First of all, greetings everyone. Second, please excuse my english, it's not my first language, and third, my lack of technical terms, I know nothing of cars or car maintainance (despite owning one for 8 years now). Now onto the issue, I have a 2003 Chevy Cavalier that I bought on the Chevy dealership back in 03. It has worked perfectly and flawlessly since day one. Around december 2009 the battery died, so it was replaced at the same dealership. It worked great and all, but since jan this year the car keeps dieing on me. The first time it happened, the car didn't turn on, but all the lights and cd player worked, so I removed and cleaned the cable screws (one by one, I was told at the dealership when the battery was replaced that if it was removed, the computer could malfunction) and the car turned on. 2 weeks later same happened. Then 2 weeks later, again, same thing. The last time I cleaned the cable screws with wd-40, and had no problems for about 3 months. Today it happened again. What could it be? It had never happened before, I didnt even knew the battery had to be cleaned because it never had that issue, and the fact that it happens so constantly is annoying and has me worried. A friend told me to just clean the screws until they look brand new with baking soda, or replace them althogether. Any opinions? I've searched for tips, but all battery cleaning videos online show batteries with posts, while mine has holes, and the car cables end in screws that go into the holes.

Its just loose/bad connection.

Baking soda is more for leaky battery acid, and doesnt really apply to you. Take a wire Brush to any discolored/corroded metal at the battery terminal face and bolt threads ETC. Snug the bolts up well after your done. If you keep having problems, look into blaming either the battery's terminals themselves or your cable connection at the bolt. The Red and Black rubber pieces that surround the bolt can be peeled back and off to check for corrosion inside.

Hope this makes sense!

Kris, you were right. The bolts were ok, but the battery terminals were a mess. I took a brush to the bolts and the terminals until they looked shiny new, and it works perfectly now, even the steering wheel doesn't feel as tight, just like when the battery was replaced.

From now on I will be checking that every couple of months. Thanks a lot for your help!