Electrical System Problems of Chevrolet Cavalier - part 2

The entire instrument cluster panel completely went hay wire and the speed would increase and decrease. Everything was flashing to the point it was actually scary. I pulled over to the side of the road and it stilled continued. I finally decided to continue home and after about 6 miles it finally just stopped. I researched this problem on the internet and have found that so many more have experienced the same thing happening but some have had their car actually start on fire. Please advise if there is any recall in the near future before someone has to lose their life over this. Thank you so much for any consideration.

See all problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

Gadge cluster doesn't display any correct information. At first the tach started reading incorrectly, ex. 4200 rpm with engine off/ reading does not change with engine speed (rpm). Next the temp gadge , ex. 200+ degrees when starting after 12+ hours engine still cold to the touch. Later the fuel gadge, reading changes and fluctuates moment to moment. Also the interior lights and security system seem to be involved. Alarm goes off spontaneously regardless if it has been enabled or not. Interior lights sometimes function sometimes not. Seems to be a major defect in the computer or electrical harness as individual components test ok. With some online research this seems to be a very common problem with this specific vehicle,.

See all problems of the 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

The gauge cluster on my 2004 Cavalier has suddnely started malfunctioning. This is a serious safety issue as I do not know how hot my engine is or how fast I am going. The tach and gas gauges seem to still work (don't know for how long though), but speedometer and temp gauge do not. My car has very low mileage and I will just have had it for 10 years as of this month. I am the only owner of this car and it has been well taken care of. I cannot believe that chevy will not recall this faulty gauge panel. This is a safety issue and not a part that should just suddenly wear out on a car. With all of the issues that are suddenly surfacing with gm I am shocked that this has not been recalled before and I know I am not the only person to have this issue. God forbid someone not know this is an issue and they pull over because they think their car is overheating and get out to check only to get hit by another car. I will never buy another chevy again unless they step up and take responsibility for this faulty gauge cluster.

See all problems of the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

Car shut off no power steering gauges shut off everything turned off but lights stayed on and flashers worked.

The weather was in the 10s and single digits. I was traveling in pair, we did not exceed 35 miles an hour as visibility was very poor due to snow and winds. I noticed my speedometer was accelerating, believed my tires were spinning on ice. I come to a stop and realized my speedometer was still going 60 miles an hour. Drove the rest of the way home following my friend who was previously following me. The mph needle made its way to point straight down. I wouldn't have expressed concern if other chevy Cavalier owners had told me to, because it has happened to them too. I am a new owner of this car, bought it from a dealership so I don't know that how well taken care of this car was. I pride myself in taking extra car of my vehicles. I do not think the speedometer should have failed unless it was because of operator misuse, and I have not misused my vehicle.

Upon driving vehicle at low speeds 20-30 mph with front and rear window defroster on,it became more,and more evident of a possible fire. First there was an increasing burning smell followed by smoke. A connector on the drivers side kick panel has melted being so close to the carpet its possible that it being winter moisture from melted snow somehow may have caused this to happen, a search on google seems to pull multiple cars with this same problem. Also I want to note that I was not able to turn off my rear defrosted with the rear defroster switch, I had to pull the 30 amp fuse that still had a complete circuit in it!.

See all problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

My instrument panel is not working properly. The speedometer was indicating incorrect speeds before it stopped working completely. The gas, rpm, and temperature gauges indicate incorrect information as well. This is a real safety issue.

Tl-the contact owns a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 189,467. Ss.

See all problems of the 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

My 1987 chevy cavaliar shut off in the middle of driving multiple times. The first time I heard clicking in the cluster and the theft system light turns on and my fuel pump shuts down. I have been in very critical places while this situation takes place. The theft system has shut my vehichle off on the highway, in the intersection ect. . I have tryed to reset this system numerous times. I have come to the knowledge that this is a serious problem with many chevy cavaliars and other gm models. This should be a recall and should be fixed. I, a loyal gm customer, should not have to drive a unpredictable vehichle that has security problems that are due to the original making of the system. I have no money to pay for this and am stuck with this problem. It is very unsafe.

