I've been having so many little things go down with my Cavy it needs a whole thread dedicated to its problems!

So, here's what's happened so far:

Shifter boot keeps popping off the console
Dashboard light doesn't light
Replaced clutch
Replaced broken wheel studs twice due to shortcutting n00b mechanics
replaced broken fuse
replaced headlights and side marker bulbs
glovebox hinge cracked
tie rod boot popped, replaced

and to top it all off, I was driving through the parking lot at W/D heading to my work when suddenly the clutch pedal went THUNK to the floor. The clutch was still engaged, so I drove it in gear 2 to where I needed to go, stopped, and found that the little plastic knob thing that clips the clutch lever to the clutch pedal popped off. I popped it back in place, but I am not confident of the design. It seems to hold in place by a little "indenture ring" on the clutch pedal. This can pop off by vibration or by sidestepping the clutch, due to the lateral "wiggle room" the clutch pedal has. Go figure, huh? That's the first time I have ever seen or heard of that happen.

Everything that goes wrong in my Cavalier will be in this thread.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

well, for your sake i hope it is a short thread

Here's to hoping!


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

...and not long after, I do have things.

I've noticed that the car has semi rough acceleration at times, as in it doesn't accelerate very smoothly some of the time. I'm at 77,000 miles, could it be time for new plugs?

I'm also getting very annoyed at the stereo's poor installation. I can thank the previous owner for that. It goes bwWWWWWWWWWWWWW every time I change radio stations, mute it, turn on or off, change track in the disc player, change between disc and radio. Also, I ran a sound test and found an out of phase speaker.

I will, very soon, rip out the dash and rewire it all the RIGHT way!


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Hope you're near the end of your list sir.

Luckily nothing you've replaced/fixed was too huge of a problem, the clutch is a job, but nothing else really.

Im gonna go knock on wood for you now

On your clutch problem, is there a way you can throw a ziptie around it to keep it in place, give you a lil bit of peace of mind? And do NONE of your cluster lights illuminate? check your fuses. Your stereo problem might even have something to do with that, as the factory radio is also lit on the same circuit as the instrument cluster. And I feel your pain about the glovebox, my glovebox latch broke once, had to buy a new one at the dealer for like 20 bucks.

And new plugs certainly can't hurt at your current mileage. Odds are good the ones in it now aren't too noticeably worn, but platinum plugs wear differently than older style plugs. Stick with the AC brand if you can.

I'd rather NGK if possible, but if AC is the best, I'll do.

Oh yeah, and tonight, I went to start the car and ... well ... it did. Just. Looks like it's time for a new battery. I hope there will be a little headroom before the alternator goes too. I'm never going to pay off this credit card if these things keep happening.

Oh, I misstated the dash light problem. It's not all the lights, just one or so. Usually the fix is to whack the top of the dash a few times until it lights.

Also, from the preliminary analysis of the money I put into this car, I have spent as much or more in repairs on the Cavalier in six months than I did on the Civic last year! And I did a lot of important repairs to the old (!) Civic last year.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

So, I installed a new battery. I think a 720 CCA Optima should do.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

So I took apart the dash, rewired the sound system, and put it all together. Now my speakers are in phase, but my right rear speaker is what is causing feedback.

And now that I have the dash put together and toughened down and LINED UP, now the light for the odometer won't light. I whacked the dash, and it turned on for a while, but now it's off again! >(

Is it possible to have a good running Cavy that is trouble free for at least one month?


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Car threw a CEL today. Went to Advanced (haha) Auto and got a code scanner. Problem was P0113 IAT Sensor Too High Voltage. That would explain the rough acceleration on the car. Hasn't thrown a CEL again since I cleared the code. Maybe a fluke? Or maybe I should check the IAT to see what is going on?


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

The dash lights are a common issue. They're in little plastic things that don't seat well if they get removed. The odometer light is an LED (on the pre-2K models at least) and I had that fixed in mine a few years ago. As for plugs, I like AC Platinums (it should be noted I don't have an Ecotec). If the newer IP cluster lights are like the older ones, you should be able to get replacement bulb sockets at AutoZone or the like. I know I had to replace 2 of them when they no longer made a clean connection. I hope your car troubles end soon.

