At times, during the past several months this vehicle has been hard to start. Had the fuel pump and ignition switch replaced, but did not seem to solve the problem. Recently, the car stalled out while driving and took 15 minutes to finally re-start. I have read online where this has been a problem for other owners of chevy cavaliers- hard to start and stalls out sometimes. Not sure what is causing the problem, because the check engine light does not come on and there is no code to diagnosis/read.
2004 Chevrolet Cavalier electrical complaints
Page 2 of 7: complaints 11 to 40 of 185, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving down the road my speedometer for stuck. I know I was going 60 when it happened because that's what it is stuck at.it isn't the first time this has happened. My car has had multiple problems with the windshield wipers, windows, and engine light.
The instrument cluster board has stopped, working and appears to be an ongoing issue with gm on several models (car and truck) between 1998-2009. Also the ABS, traction control, service engine lights will not go off. Window doors are not working and appears to all related to the cluster panel. I have replaced all ABS sensors, new brakes pads, rotors, and even front bearings. The engine itself works great and is fine and appears that gm has done a great job in this part. The cluster panel and wiring is a serious safety issue and needs to be reviewed in these models. Poor ground wiring an cluster panels can cause consumers to spend thousands of dollars in repairs and still resulting in the same problem. Cluster panel replacement can be from $300 to $800 depending on your local mechanic. This is a serious issue since ABS and traction control are not working due to the long list of issues. I recommend a recall on cluster panels for all cavaliers and modules, wiring as well.
The problem originally started with the temperature gauge (showed that the car was always overheating) and then eventually stopped moving at all. Next, the rpms stopped moving and the speedometer began showing that we were going 100 when we couldn't have been going more than 35. Now the speedometer doesn't move at all. So, at this point is impossible to know how fast I am going, if the car is overheating, or what the rpms are. Currently the fuel gauge works most of the time, but occasionally after filling up the tank the gauge will move to the far right (as if it's telling us that the tank is overfilled), to where it would interfere with the other gauges (if they were working). I feel this is a big safety problem and at the very least is very annoying (already been pulled over twice for going 10 miles over, because I had no idea how fast I was going).
First of all my instrument cluster fails, sometimes you know how fast you are going, what your tack is and you fuel level, sometimes you don't. I have never really known my mileage since I have owned the car. I also have issues with the car occasionally not wanting to start or reving of the engine and all of my dummy lights coming on I was told that is my ignition switch,however when I contacted gm they informed me cavaliers used a different switch than the ones in the recall. Ok. Both of these are safety issues, I was going to give this car to my son for his first car, but no way! I can not teach him how to drive in it, because the cluster doesn't function and the ignition switch issues. Gm will not issue a recall for this vehicle and knows there are issues, pretty sure last gm I will own.
Low and high-beam headlights appear dim when turned on compared to other cars. May be due to corroded/defective wiring. Appears to be a very common problem with this chevrolet model. Looking for recall information related to this issue.
Air bags did not come out car flipped over twice and there was 1 death and 1 injury.
My wife's instrument cluster on her 2004 cavalier has not worked since about 80000 miles . The only gauge that works anymore is the tachometer. My research points to the steppers motors . This is not an isolated issue . There are numerous complaints concerning this exact issue , all over the internet . Is this not a safety issue , when the speedometer does not work ? G.m. Should be held responsible . She has been estimating her speed by the tachometer for far too long . Please have g.m. Fix this issue before someone dies ! Thank you .
All of the trouble lights come on including the service light with a wrench. Then, all of the gauges drop to nothing; you don't know how fast you're traveling, what your fuel capacity is, the temperature gauge drops to nothing along with the tachometer dropping to nothing. In the odometer and "error" message replaces the odometer reading. The gauges will intermittently go off and on or all of them will drop of with no reading. The other evening, I was coming home on a winding back country road and all of my lights went out. I have to limit my driving to daytime driving and only use the running lights as it appears to only aggravate the problem when I use my headlights. Today, everything above happened along with some news things. The vehicle was shut off, the key was removed from the ignition and the running lights remained on as did the warning alarm as though the key were left in the ignition. I left the car only after I pulled the left and right fuse from the panel. When I returned to the car, I inserted the fuses and started the vehicle but was unable to shift the car into gear as the car would not let me depress the button on the shifter to do so. I have to now shut the car off and pull the ignition fuse and then reinsert it to get the car in gear. What the heck?
Car will not start consistently. Have to wait a couple of days, then it may start or not. But if it starts, it will not start again until days go by............ Ignition shut off on one occasion when operating on a public road. Loss of power, engine and power brakes.steering wheel did not lock but coasted vehicle off the road.
