The head gasket leaked water. As a result, consumer had to check the water level daily to make sure that engine would not overheat.
1997 Chevrolet Cavalier engine complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 110, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Vehicle was involved in a collision. While driving vehicle stalled, resulting in a rear end collision. Upon impact, air bag failed to deploy on driver's side. Driver sustained injuries.
Head gasket broke. Looking at $2,600 to fix, even though low miles.
Rack and pinion steering went out- was later a recall. Head gasket cracked leaking oil and antifreeze. Airbag recall.
My 97 chevy cavalier has blown through 3 head gaskets, 3 water pumps, 3 heater cores and 3 thermostats within the 3 years I've owned the car due to coolant leakage out of a place that no mechanic can seem to figure out. Also, the engine stalls when the car is in idle at random times. I've been stuck late at night on the highway and in the cold with my infant daughter several times and no one seems to be able to fix this problem.
Knocking noise keeps getting louder. Happens all time happens more when speeding up.
I have a 1997 chevrolet cavalier. It only had less then eighty five thousand miles on it and the engine blew up .I was told the reason why was because it had a defective rod in it. I have all the parts ect you can see there's a defect in the metal it goes all the way threw the rod. I find it hard to believe that such a new car would blow up . I took very good care of that car I had to fix some things the chevrolet dealership is a joke out here they are worthless thy mistreated me too. I just want to know if there is anything I can do or someone can do about this? Thank you very much denise boozer p.s. That's appr date when it happened.
There is a clunking noise in the steering wheel and front left wheel when maneuvering a turn. Also my water pump has had to be replaced twice in the past year. My final complaint is that when I try and start my vehicle it doesn't always start when holding it in the start position.
1997 cavalier=head gasket became warped and had to be replaced=$900. Thermostat replaced 3 times since purchase, water pump replaced twice. Car returned to dealer every three to six months for the last 3 years for the same problem involving overheating and coolant leaks. Problem continually reoccurs, even after it has been deemed finally repaired.
My mother has a 1997 cavalier which she bought used. Since she has had the vehicle there has been two recalls and upon further investigation on my part I found on your site 5 more totaling 7 in all. She bought the car in august of 2001. When the car reached 109,000 the oil pump went out and she had to spend 3,000 dollars to get another engine put in, and she don't even have the car paid off. With these newer cars 109,000 is nothing and even in the older vehicles I have never had an oil pump go out with that little bit of miles on the engine. I have friends who are mechanics that I have talked to and they have told me that they have had a lot of these particular engines being the 2.2 liter with bad oil pumps in them. This is the reason I am filing this complaint for my mother. My brother has a 2000 cavalier with 239,000 miles on it and has never had a bit of problem so most likely it was in a particular year of vehicle that bad oil pumps were installed. He also has the 2.2 liter engine. So could you please find out if this is an on going problem because I sure would like to get my mothers money back because she is on a fixed income.
When the driver pressed the gas pedal the engine light illuminated.
The engine overheated, and stalled. The spark plugs melted. The technician found the head warped, causing excessive internal exhaust heat. The dealer replaced the relay switch, removed the head and resurfaced. The electric fans don't turn on. The technician found the fan relay, ect sensor, and fusible link shorted(removed replaced). The vehicle had surged and died out. The sensor connector clip broken and was replaced. The console under the radio had cracked. The vehicle wouldn't start, due to multiple dtc plugs fouled. The vacuum line had broken, and the connectors were re-pinned. The vehicle wouldn't start until the engine cooled down. The alternator was not charging and there was poor battery contact to the terminal. The alternator was replaced. Between the speeds of 25-30 MPH, the vehicle felt like it was going to rev up. The transmission did not shift into gear. The transmission was replaced and the cooler lines were flushed. There was noise coming from the engine and or the defective timing chain. The tensioner was replaced/resealed, the timing chain was greased, and the serpentine belt was replaced. Scc
I have a 1997 chevrolet cavalier that right after purchase (1998) the engine needed replacement. The dealer as per the service contract did this. Skip ahead to now (2003), the car developed a coolant leak. It was looked at and tested by my local mechanic and was diagnosed as a bad head gasket. I called the dealer that replaced the engine and was told that the entire engine was replaced. I asked about them fixing the head gasket, as it should not be leaking (the engine has 38,000 miles on it) they said no. I called gm customer service, they said I would have to have it diagnosed by a gm dealer at the cost of $79.95. This was done, the dealer said it was a bad gasket and/or cracked head. Gm customer service said that since the car was out of warranty and that only a short block was installed they would do nothing about it. My complaint is this; I've been lied to by my local dealer. The cavalier has this known defect. Gm has done nothing to tell me about it, but they have issued a technical service bulletin about it to the dealers. And now they won't repair the vehicle, not will they offer to pay any portion of it's repair. I would like any and all help in forcing gm to fix this.
