I just recently bought a used 2001 GM supercharged cavalier. It currently has 79,000 miles on it. It has been driving fine ever since i got it. Ive never had a problem with it until this today.

I drove it back to my house and parked it. I decided to wash it and then for the next couple hours i cleaned my car. Then when i tried to start it back up the engine wouldn't start. The gauges would barely power up and if i tried to start it then it would just make a click and then the gauges wouldn't work for a few minutes. I originally though that it might be my battery but i put a charger on it and it has continued doing the same thing. At one point the mileage read error instead of showing my mileage. It has been doing this for the last 5 hours and it always does the same thing.

I am completely lost on what to do and need some help. The only thing that i did to the car while it was sitting was wash it.

have you checked the fuel pump, can you hear it prime maybe the engine is not getting any fuel just a thought. Also you said it wasn't the battery not that it would be related but is your alternator in good shape. May consider checking the battery cables because if the cables are corroded or something it might not be making a proper connection.

no its not any of those. I believe it is the passLock thing. I read that you have to let your car sit for 10 minutes with the key turned on and then turn it off and then try to start it. I did this multiple times and didnt get anything. But it did attempt to start when my dad tried after doing this and now its back to not doing anything.

Can anyone tell me exactly what to do for the passlock. Im not 100% sure. Its not the battery or the alternator i know. and the fuel pump i will have to wait to check. But i am almost positive it is the passLock.

First check your battery connections and make sure their tight. Since this happened after you washed your car you might have gotten some moisture in there.

If its not the battery it may be the starter.

Dimming would indicate that its trying to get juice but its not happening. You may have been lucky enough to get it home when your alternator or battery may be dead.

Passlock will allow the car to start and then will shut it off.


-Chris

alright. Thanks for the help. I'll check out those things and hopefully fix it

Amazingly it started up first try and runs great. I still dont know what the problem was and hope it doesnt come back.

The only thing that i can think of is that last night i left a battery charger on for 2 hours and didnt try to start it after i took it off.

The one thing that i find weird now though is that my keyless entry doesn't work anymore.

I will just keep an eye out for anything weird. If anyone has had this happen to them, then please let me know what you did so that i can be prepared next time. Especially if it happens somewhere other then my house.

Thanks for the help guys

well if you left a battery charger on it for 2 hrs and didn;t try and start it after you took it off, that would seem to me that it's the battery or something related as for the keyless entry i think that's something the dealer has to reprogram i'm probably mistaken on that but i think that's how that works.

Well the car did start doing the same thing and got stranded at my friends house for a day. It was running fine for 2 days and then i shut it off there and came back 5 minutes later and it wouldnt start again. But this morning i started it by dropping the clutch and it runs fine and starts everytime again

Now the first time that it started back up my check engine light came up with the code P1621. Which read Manufacturer Control Auxiliary Inputs Auxiliary Outputs on my code reader.
On this site it says that code P1621 is Control Module Long Term Memory Performance.

I got this about the code from here http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_DTC_P1621_mean_on_a_2001_chevy_cavlier_mean_and_how_to_fix_it

Now i am unsure of what i should do. Are there any aftermarket pcms that i could use? I went to Napa and murreys discount auto and both places said they cant get them. And my dealership told me $340 for a new one.

Im hoping that im not stuck having buy one from the dealer and wondering if there are any better options or recommendations.

I know it isnt a battery problem because i tried charging it again the second time it happened. And the only reason i can see this continuing to happen is that code. But i dont underdstand why it runs on and off like this if the pcm is supposedly ruined.

Im very unsure of what to do here and need advice

put a new battery in. yours is dead.

Actually GL if yours is a manual tranny, get it on a hill or something and push start it not that you'd want to do it this way but i know people that have had dead batteries and rather than get a new battery they'd just push start their car for months.