While driving at 35mph, the speedometer began to malfunction giving faulty readings. At times, it registers at 0mph - even when you're driving. The tachometer began to do the same thing (faulty readings) two days later. The speedometer now works but periodically gives faulty readings while driving. The tachometer no longer works at all and constantly shows a faulty reading (below zero). After a visit to three different local mechanics and a gm dealership - I'm told there's only one way to fix the problem. Replace the instrument cluster completely. This is a costly repair and quite common with these vehicles in their experience apparently. Not having an accurate and reliable display of your current speed is certainly a major safety issue. It's amazing to me that this has not yet been investigated with all the complaints regarding faulty gauges/instrument panels on this vehicle. This vehicle needs to be investigated and recalled.
When driving the vehicle and hit a bump the ignition switch will cause the interior light to come and on occasion cause the car to shut off.
The gauges show nothing no speed no gas no mileage nothing. I have seen a lot of complaints of this matter why is there nothing being done about this problem. I was always a chevy person but now I am moving on to something else. Chevy does not like to fix there problems they leave it up to the people to spend tons of money to fix the prob when they know what the prob is. This is uncalled for.
Carcomplaints.com notes: widespread instrument panel failure is a common and frustrating reality for many 2004-2005 chevy cavalier owners. They're often left in the dark when it comes to knowing how fast they're going, what their engine temperature is, or even how much fuel they have left in the tank. The likely culprit is a series of bad "stepper motors" which control the gauges and are no longer covered under warranty. Think not being able to see your speed is a safety issue and should be recalled for all owners? We'd agree. Trouble is, apparently the federal safety agency does not. This is truly a serious safety issue. This issue has been reported thousands of times to various agencies and it seems the cavalier was never made. No one will address this issue or any others involving this cavalier.
2004 cavalier, 2.2l dohc, 5-speed manual transmission. While driving at 60 MPH vehicle felt as if cruise control was engaged. Rpms would not fall off as fast as usual when foot taken off gas, and when I depressed the clutch (which was just replaced last week due to another known issue that chevy refuses to recall) rpms went above 4,000. Tapped gas pedal thinking maybe it was stuck and it only revved higher and did not come down on its own. Rpms continued to climb as I came to a stop, around 6,000 by the time I pulled over. Shut the car off and immediately back on, no problems for the rest of the trip home (another 8 miles). I cannot risk my car revving at 6,000 rpms in stop and go traffic which I'm in every weekday and I can't shut it off and turn it back on to fix the problem, so I have to find out what causes it and fix it asap. Thanks for another spendy repair, chevy.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet cavalier. The contact stated that while driving 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled as all of the warning lamps illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician was unable to duplicate the failure however, replaced the fuel pump as a precaution. The repair failed to remedy the failure. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the technician determined that the ignition switch was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,426 and the current mileage was 111,600. Updated 7/10/15*cn updated 8/23/2017
My 2004 chevy cavalier has a problem with the instrument cluster. In 2006 I was driving doing 20 MPH in a school zone and noticed my speedometer read 110, the gas gauge showed empty and the temperature gauge had moved all the way around and was sitting on the speedometer needle. I contacted gm about the problem and was informed that a recall was issued on trucks and SUV's but did not include automobiles. I was told to take my car to a dealership and pay $100.00 to have it inspected by a mechanic and if the mechanic determined it was the cluster, the information would be sent to gm and they would then make a decision on whether they would make the repair or not. My daughter owns a 2004 monte carlo with the same problem and her daughter has the problem with her 2005 cavalier. There are many others with this problem and gm just refuses to address the problem. I think car owners should get the same respect as truck owners and gm should repair these clusters. I have contacted gm many times and they don't do anything .
The gauge cluster on my 2004 cavalier has suddenly started malfunctioning. This is a serious safety issue as I do not know how hot my engine is or how fast I am going. The tach and gas gauges seem to still work (don't know for how long though), but speedometer and temp gauge do not. My car has very low mileage and I will just have had it for 10 years as of this month. I am the only owner of this car and it has been well taken care of. I cannot believe that chevy will not recall this faulty gauge panel. This is a safety issue and not a part that should just suddenly wear out on a car. With all of the issues that are suddenly surfacing with gm I am shocked that this has not been recalled before and I know I am not the only person to have this issue. God forbid someone not know this is an issue and they pull over because they think their car is overheating and get out to check only to get hit by another car. I will never buy another chevy again unless they step up and take responsibility for this faulty gauge cluster.
