Cavalier - Chevrolet :: 2001 - A/C Cuts Off While Idling
Mar 14, 2011
My daughter says that the AC on her 2001 Chevy Cavalier cuts off when she is idling.
View 4 RepliesMy daughter says that the AC on her 2001 Chevy Cavalier cuts off when she is idling.
View 4 Replies1992 Chevy Cavalier, about 120,000 miles. A few months ago my car has started to rumble and vibrate while idling in drive. It only occurs while I'm in drive and completely stopped. If I change to neutral or park, it immediately goes away. Also, if I'm in drive, keep my foot on the brake and give it a little gas, the vibration goes away. I've changed the spark plugs, had the throttle body cleaned (not very thoroughly) and my mechanic said my engine mounts look fine and to not worry too much about it. Is this a problem I can ignore as an inconvenience or should I put more effort into getting this fixed?
View 2 RepliesI have a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier. I've been getting a pulsing vibration which feels like the left front. It starts at about 40mph and gets worse the faster I go. The vibration completely goes away with the slightest left turn on the freeway. It vibrates on acceleration and deceleration, in neutral and in gear (5spd manual). I've currently replaced the front struts, strut mounts, pads and rotors, left front wheel bearing, tie rod ends, had the front end aligned and the tires balanced.
View 2 RepliesReplaced the clutch on my son's 01 Cavalier 4 cyl. Replaced Clutch as it was slipping, and replaced hydraulic throw out bearing/slave cylinder at same time. New throw out bearing failed after only 500 miles or so, seal broken, started grinding on down shift and coasting (deceleration) followed by leak and no pedal. Replaced with new Slave Cylinder and Throw out bearing, the new one is starting to show same grinding noise on shifting and deceleration. What could cause this? Used the spline alignment tool to adjust the plate on center the right way. Could the pressure plate springs be off center? The flywheel was purple could it be warped and throwing the pressure plate springs off center thereby causing them to rub against the I.D. of the Throw Out Bearing slave cylinder seal?
View 14 RepliesIt's a 2001 Chevy cavalier. The key is stuck and won't turn the car off. Already have tried shaking the wheel and wd-40. The wipers won't work and the gauges won't turn on until I jiggle the key.
View 4 RepliesThis is my daughter in laws car. The rough idle, check engine light and trac light all happened at the same time. She was in a parking lot and drove over a speed bump when all the problems started. The check engine light flashes when driving above 25mph. It's on solid at idle. I found the EVAP purge valve plastic nipple was busted off so I replaced the assembly. I was totally surprised when this had no effect on the symptoms.
I find it strange that the car was running fine and then has all these symptoms after going over a speed bump.
When working, all is OK. When not, I have no high or low beams, a weak and barely moving wipers with a lot of buzzing coming from wiper motor area and drivers door lock tries to lock (or at least the lock sound is coming from drivers door). The DRL's function normally. The problems are definitely interlinked and it is very intermittent and can come and go several times in a few minutes.
View 11 RepliesI have a 2001 Cavalier 5-speed manual 2.2. I have owned it for every day and every mile (204K) since I bought it new in April of 2001. I have had many mechanical disasters and problems mostly starting a couple of years ago - and a lot of them I have worked on or fixed and/or replaced the part myself.
The transmission fluid in this car has never been changed, looked-at, drained, added, etc....because I was told that it didn't need it. The manual says the same thing. For as long as I've had this car, it has had a intermittent rattle noise that I figured was just the "Getrag rattle" - so I didn't pay much attention to it. But over the past year - especially the last 6 months - this rattle has just gotten totally insane and out of control. It is now a constant loud rattle whenever the car is in gear - especially starting out in 1st or 2nd. I mentioned this to someone and they asked when the last time the fluid was changed and said that would fix the problem - and couldn't believe that the fluid had never been changed after 15 years and 200K miles.
This model has no dipstick. There is a big red vent cap and I think I found a HEX plug close to it, but before I go out and buy the wrong size hex key - what size these are and if they are even what I am looking for to fill/check/drain it? So frustrated. Also - since I can't find DEXRON 3 anywhere am I supposed to use this DEX/Mercon stuff?
About 2 months ago, I needed to test my engine cooling fan motor. Was using two lead test wires with alligator clips and stupidly connected the battery ends first and then the wind blew the other connection ends together creating a spark. That may or may not have anything to do with what has happened since then. About 3 days after that, I started to notice that my lights were dimming and ac fan motor was slowing when the engine was under load as in 1st or 2nd gear or going uphill.
After about a week, the ALT/BAT light came on and I replaced my alternator. The problem with that was that getting the belt back on the new ALT nearly killed me and I got several pretty bad injuries and ended up having to get it done. The old alternator tested bad so I figured my problem was solved. But ever since then, I am still getting the same problem - a voltage drop or loss of electrical power causing the lights to dim and the fan to slow - except this time is doesn't happen under load - it happens while driving and just after I have come to a stop at a light or stop sign. I have had the battery and alternator tested several times and they always show up as being fine.
