So as part of settling in California, my room mate and I went and bought a 2000 Cavalier sedan, automatic, completely stock. There are several issues with it that are probably easily fixable that I wanted to address.

- brake light won't turn off
- abs light won' turn off
.......As part of California state law, cars need to be checked for smog which was apparently done right before we bought it. We were told that it's a normal part of the car after a smog check and that the lights should turn off. The brake light turned off for a day, but it's still on.
- There's a loud noise on the drivers side when I hit the gas, almost as if there's no firewall and i'm hearing the engine, or like a lot of air is coming through that vent.
- The car will sputter a little bit when the car is at idle. It seems to be happening more.
- It's going through gas like CRAZY.
- LED's are out in the HVAC (but luckily all of the setting work!)
- The radio sometimes won't turn on right away. After maybe driving for 5 minutes, then it'll suddenly turn on. (it's an old Sony cd player)
- The temp. gauge will go above mid level for a short period then it'll drop back down. Should I be worried?


Any help and advice is MUCH appreciated. Thank you!


-Markus
2002 Yellow Cavalier LS Sport
Check it out! --> Flickr

I used to live in Cali, and had my car smog checked in the time that I was there, and I'm pretty sure I don't remember any of my indicator lights staying on after the test.

The sputter at idle could be a failing Throttle Position Sensor, or an Idle Air Control valve/sensor.

As for going through gas, what mileage are you getting? 3 or 4 speed auto? My DD is a 98 sedan with the 2200 and 3 spd auto, I get about 27-28 mpg with combined driving, I think my best mpg was 30 on a road trip with mostly highway driving.
If you're getting low mpg, I would start by replacing spark plugs, air filter, and fuel filter.

Don't worry about the temp gauge, the 2200's are known for heating up quick at idle...if it gets a little too high, kick on the AC to get your fan to come on, or what I did is wire a toggle switch in the the fan so I can turn on the fan when needed.

For the radio, I would check for a bad ground.

Thanks for all of your suggestions! Its very much appreciated! I haven't actually opened the hood yet and we should be taking it in for an oil change soon, so maybe that will help. I know sometimes they tend to do flushes and what not.


-Markus
2002 Yellow Cavalier LS Sport
Check it out! --> Flickr

The lights in your HVAC are wired in series like Christmas lights. So chances are that only one of the bulbs is out.





i find it amusing that SHOoff has nothing better to do but follow me around & be an unhelpful dick in even cross-forum. - Jon Mick

I'm not sure how I'd go about fixing that though. I've never had to before.


-Markus
2002 Yellow Cavalier LS Sport
Check it out! --> Flickr

Sounds like this wasnt the car to buy. Not being a dick, just saying. I hope he got it super cheap at least.


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Ecomark wrote:I'm not sure how I'd go about fixing that though. I've never had to before.

Remove the HVAC uni from the dash core, take of the plastic face, and the bulbs are just in sockets, remove with a needle nose pliers. I forget the bulb size for them, there is a thread floating around in the interior forum somewhere with a pretty detailed how to for replacing those bulbs

Power steering went out. What a @!#$in' headache this thing is.


-Markus
2002 Yellow Cavalier LS Sport
Check it out! --> Flickr

i would suggest, a cliff maybe? california has those, just do a movie stunt and jump before the fall, totally claimable through insurance... jk, i would never suggest insurance fraud...

For the engine noise in the cab, check under the dash, on the firewall, to the left of the pedals - and make sure that the weather seal is in place.

-brake light won't turn off
Check the codes (not sure if a typical scanner can.....).... check the fluid level

- abs light won' turn off
Check the fuse and the plugs going to the ABS.

- There's a loud noise on the drivers side when I hit the gas, almost as if there's no firewall and i'm hearing the engine, or like a lot of air is coming through that vent.
Grommet like someone else said, it's big, like 6" round as I recall, black.... up above near where the gas pedal is.
Someone may of removed the resonator on the air intake near the bottom of the washer reservoir, assuming this is a 2.2L... not sure if other engines have this.

- The car will sputter a little bit when the car is at idle. It seems to be happening more.
Check the plugs? Atleast that's a simple place to start. Maybe clean the idle air control valve, on the throttle body.

- The radio sometimes won't turn on right away. After maybe driving for 5 minutes, then it'll suddenly turn on. (it's an old Sony cd player)
Bad ground like someone else said would be my first guess. Possibly the plug on the back of the radio is loose..... had it happen before.

- The temp. gauge will go above mid level for a short period then it'll drop back down. Should I be worried?
Completely normal for it to go above half (while idling).... almost to the next line, but NOT to the red!

Welcome to GM world, this is a norm here, one thing after another... ill take a FORD anyday1 but ill still hold on to the sunflower!


Fireboy153
Brady Fire Co. - Station 150
Long Live The Sunflower! (yea its not so "cool")