The instrument panel cluster gauges (speedometer; gas gauge; tachometer) started acting crazy and the dials would jump all over the place. Finally, the dials just stopped working. At the same time my inside dome light stopped working. It would go on when the car was not running so it had to be disengaged completely so it would not run down my battery. Right after that my car turned off while being driven and the keys were still in the ignition. (this has happened three times).this vehicle does not appear under any recalls. I called gm directly but was not able to get any resolution due to language barriers (the reps did not speak english). This was reported to car complaints.com and hundreds of reports and complaints have been reported for the same thing (especially the cluster and electrical problems) but no recalls have been issued. These are very expensive items to have fixed and pose serious safety issues. Many, many people need help and no where to turn and gm has ignored these problems with the 2004 cavalier completely. All fuses have been checked and replaced as recommended as well as all other recommendations on how to fix. On behalf of all cavalier owners who have been ignored please, please help!!!! This has also been reported to motortrend.com. Thank you for any help you can offer!!!
Bought this car new , every time we hit a bump with key ring and car driving the interior light would flash on and off like the key was just turned on , we complained and they could never find a thing , so now when you drive it and hit the key ring with all the other keys on it the light flashes on and off , chevrolet could never find the problem and now there is a recall for the same thing that happens on a 2004 cavalier as later models of chevy.
As I was driving down the road the vehicle stopped running and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I then tried to start the car again but it did not start. So I tried again a few more time. The vehicle did start so I took the car in for repairs the next week which was my first attempt. It took 2 more visits to get the car fixed correctly. It turned out to be the ignition switch sensor. Just like the recall by gm. But my model is not included, I hope it will be added in the future.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet cavalier. The contact stated the instrument panel failed to function properly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Suddenly without warning the whole instrument cluster panel (fuel gauge, speedometer, RPM gauge & temperature gauge all stopped working correctly and then suddenly stopped working at all! Found out that this is a common complaint and very expensive to replace. It is very dangerous driving without knowledge of your speed! There should be a recall on this also as it is a very common problem and dangerous.
When I turn on my car defroster, it starts popping very loud. At one time it started popping when I set the car at idle, and when I returned to the car, it was filled with smoke or dust. I had to air out the car for a while before I could drive it. The defroster doesn't pop every time, and it quits after about 30 minutes each time. Also, when I bought the car, it needed a new console, so I had it replaced. The day-time running lights go out and flash at people. When they go out, the service light comes on. I have to drive with my headlights on so the day-time running lights do not flash at people.
Horn won't blow, had it serviced and they said horn was good. They track the situation back to the air bag/horn connection. Never had an accident in this vehicle. So I don't understand why the horn won't blow. The guy that serviced it , said the connection for the horn is connected to the air bag and I would need a new air bag to possible fix this issue. What could I possible do to get this corrected? It's been like this for a couple of years, I've been worried about this issue and getting more worried about it lately.
I am concerned because of the ignition recall. For the last several months, at random times, if I touched the keys which were in the ignition, more often than not, the overhead dome light would either flicker or actually go on for several seconds to a minute before shutting off. This is not a result of pulling them so that they are not solidly inserted, but due to being jostled. This has happened when the car is running, or not running, and occasionally when I insert the key in the ignition. I do not believe this, in itself, is a problem unless it is an indication that this may progress into a more serious problem.
Recently general motors issued a recall on the ignition switch for some of their cars, but it does not include all of the vehicles affected with the exact same problem. Here is a list of cars currently listed, but I want my 2004 chevrolet cavalier added to the recall too: chevrolet cobalt, pontiac g5, saturn ion, chevrolet hhr, pontiac solstice, and saturn sky. Many years ago I tried to get a local chevrolet service center to fix the problem in my 2004 chevrolet cavalier. They could not fix it, so we just kept driving the car. Had I known it would affect the air bags getting deployed I would have written to you sooner. This problem needs to get fixed by gm as soon as possible on all models listed including my 2004 chevrolet cavalier. The defect allows the ignition switch to move from "run" to "accessory" if I hit a bump or I use a heavy key chain. That shuts off the engine and may disable the front air bags. The loss of the air bag crash protection is my biggest worry. Please help me get this fixed and warn other people who have 2004 chevrolet cavaliers with the same problem.
Car shut off no power steering gauges shut off everything turned off but lights stayed on and flashers worked.
Speedometer quits working; today's example; we were entering an interstate and accelerating to the 65 MPH posted speed limit, and the speedometer locked at 45 and stayed there. Did not change and remains there until we got the car home. The worst part is my son, a student driver was driving and had no way to know how fast he was going and had to remain there until we could get off the interstate and exchange places. This is dangerous and needs to be investigated. I researched the internet as well as this site, and see many more with the same complaint.
My instrument panel is not working properly. The speedometer was indicating incorrect speeds before it stopped working completely. The gas, RPM, and temperature gauges indicate incorrect information as well. This is a real safety issue.
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