See all problems of the 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that the speedometer and both turn signal lights failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

Purchased vehicle from dealer 7/12/13 with the following issues: non-working odometer, blinkers, brake lights that frequently "short" out & a non-working windshield fluid function. I was informed by the dealer to take vehicle home & return it the following day for the repairs of all the above notations that were discovered during a test drive. Upon the time of return, I was sadly & rudely approached by the dealer. He stated that he did not claim to fix these issues? on 7/17/13, I filed a "complaint" with the better business bureau regarding this poor business transaction. All of which, I have proof. Despite my endless efforts to correct this issue, nothing significant has been done on my behalf. I have been pulled over a number of times, because of my failing brake lights - which have been replaced on multiple occasions. I have had close encounters of potential dangerous situations, where my blinkers have failed & being stuck "not" knowing how much mileage I have on my car. This is a major safety issue I cannot get resolved & am hopeful that you may assist.

See all problems of the 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

I just bought a 2005 Cavalier from a private party and a couple days after I had it I noticed that my speedometer said I was going 110 mph while I was on freeway my heart dropped I immediately let off the accelerator to reduce speed. I began to observe that others were passing me so I got off on the next exit. When I came to a complete stop the speedometer read 55 mph. I turned the car off and restarted it hoping that would fix the problem but it didn't. Since then my gas gauge and temp gauge has been reading improperly. I tried to turn off the car and restart it a few times to try to get it back to normal but seems to make it worse. What cab I do to fix this since its a very common problem and chevy won't fix it even though it could cause an accident. I'm a parent and I am supposed to put trust in this car and company to keep my children safe?!?! please recall and fix this problem. Thank you.

My daughter was driving the car when all of the gauges on the instrument panel started moving up and down, over and over. This included the temperature guage, gas guage, and the speedometer. My daughter could not determine how fast she was driving and it was a distraction that could have resulted in an accident. Same thing happened about 2-3 years ago, and it cost me about $500 to replace step motors.

Irratic instrument panel. . Sometimes after turning ignition key on all panel lights stay on (beyond normal)and all guages go off. . Sometimes ok when starting but some lights come on (air bag, service eng, abs gas guage, etc) after driving . . Sometimes all instr guages go out completely while driving including speedometer. . . They sometimes come back on and sometimes not. . . I entered my make and year on google to see if other owners have similar problem and found out many do. . Interesting to note that while researching on google I found out chev trucks in year 2003 had a recall due to faulty instrument panel controls but the autos were not recalled. . I feel this is a definite safety hazard since I sometimes have to drive with no speedometer, gas guage and an airbag light that stays on. I do not feel safe driving this vehicle for any length of time and have to resort to only short trips (grocery store, dr appts, etc) I would like to know why gm has not recalled this 2003 chev Cavalier. . Esp when they have recalled the same yr and make trucks for faulty instr panels. . I feel this faulty instr panel is placing me in a very dangerous position each time I get behind the wheel and needless to say do not feel safe driving this auto at all. . .

I was on my way home today and think god my husband was driving. . My gauges are not working on the car which is does from time to time. We merge on a major highway and the gas petal accelatored and would not stop it just keep getting faster,, my brakes would not even stop it or the emergency brake either. . We had to run some red lights because we could not stop it so we could try to get home without crashing the car to stop it but we could slow it down putting it in neutral but it was burning up the brakes and transmission. Finally we got in front my my house and had to put it in park fast just to stop it. The gas pedal only accelates and the brakes don't even work on it. . . We could of died today!!! I'm so glad I was not driving it. . I would of had to call 911 and have the cops box me in to stop. I messed up my brakes and transmission on it just to stop it today. I went online to check for any recalls and I see that people had problems but no recalls. . . I saw my life flash for my eyes today and put my trust in my car everyday thinking that they made it right. . ???.

