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Engine & cooling

2005 Chevrolet Cavalier Engine problems

Owners have filed 7 complaints about the 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 2% of all its complaints, most recently on December 17, 2014. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Complaints
7
Recalls
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0

Engine complaints

Acceleration & cruise controlEngine & cooling

I was driving on the highway at about 65 mph when my car unexpectedly increased it's speed to about 80-90 mph. I initially thought the car accidentally some kind of way made cruise control come on. I am not a fan of cruise control so I wouldn't have turned it on. After the acceleration, I quickly attempted to get my car back down to normal driving speed because I was on the highway and did not want to crash with anyone by accident. I quickly stomped my foot on the brake. This did not help at all. Matter of fact,...

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my brakes locked up too. I couldn't control the brakes nor the gas. The gas continued to accelerate. At this point, I am doing about 100 mph. I thought quickly and maneuvered my way out of traffic. I almost hit several cars but there was some type of protection around me because I didn't even have a single scratch on me or the car. The car continued to accelerate despite my several attempts to slow down. I was able to gain a little control of the car by putting the emergency brake up and placing the car in neutral. This only slowed the car down to about 80 mph. I had to turn the switch off the stop the car. I attempted to crank the car but the engine only revved up and made my car smoke. This was a very dangerous situation that was out of my control. I almost lost my life and may have been the cause of death for innocent families on the road. I know I am not the only person that has unexpectedly had this to happen. *Tr

Filed Incident Vehicle speed control · EngineNHTSA 10664852
Engine & coolingElectrical systemAcceleration & cruise control

I drive a 2005 chevy cavalier and on very hot or cold days, or when I drive longer than usual distances (over 30 miles), the speedometer often malfunctions, either by getting stuck reading over 110 mph, even when stopped, or by reading under zero, even when I'm moving. And lately the temp gauge has started doing this as well, alerting to me overheating on cold days even though the engine is not overheating and the check engine light never comes on. It's frustrating and frightening and unsafe. *Tr

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Electrical system · Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10373767
Engine & coolingElectrical systemAcceleration & cruise control

I have a 2005 , cavalier and I have the same complaint as every one else my gauges are going hay wire.1St started at 62,000 miles the rpm started messing up 2nd the speed gauge was next acting as if it didn't wont to move. 3Rd now at 89,000 miles the temp gauge is saying its hot when its not look under hood I see no heat coming from engine,check the coolant not steam .I am pissed and tired of this car.All three gauges that I mention are taking turns going up and down. From the start when I brought this car it had...

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electrical problems when I brought this car it had 8 miles and mine you this is my 2nd chevrolet cavalier of the last model and it had electrical problems. So gm swallow ur pride and fix these cars I don't have 500~800 to fix some thing that should be recalled on your behalf. This is an issue. *Tr

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Electrical system · Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10371106
Engine & coolingFuel system

On my 2005 chevrolet cavalier, the engine repeatedly cuts out, stalls, while idling or turning, especially in hot weather. It stalled out 5 times in 2 miles the other day and I had to leave it at the auto repair shop. It has been there a week and they cannot figure out why it is stalling. After going online and reading about many other people having the same problem with this car, 2004 and 2005 at least, I felt I should report it. *Tr

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Fuel system, gasolineNHTSA 10342027
Engine & coolingFuel systemEquipment & accessories

I have a 2005 chevy cavalier ls sport. The gas gauge doesn't work with it, when I bought the car none of the gauges worked, they fixed everything but the gas gauge still doesn't work. I think this is a safety issue because if u run out of gas on the highway or downtown it could cause an accident because of you!! Chevy vehicles are the most crappyest vehicles ever!!! My car only has 53 thousand on it and so far the axel is bad and all of my motor mounts are broke except one and I have this annoying cracking noise...

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all the time and my abs, service and trac off light stays on all the time!!! My engine fan also doesn't run, so when my car sits there and idles my temp gauge goes up, so I have to just shut off my car so it doesn't overheat. *Tr

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Fuel system, gasoline · EquipmentNHTSA 10327099
Engine & coolingVisibility & wipersAcceleration & cruise controlElectrical system

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. While driving approximately 35 to 55 mph on normal road conditions; pressure was applied to the accelerator pedal and there was an unintended increase in the acceleration. The engine revved extremely high which caused the abs, engine, and traction control warning light indicators to illuminate on the instrument control panel intermittently. Immediately after applying pressure to the brake pedal, the vehicle began driving normally. An independent mechanic was unable to...

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duplicate the failure. The front driver and passenger power window mechanism also failed without warning. The window motor was replaced; however, when the window was activated the response time was slow which may have caused the window shield wipers to malfunction. The speed odometer and rpm gauges displayed inaccurate readings which could be related to the vehicle intermittently exhibiting reduce engine power. The contact had concerns of the safety risk involved. The vehicle has not been repaired. The contact had concerns of the safety risk involved. The vin was unavailable. The failure mileage was 49,000 and the current mileage was 74,400.

Filed Incident Engine and engine cooling · Visibility · Vehicle speed control · Electrical systemNHTSA 10289160
Engine & cooling

Speedometer stopped working at 32200 miles, went to dealer, said approximate cost is $500.00, Talked with mechanic and he said it is very common problem on all gm mid 2000's cars and trucks. Checked online, found numerous complaints and a couple places that said gm is taking care of the problems on the trucks under 70,000 miles but not the cars. I consider the speedometer to be safety related on a car as well as on a truck and do not understand why gm will not take care of a problem that they have been aware of for a couple years. *Tr

Filed Incident Engine and engine coolingNHTSA 10265697

Chevrolet Cavalier engine complaints by year

Cavalier engine problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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