This is starting to escalate. Now when I get rough acceleration the A/C does not work properly. And it's not just rough acceleration. It will start bunny hopping on its own if I hold one throttle position. It seems that "cycling" the A/C (turn off then turn on) sometimes eradicates the problem. I assume it is a problem with the compressor system. Anyone else have this kind of trouble?


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Have you changed your plugs yet? That might clear up that problem. It did for me, but I didnt have any codes thrown. My 96 go so bad that i couldnt drive it. I pulled a plug and checked my gap and it was a .080

Now the A/C doesn't come on unless I rev up the engine a good ways.

I can't wait for my OBD2 scanner to come in so I can start the troubleshooting...


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Impreza, the hopping you experience is a sure sign that your A/C compressor is beginning to sieze up. Until you replace it, I would recommend unplugging the clutch connector, since, should the pump sieze completely at a decent RPM, you could loose your serpentine belt possibly resulting in many other problems. At least on your eco the water pump is driven by the timing chain so you won't overheat by throwing the belt, but after driving the charge out of your new Optima battery without the belt driving your alternator, it might not want to charge back up.

OK, will do. I can survive without A/C, as my Civic before had a weak A/C, and was useless in summer. Most people would rather die than ride in my car because of that I was actually thinking that today.

I remember this happening on my mum's White 1994 Olds Silhouette. And the 1976 Monte Carlo. On the Monte, it seized completely, but on the Dustbuster, the compressor literally threw smoke and had to be replaced. Twice. And it ate the bearings on the compressor. Twice. The third compressor we left disconnected.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

well, should your compressor blow, you are supposed to also replace the condenser and blow the lines thouroly with compressed air, as the pump failure can put debris in the system resulting in failure of the replacement unit as well. also a common mistake is to overcharge the refrigerant, this causes ump failure as well.

I unplugged the compressor wire Tuesday, so it can't engage. On a slightly related note, now my stereo does not go BWWWWWW when you initially start the car, but only does it when it is running for a while and turn it off.

Now for the haphazard CEL problem, I took a look at the IAT(?) sensor and it was clean. I assume the IAT is the big one on the intake pipe BEFORE the resonator, yes?


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

My speedo stopped working, but in a very specific way! If I accelerate, it goes to 0, but when I stop accelerating or are cruising/braking, the speedo works properly.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

So I got my OBD-II scanner today, and did some data logging. I can see why the PCM has that error code set for the IAT. When driving about, it occasionally (once every couple minutes) inststs that the temp is below freezing, even though it's about 90F out.

I also noticed that its not my instruments that fail to give me my speed, but maybe that VSS sensor is loose. Gonna check on that.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

seems like pretty normal stuff to go wrong. nothing major you should be happy.

well i dunno about that....i wouldt be TOO happy. my 04 has about 57XXX all i had to do was

-un kink my vent knob wire
-change my rear brakes
-rewire my headlight harness due to water corrosion
-change oil

thats all ive done in about 20XXX miles, im gonna do a "tune up" soon

anyway the dash lights is a common problem when people are rough when changing the radio, i changed my radio and everything works fine. Your problems aren't that bad most of it you could have done yourself. Maybe you should change your IAT, the dealer around me quoted me about 30 bucks when i thought i needed one when i put my intake on....then i realized i forgot to take it off the stock pipe (dumbass!!).....try it its only 30 bucks.....also change your plugs just to be safe and your fuel filter. Both shouldn't be that expensive and with some hand tools you can do yourself and save some money!

The VSS has gotten ridiculous. Now it's impossible to see the speed unless I decelerate, and it occasionally thinks the car is going 158 MPH, and guess what happens when the PCM gets wind of that! I'm going to have to fix the VSS.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Oh yeah, and gmpartsdirect.com ships me the IAT sensor for $23 and change total!


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

Well, I got a new VSS installed, which fixed half the problem. The car no longer thinks its going half the speed of sound. Now it says 0 MPH almost all the time, except for at certain situations when the car is bumped in a certain way. Methinks something else is loose.


------------------------------------
We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...