Engine head gasket failure. Sought assistance from 3 different service centers. Was told not to worry about it until part was completely failed. First contact was when car was under warranty.
1996 Chevrolet Cavalier engine complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 118, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Car stalls unexpectedly while driving. Driver loses control. Dealer can't seem to fix it correctly. Failed again 10/30/99
The first problem with my cavalier was about 3 months after I bought the car. I was idling in a drive-thru when all the lights on the concole flashed and the car went dead. The car wouldn't restart. I pushed it to the side and waited a few minutes and tried again. I called a tow truck and several hours later, the tow truck arrived and at that time, the car started. I called taylor jeep (where I have a service contract) and they said it might have just been bad gas or the car overheating and to not worry about it since the car is running. Four days later, I was driving on the expressway when the lights on the console flashed and the car lost all power including anit-lock brakes and powersteering. I coasted to the side of the road and the car wouldn't restart. I then called a tow truck and had the car towed to taylor jeep. After checking out the car, the services department couldn't find anything wrong. The car started fine. I explained that there was obviously something wrong if the car shut down, and to please continue looking. Taylor jeep ended up replacing the starter?! On march 23, 1999, I was driving on the expressway, and again, the lights flashed on the console and the car lost all power. I pulled to the side of the road and the car wouldn't restart. I had the vehicle towed back to taylor jeep. This time they repaired the ignition switch in the steering column. Then on march 31, 1999 while driving on the expressway, the exact same problem occured. I again had the car towed to taylor jeep. This time they didn't find anything to fix. I picked up the car after 5 days. After the last incident, I didn't have any problems with the car until october 20, 1999. While accelerating onto the expressway, going about 40mph, the lights flashed on the console and the car shut down. It restarted after about 20 minutes. I drove it to taylor jeep and this time they sent it to taylor chevrolet. After testing, they were unable to find anything wrong with the car.
When applying the brakes the vehicle stalls. Dealer has seen vehicle 3 times in last month and cannot find a solution.
Engine shuts down without warning. Has occured on four occasions. Shut downs occur at various speeds. Dealers has attempted to find problem with no sucess.
The sun gear and carrier cracked and bearing exploded causing transmission failure.
Told common prob w/my car by dealer - gm not aware of this
While driving at highway speeds the vehicle began to lose power and eventually shut down completely, cause unknown. Please give any further details.
Engine head gasket is leaking anti-freeze. Contacted dealer and manufacturer.
Vehicle experienced problem with engine head gaskets and valves covers gasket failure within 40,000 miles of wear; consumer believed this condition is due to mfr. Defects. And consumer would like the federal safety agency to provide addtional information or help in this matter.
Head gasket blown.
Radiator hose rubs against the battery metal which causes a hole in the hose and a radiator leakage. This may potentially cause a fire. Dealer replaced radiator hose, and put a hard plastic over the hose so it won't cause a hole. Please provide further information.
Vehicle bought w/bad water pump which was leaking badly. Brakes in rear were making metal to metal noise & were slushy. When vehicle was driven any great distance & then stoppped, it would overheat & then stall out. Hard to restart. Odometer numbers not even & out of sync. Water hose is leaking.
Coolant light came on and coolant was added. Four days later, when oil change car was checked for leak. Dealer said that the head gasket needed to be replaced. Owner contacted dealer and manufacturer.
I took the car in for an oil leak and found out that it had a blown head gasket and a cracked head.
When driving engine makes a loud knocking noise that increases when the accelerator is being applied. Dealer says the vehicle needs a new engine.
Fuel pump went out/oil pressure valve blew up and oil is all over/computer system shut down, and rack and pinion steering went out. Dealer contacted and is aware of the problem. Problems not yet remedied. Provide further information.
Head gasket failed several times causing vehicle to overheat, one incident destroyed water pump.
While driving, the vehicle stops running without warning and will not start back up for a period of time. Has had numerous component replaced but none corrected the problem.
While driving at 45 MPH and without prior warning engine head gasket blew out , causing vehicle to overheat. Consumer had to pull to the side of the road.
Contacted dealer and they advised of the evaporative purge solenoid and charcoal canister needed replacement as carbon monoxide was leaking. We have a warranty and they report it is not covered under the warranty. If gm had to replace the same parts in many of their other cars then why not this vehicle. The cadillacs, buicks, cutlass and over 400,000 vehicle they should recall this problem in the cavalier at no cost to the owner of the vehicle. We just purchased the vehicle a few months ago and purchased the warranty for 1,000.00. The dealer said it is not covered.my daughter purchased her first vehicle just a few months ago, and now it has a problem that they say she will needs to pay for. I think that this problem should be covered under the warranty we purchased and should be recalled just like the other vehicles were at no cost to the owner. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to answer our concerns. Yvette hollis and aimee hollis.
Enigine started to make a loud knocking sound that eventually LED to the blowing of the enigine.
Coolant loss, low coolant light, coolant leak odor. Dealership mechanic verifed that it is leaking and damaging the head gasket. He also told me that the 95 cavalier have this problem on recall. My car was manufactured 11/95, has the same head gasket as the 95, but chevrolet will not pay to fix it.
While driving there is a loud ticking noise coming from the engine, and the vehicle has been in the shop four timers for the same problem. Dealer repaired the vehicle again,and the problem returned. Consumer stated that someone tampered with the mileage in the vehicle. Dealer stated that vehicle has not been moving.
While driving over wet or puddles the vehicle malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to stall, which almost caused an accident. Dealer replace the serptine belt. Problem reoccurring. Been to dealer several times. Dlr cannot determine problem. Cause unknown. Please provide details.
While driving the vehicle engine shuts down, causing the vehicle to stall. Please provide details.
Water in air filter/plugs caused engine to backfire.
The transmission cable runs against the catalytic converter. The catalatic converter got hot and caused the transmission cable to melt. The dealer will be notified.
Front brake rotors/engine/muffler/converter/seat/horn/power steering hose and wheel bearings failed.
Intermittently the vehicle will shut down . Vehicle has beento the dealer for repairs several times. The dealer is unable to locate the problem. The manufacturer has been notified.
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