I have a 1997 cavalier (the warrenty began in feb. '97). Just recently found out I need the head gasket replaced at a cost of approximately $1200. Noticed that many other owners have had the same problem, although in 96's. My car has 70,000 miles on it, and from what I've learned, a head gasket should last about 10 years of 100,000 miles. I would like chevy to get involved and pay for this, since it obviously seems to be such a problem with cavaliers.
When first started strong gas fumes in car; then hesitation/stalling while driving, has gone dead two times; rough idling.
Intermittently if vehicle starts , it will stall. The dealership indicated that this was caused by high oil pressure in the engine. Ph
Consumer states that when vehicle is cold it takes several attempts to start. When vehicle does finally start it will continuously stall. If started successfully vehicle has an excessively rough idle. Ph the vehicle did not start in cold weather, the lights on the dash board didn't light. The vehicle was diagnosed as cold start followed by a hard restarting and high oil pressure related to the oil pressure pump in the engine. Tsb#7761-09b. Scc
Engine coolant leak. Car has not been looked at by a mechanic yet. I've had to fill the radiator with fluid several times in the past month. The leak is becoming faster now, as I've had to fill it up two times in the past 4 days.
The consumer has experienced a number of stalling with this vehicle, almost causing accidents in a few cases. The consumer has contacted the manufacturer, and there has been an attempt to repair, but the problem still occurs. The consumer is concerned that this problem could cause a serious accident which could lead to death /serious injury, and would like to have the vehicle replaced for one she can trust. *scc
While driving engine check light came on , vehcile started to shake and stalled out. Engine had blown.
Consumer took vehicle in for recall 02v07, however was charged 800 dollars for a new battery, consumer states that this seems awfully high. *slc the vehicle stalled due to a minor engine problem. The valve cover gasket and the arching spark plugs were replaced.
Have put 3 alternators on this car, even when under warranty before 12,000 miles (approximately). Brakes have been replaced at least 3 times. Now, the brakes have failed completely and the ABS light came on. Dealer says no recalls, except for the ignition system. Scheduled that for repair 7/23/02. Seat belt plastic covers snapped off (belt loose on one and hit by car door when shutting it. The other one just popped off. Belt continues to slip off engine, causes stalling even if driving 55 MPH. Now brakes intermittently failing. Left front brake continues to have brake dust accumulate on wheel cover. Car has 110,000 miles on it (engine repaired last year). Car is also overheating; has had tstat replaced, radiator fluid. What else could cause this, I don't know.
About 1-2 months ago my wife tried to start the car and she said that all of the systems(I.e. Windshield wiper blades, interior warning lights, etc.) started going off all at once, the brake pedal would't push in, there was a loud buxxing noise, and the car would not start. Ever since we have had to try several times before the vehicle would start and there have been multiple occasions when we are driving along (speed doesn't seem to play a role) and the car will react in a similar manner and stop running. After this happens, it can take us up to 10-15 minutes to get it started again. Just this morning it happened again and if the truck behind us had not swerved as it did, it would have totalled our car. We then spent almost 20 minutes in the middle of traffic trying to start our car.(this was submitted by brian quinney - husband of said owner).
Consumer noticed coolant leaking from vehicle. Vehicle has not been examined by dealer yet.*ak dealer found cylinder head gasket and water pump leaking. Replaced pump and head gaskets. Manufacturer notified. Consumer is aware of same problem with the 1996 models.
I learned that technical bulletins were given with regard to this problem. It appears to be a manufacturer defect after reviewing numerous consumer complaints and technical bulletins.
My car had started overheating really bad, and was going through coolant like crazy. So I called the dealership where I bought it and they charged way to much. So I took it to a radiator shop and had it looked at. They replaced the water pump and some hoses, and it still acted up. So I finally bought a whole new coolant tank, and yet still it continued to do the same thing. So I took it to firestone to have a coolant pressure test done. They told me that the head gasket had a leak in the front corner. They estimated it at costing about $800 to fix the head gasket. But then I took it upon myself to go buy a new cap for the coolant tank and I haven't had a problem with it overheating on me. That cap only cost me like $10. What concerns me is that the pressure cap that was originally on the car was a 15 psi cap and the new one I bought from the dealer was an 18 psi. They told me they changed the part for my car. I would like to know why I wasn't notified of this. That could have been the whole problem behind my car overheating.
While traveling on the parkway without prior warning the vehicle shut down. The dealership is aware of the problem. Nlm
While traveling on highway heard a thumping noise. Manifold : engine, above the spring holding the bracket, broke. Dealership is aware of problem.
The water pump and the head gasket are leaking. And it didn't show any engine check or any sign.
Vehicle stalls at slow speeds and in stop and go traffic. Will start again after 5-15 minutes. Taken to dealer, cannot remedy. Vehicle has stalled about 15 times.
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