1st issue was the speedometer started malfunctioning off & on. It shows going much faster than car really is going. Doesn't happen all the time. 2nd issue was warning light which a station told me that the code is for a malfunction in the fuel line, it shows a major leak, but repairmen could find no real leak. Warning light does go off & on, so not on all the time. 3rd issue was off & on the front driver & passenger windows start rolling down or up and then just quit, but start working again after shutting off engine a couple times. 4th issue was the rpm meter started doing what the speedometer had been doing. 5th issue is the passenger side wiper stopped working. That's the only one that hasn't "fixed" itself. All the others are off & on working or not working. The wiper was the latest incident with all of them starting in the past 6 months.

As I was driving in a residential area near my residence, I noticed the speedometer stuck @ 30mph even after I stopped for a traffic light. My son removed the fuse & then re-inserted it. Speedometer then went back to zero so I thought it was a loose fuse. Same thing happened several days later and speedometer stuck @ 50mph. My son removed & re-inserted the fuse and speedometer went back to zero. But a few days ago while driving in a 30mph zone, the speedometer eventually stuck @ 110mph. This appears to be a very common problem with this make & model of vehicle. I'm surprised that a recall has not occurred because this is definitely a safety issue.

Speedometer quits working; today's example; we were entering an interstate and accelerating to the 65 mph posted speed limit, and the speedometer locked at 45 and stayed there. Did not change and remains there until we got the car home. The worst part is my son, a student driver was driving and had no way to know how fast he was going and had to remain there until we could get off the interstate and exchange places. This is dangerous and needs to be investigated. I researched the internet as well as this site, and see many more with the same complaint.

Fuel gauge, temp gauge, tach, and speedometer are not working properly. These are common problems on these cars as you are surely aware of. Gm should be forced to recall these vehicles and repair them. These are serious safety issues. Thanks.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, all of the illuminated gauges and interior lights switched off independently. The contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 710,000.

The vehicle dash board gauges started to rapidly fluctuate from minimum to maximum values as I was traveling down the road at 60 miles/hour. The tachometer was the first gauge to malfuntion and does not work 95% of the time. The second gauge to malfuntion, later on in the week, was the fuel gauge. The needle will display a full tank of gas at one moment and a near empty tank minutes later, proving to be unreliable to estimate the fuel level. Shortly after, the temperature gauge malfunctioned and moved from left to right never settling at a stationary temperature. I fear, through personal research, that the speedometer will be the next gauge to malfunction, making it unsafe to determine speed since the tachometer is already not working.

First driver side rear turn signal blinked rapidly, then brake light and turn light ceased to work. When checked, the light and lens were fused (melted) together. As well driver side window ceased to work. Mechanic stated its electrical and advised I check recalls. Also sometimes gas pedal accelerates without pressure from me. No cruise control engaged, not able to determine when or why. . . Just occasionally happens.

See all problems of the 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

My car has the same problem with the instrument cluster that was recalled for other gm vehicles. The fuel level gauge, temperature gauge, rpm, speedometer. . . . None of my gauges work. They gave the wrong readings, the hand wouldn't return to their starting positions, then the hands went lower than their starting positions to the point they all didn't work anymore. This car needs to be added to the gm recall list for the same problem.

The temperature gauge has stopped working as well as the speedometer and rpm gauge. The gas gauge is the only one still working reliably.

Speedometer is unreliable. Sometimes it shows faster, sometimes it shows slower. Sticks in place at times. Next, the temp gauge made me think my car was running very hot and I bought a $25 temperature sensor first, that didn't help, so I was going to replace thermostat. Then I learned about this being a problem with thousands of these cars, so I am not doing anything to it until there is a recall. I'll use a gps to tell my speed. I have had two speeding tickets over this because I had no idea the thing was not working right until it got really bad and started sticking in one place for days. Each ticket will give me two points on my license because of this. My insurance will go up. Also, I don't get paid for the time I take off to go to traffic court over these tickets. I am 65 years old and never had a ticket until these two. Thanks, chevy.

