Internal corrosion of pulsair check valve assembly could permit exhaust gas to melt the plastic shut off valve and draw valve pieces into the air cleaner and throttle body.
Engine & cooling
Chevrolet Cavalier Engine problems by year
115 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Chevrolet Cavalier's engine & cooling. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
Engine complaints by model year
Engine recalls
The engine air cleaner plastic trim cover could fall off the air cleaner assembly and land on the exhaust manifold creating a fire hazard...
The engine air cleaner plastic trim cover could detach from the air cleaner assembly and fall forward on the exhaust manifold. Consequence of defect: if the car is...
Covers1985 Chevrolet Cavalier
Latest Cavalier engine complaints
Car radiator fan won't kick on cause car to get very dangerously hot causing car to become a bomb
The safety device light came on. It won't go off, can't start my car. *Js
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
I was driving around 30 mph to a stop sign and my car died while in drive, approaching a stop sign. The incident happened again in may 2010 when I was driving home and had to coast down a bridge, which prompted me to sell the car because I felt it was unsafe to drive anymore. *Tr
The first incident that occur was in 2009. It was that the switch of the key engine did not want to start. Someone came to fix it but could not find a way to repair it. He had to add a button under the steering wheel and I would be tuning the key to the engine to start I would have to push that button to start the car. I would have to be replacing light bulbs constancy from the rear back of the single light. The theft lock system would be turning it self on while I would be driving. Thankfully there was accident...
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because of that. But I would be struggling to start my car .I had to wait some couple of minutes to start the car. The recent incident that occur was when my neighbor heard like some fireworks in our side of our house. He took a look and he seen that our car was some sparkling lights out of the steering wheel. That was around midnight what he seen and he told us that morning. As I walk towards the car I could smell smoke as if something burn. I wanted to start my car but wouldn't start. Some one came to fixed it and had to replace some cable from the steering wheel because that was that cause the sparking of the fire.
As I was going to turn the switch on to turn on my car it didn't want to start. I had some one fix it but could not find a way to fix it. They had to add a button under the steering wheel to start the car as I turn the switch on. There was couple a of times where the car would go on passlock by itself and wouldn't start until a long period of waiting. The external headlights burn constantly and I would buy new bulbs for the back lights. One time our neighbor said he heard noise like fireworks on our property and...
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he said that he seen our car was sparking light out of the steering wheel. That morning of that day he told us and as we were checking the car I could smell something burned. As a result of that the car didn't want to start . The auto repair people had to come to our house to figure out what was wrong with it. They had told me that some wires inside the steering wheel had burned but mostly I have been fixing more of electrical switches and burned wires. I appreciate for taking your time to read this and I'm looking forward to hear from you. *Tr
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
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
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
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
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.
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
I just got a used chevy cavalier a 97 model and it over heats constantly and there is a pop an sparks when starting the car and the lights won't turn off and now there is wobbling in the passenger side wheel and white smoke coming out the back . I only had it for maybe two days now and the fan to the motor won't come on now and I took it back to the car lot where I bought it from they have replaces the thermostat( airconditioner thing ) but it' still over heats .. And then I look in my book , and it gives a web...
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site and there is all these recalls and the guy tells me when I call that the things going on with my car are not in the recall list accept for the something to do with speed but if that is the case why is the lights not cutting off and the car doing all these things .. I had a person look at it who works on cars and they told me that the spark is on the fuel injection side of the motor and I was lucky I didn't go up in flames .. Is there any help in fixing this car since these are defects ? *Tr
Dt: contact states the timing chain on her vehicle broke on a busy road. The timing chain has been replaced, but within 6 months the timing chain broke again. The engine was replaced in the vehicle. The car started making a loud knocking noise, now the vehicle will only go approximately 15 mph.*Ak
Water pump leaking and needs to be replaced for the third time. One water pump was replaced under warranty. A second water pump failed just after the 36,000 warranty was up and cost me extra to replace because of the poor design of the engine which requires that it be removed to replace the water pump. The third has just failed for unknown reasons. The vehicle only has 75,000 miles on it.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data