, it had less than 40,000 actual miles on it when I got it.

Since it's been new it has never liked cold weather. It is very hard to keep running when it's cold out. From the day she got it, the Check Engine light would come on in cold weather. My aunt took it back time after time after time, but no one could find anything wrong.

When I got it, it ran great. But over the past four years it has gotten progressively worse and fifteen different dealers and garages can't seem to find the problem.

At first it started by simply dying when I would accelerate from a stop sign or when pulling out onto a highway. Dad set the choke up just a bit and tried spraying carburator cleaner on it. That seemed to help for a bit, but then it got worse.

I was driving down the highway one day when I looked over and noticed that the temp guage was in the red. I let off the gas to pull over so I wouldn't blow the engine. When I did, the temp guage suddenly dropped like a rock and stayed there the whole rest of the trip. It also did the same thing on subsequent occasions. Very odd. I did have the radiator flushed and filled to see if something was stopping it up, but it was all really clear considering the age of the car. Everything checked OK.

Lately I have to drive with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator and even with that it will often times die.

When I go up a slight incline or down a hill, it dies. When I pull up at a stoplight or stop sign, it dies. When I am driving down the road it dies. I have nearly been hit several times by people not paying attention who got too close while I threw it into neutral and started it back up.

This year alone I have put in four new air filters, two new gas filters, had the gas lines drained and cleaned and went through dozens of bottles of gas treatment and fuel injector cleaner.

I have also had new spark plugs put on, the radiator flushed and filled, and a regular tune up. After the spark plugs were put on it ran really good until I took it into Wal-Mart to have the oil changed one day. When I got it back it started the same nonsense again and hasn't worked right since.

I don't like driving it at all anymore because I'm afraid I'm going to get ran over by someone yakking on a cell phone or otherwise not paying attention.

Any ideas on what else I can try? I can't afford a different car but the local shops are starting to refuse to work on it. They say it's too old and not worth their time.

Thanks!