The contact owned a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. As a result, another vehicle crashed into the driver side of the contact's vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained a back injury, the rear driver side passenger sustained body and head injuries, the rear middle passenger sustained a head injury and the rear middle passenger sustained body injuries. The injuries required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I loved my 2005 chevy Cavalier when I first bought it back in 2006. After a year of driving my speedometer, as well as all the other gauges. Now my window on the passenger side will not go back up. Chevrolet has really put a bad taste in my mouth and I plan to never purchase any vehicle from Chevrolet again.

Suddenly without warning the whole instrument cluster panel (fuel gauge, speedometer, rpm gauge & temperature gauge all stopped working correctly and then suddenly stopped working at all! found out that this is a common complaint and very expensive to replace. It is very dangerous driving without knowledge of your speed! there should be a recall on this also as it is a very common problem and dangerous.

When driving on a long trip, I noticed that the speedometer kept increasing after each time I stopped the car. When I stopped, the speed read 25. I went 45 mph, it went to 70 mph. Etc. It now rests in vertical position facing down. The gas gauge has also begun to go haywire. I also noticed that the car would longer can go into cruise control (without working for a few minutes then shutting off), I am thinking because of the speedometer or cluster. Either way, it now no longer works at all. Seeing everyone's complaints on here and with "government motors" not doing anything about it, I will not put my trust in their brand on any future vehicles. This also happened on my 2005 Cavalier. Good thing for a gps. . .

Tl-the contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the speedometer gave an incorrect reading. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the stepper motor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that four years later, while driving at an unknown speed, the fuel gauge gave an incorrect reading. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 29,111. Oo.

Speedometer stopped working and is stuck on 52 mph. Fuel gauge is stuck on full, temperature gauge is pointing to nowhere, and the tacometer is pointing at zero. It seems to be a common problem with this vehicle.

When I turn on my car defroster, it starts popping very loud. At one time it started popping when I set the car at idle, and when I returned to the car, it was filled with smoke or dust. I had to air out the car for a while before I could drive it. The defroster doesn't pop every time, and it quits after about 30 minutes each time. Also, when I bought the car, it needed a new consol, so I had it replaced. The day-time running lights go out and flash at people. When they go out, the sevice light comes on. I have to drive with my headlights on so the day-time running lights do not flash at people.

Speedometer stops working and stays on 100 car only has 35,000 miles, also the power steering line broke open and the emergency brake at times pops onto my tire causing my car to slam forward and then it releases. I replaced the brake line and the power steering line but the main problem is the speedometer /cluster.

There's alot of stuff wrong with this car. It ran good and is reliable when running,but recently stop running.

See all problems of the 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier 🔎.

Last December my 2005 Cavalier experienced a speedometer malfunction while I was traveling on the highway. I was in an area where the speed zone changed from 50 mph to 65 mph. The speedometer registered my increase in speed fine. When I slowed down, the speedometer stayed in place. Over the past 7 months my dashboard gauges (fuel, temp, speed, rpm) all malfunction. Sometimes they reset themselves. Most of the time I'm never sure how fast I'm going or how much gas I have. My engine temp will read off the charts even on a cool morning after it has sat still all night. Although this started last December, the problems continue to this day. I have poured so much money into other electrical issues with this car already, I'm convinced it is not worth one more dime to fix the instrument cluster. I've spent hundreds on power window motors that continuously malfunction. The rear right blinker has consistently gone haywire as well. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was one in a thousand who happened to get an electrical lemon. After reading all the complaints from other Cavalier owners, however, I realize that Chevrolet in 2005 played a sick joke on the whole lot of us. I have owned several imported cars, mostly Honda's and Toyota, and have never been as displeased. Gm should be ashamed. The car drives great. I was very excited about it when I bought it as I liked the look and feel of it on the road. I'll never buy another Chevrolet.