2003 Chevrolet Cavalier electrical problems

Filed Jul 7, 2025 · Electrical · WA

There is a recall on the vehicle I need to get fixed.

Filed May 2, 2021 · Electrical, Steering · 50,000 miles · CA

My car has the same problem with the instrument cluster that was recalled for other gm vehicles. The fuel level gauge, temperature gauge, RPM, speedometer.... None of my gauges work. They gave the wrong readings, the hand wouldn't return to their starting positions, then the hands went lower than their starting positions to the point they all didn't work anymore. This car needs to be added to the gm recall list for the same problem.

Filed Jan 28, 2018 · Electrical · 198,000 miles · CT

Cluster of dashboard indicators (speedometer, gas guage , engine temp, RPM) all are not working now. They were going off and on at times when driving but now nothing works...my mechanic informs me this is a common problem with this make and model. No recall found. Very dangerous to drive why wasn't this common problem listed as a recall when many have complained??

Filed May 6, 2016 · Body, Electrical · PA

"check engine" light keeps coming back on for the same issue, supposedly the "air intake temp sensor, replaced that one and several sensors repeatedly, had the complete wiring harness connections checked and cleaned, even replaced my ECM and bcm [neither of which was cheap], and still has "check engine" light, even after being "cleared" over and over again -- this car was well maintained and the body and sub-frame are severely rotting out left and right -- had a weird leak on the pass. Side front, under the dash. It comes and goes. The car smells like an old sneaker inside. Water would pour out of the passenger side heater duct, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. One I even had soap foam from a drive thru car wash literally come blowing in to the cabin, thru the very same heater duct. Thankfully it has seemingly cleared up, but it is still a head scratcher. I've taken my car to several dealerships, privately owned shops, and even had some "car savvy" friends look her over, as well as my dad [ands ase certified tech], and the check engine light still comes back every time. If I would have known I'd put this much money into a car that literally ready to break apart, I would have saved my money to put towards another car. Live and learn, I guess. She was doing so well for 10 or 11 years and it's like she just started "giving up" on me. She's got 165k on her and the pain has gone to crap, but that's gm for you, kept her garaged, waxed regularly, had her looking showroom new, until recently, the paint's clear coat started to "stipple" [sharp bumps] and bubble all over top panels, starting with the roof, then hood, and now trunk. It's embarrassing to drive her, and I am not paying to repaint her, I already have way too much into a car that likely will not pass inspection coming up in august. I'm now handicap'd and disabled, fixed income, can't afford a new car.

Filed Mar 17, 2016 · Electrical, Steering · 130,000 miles · WI

Instrumet cluster problems for a few years. Fuel sending unit has been replaced at about 52,000 miles after quiting twice while driving highway speed of 55 MPH. Dealer claimed the car quit because of a bad battery the first time and did not diagnose the problem correctly. It was not the battery. The fuel sending unit intermittently reads well beyond full and interfears with the temperature gage function. Now speedometer is stuck at 85 MPH while turned off. I was driving with the cruise doing 67 MPH, I slowed down to make a turn at an at grade insection to a road posted at 55 MPH. I completed the turn and sped up. The speedometer read 58 MPH but it felt llike I was gong about 30 MPH. I stopped at another intersection and the speed dropped to 40 MPH. I made the turn and acelerated and the speed went to 110 MPH but I was not going near that fast. The car is in driveway turned off but the speedometer reads 85 MPH. Most recent issue is steering rack and k-frame rusted out and needed to be replaced. Mechanic stated he never saw a steering rack rust out or a k frame rusted as bad as the one on this vehicle. We are the original owners.

Filed Feb 25, 2016 · Electrical · NE

Instrument cluster needs to be replaced. The cluster blinks in and out

Filed Oct 1, 2015 · Electrical · NC

July 2009 ignition lock cylinder was stuck. I had it replaced for $362.75 at chevrolet dealership. August 2014 ignition lock cylinder was stuck. I had it replaced for $488.83 at chevrolet dealership. September 2015 ignition lock cylinder was stuck, my key came out of lock and the car was still running. I had to come off of the clutch to purposely make the car cut off and had to unplug the battery. The 2003 chevrolet is not included in the recall but it needs to be. My ignition lock cylinder has failed me 3 times in the past 6 years. Thankfully, I'm alive and able to tell you all about this. Chevrolet & gm knew about the lock cylinder recall when I had mine replaced last year.

Filed Mar 25, 2015 · Electrical, Transmission · 8,161 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. The contact stated that the vehicle could not be shifted out of park. When the contact inserted the key into the ignition switch, it became difficult to turn and the overhead light did not turn off. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 8,161.

Filed Jan 31, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 189,587 miles · FL · crash

Power suddenly shut off, causing power steering to fail, which made me wreck into a ditch. It also caused the airbags to not deploy and prevented seatbelts from locking into place when the brakes were hit.

Filed Jan 19, 2015 · Electrical, Steering · 115,000 miles · OH

I had been reading about recent recalls with gm, especially ignition switches. I have a 2003 chevy cavalier and it was diagnosed with a bad ignition switch. I first noticed when I went to start the car in the morning, a day after coming home from work. Good thing it happened then because I would have been stranded off site. I went to start the car, nothing happened except wipers and radio did not work as well which I thought was strange. Finally the radio at least came on at some point, but car still would not start. After it was fixed they said the ignition switch was bad and the mechanic asked if I had looked for the recall on it. I searched online but did not find it. I know my car is older, however of all the cars I ever owned and I had many, I never had any issues with ignition switches! I think I had one of the defective switches and would like to look into this matter. Unfortunately I probably can't go back to get the physical ignition switch at this point, too late. I have the proper paperwork for it however. Also on another note, my rear driver side signal keeps going out, no matter how many times I replace it. That might be something gm should look into as well.