I checked all the cables and connections and changed the positive battery cable bolt. I get no codes thrown. I cant just take the alternator out and change it because of what I went through with the last one - not to mention it tests OK so I can't use the warranty as long as that is the case anyway. So I am left with this troubling, annoying problem and don't know what the cause or solution is. I am guessing the list of options has to have the alternator, battery, connections, belt (though I have no sounds or evidence there is a problem with the belt - I suppose if the tensioner was damaged with the belt fiasco that it might cause such a problem). What to do? It is the biggest problem at night because my headlights are affected.
2001 Cavalier 5-speed manual 2.2
My girlfriend's 2001 cavalier has about 160k on it and about a week ago it started shifting harshly accelerating to highway speeds and the CEL came on along with the traction control/abs warning light. I pulled the OBD2 code and it was P0742, Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Stuck On. We took it to the transmission shop down the street the next day and they wanted $600 to diagnose. We called 'shenanigans' and decided she should take it to her regular shop. On the drive over the transmission shifted normally. Both shops noticed that the transmission cooler lines were rusty and seeping, but neither thought it was the cause of the problem. The shifting issue hasn't recurred even after a couple hundred miles during the week. She hasn't had the transmission fluid changed and doesn't know if it had been when she bought it about 80k miles ago. It seems to me that pre-emptively draining the fluid, changing the filter and refilling, especially to check for debris in the fluid, would make sense, especially if it was debris jamming the circuit that caused the error code in the first place.
View 8 RepliesPassengers side tail light doesn't react when braking, using hazards or blinker, what do I replace? The bulb is lit, but doesn't blink or brighten when the brakes are applied. As of right now I'm replacing the bulb socket seeing as when I replaced the bulb the contacts were covered in a brown crust, is there something else I should be looking at?
View 3 Repliesi got a problem with my 96' 2.4 auto cavalier. It idles really rough at idle. I've replaced alternator, battery, idle air control valve, intake, plugs, and the fuel pump in the last year and a half. I've noticed that the rpms will fluctuate between about 625-675 when it's idling rough. About once every 11 seconds the car will rev up for a moment and will idle smooth but then it idle rough again. Every one in a while it will throw trouble code p0200 random multiple cylinder misfire.
View 14 RepliesWe have base line 2004 Cavalier coupe that has about 130K miles on it. It is currently doing two things: When the car is idling the engine begins to overheat, and the air conditioning goes awol. As soon as forward movement begins again, the temperature goes back to acceptable levels, and the air conditioning becomes cool again. Since these problems occur simultaneously, it leads me to think they might be related.
View 2 RepliesI have an 1980 Ford F-150 with an inline 300. I just installed a new egr valve on. Here is the problem:
After the engine warms up with everything connected, the engine starts to cut out and die while idling. This is due to the VCV opening up and allowing vacuum to the EGR. My question is why is this happening? The EGR is not suppose to open up during idle.
My car dies when I come to a stop unless I gently press on the gas pedal while holding done the brake. What can cause this?
View 4 RepliesMy dad recently asked me to find out what is wrong with his A/C unit on his truck. He has a Chevy Silverado 1500 LS. it's a 2002 model. um.... anyway, he usually blasts his A/C around 3 to 5. the a/c setting goes from 1 thru 5, and off. so i was thinking that since he uses the a/c so much that he's gone and broken something.
In the middle of summer so i suspect the heat has something to do with it. some days the a/c works, sometimes it doesn't. although i've ridden in the truck a few times since the problem appeared, I've noticed that the a/c almost always works when we pull out of the garage or when its cool enough. and never works when we come out of a store or somewhere to the truck that's been left out in the heat in the parking lot.
There's one more thing. i haven't noticed it yet but this comes directly from my dad. he says that sometimes he'll just be driving along and he'll hear a 'clunk' noise and the a/c will start working again. How to fix this problem. I assume this is something very common. and would it be easy for me to fix? i know more about computers than i do cars, and I've already taken apart 1 laptop and fixed 2 others. I feel fairly confident taking part of a car apart.... er, truck in this case.
Car won't start after filling up with gas. I have tried a new fuel filter, new gas tank cap, checked for pressure on fuel pump. We have gottenit to start (but barely) when either hit gas tank with hammer or shake the back of the car, otherwise you have to set and wait 15-30 minutes before it will start and when it does it smells very weird (like it's flooded but an extra strange smell with it). I have seen a similar posting on here and someone suggested it might be a purge value problem. In talking with someone at auto store they didn't think this was the issue. I do have my check engine light on all the time and when checked the code , it said oxygen sensor. My two other Cavaliers have also had the oxygen sensor problem but it never did this with that code.
View 9 RepliesHad a directional bulb go out recently and replaced it without any problem. About 3 days ago it went again, I bought a 2 pack of bulbs - replaced it and drove on. Almost instantly right after I turned and signaled the right directional bulb blew again, I grabbed the extra bulb put it into plug and started car - first right turn with directional bulb blows again. I'm at a loss as to where this can be happening. Is this in the steering column or elsewhere, where do I even begin to look.
View 3 RepliesI have a 2004 Chevy Cavalier. I am having some issues with it.
When it first starts it idles really hard. The RPMs are up and if will try to accelerate without hitting the gas. This stops after the first minute.
The second part is that when stopped, but in drive, it idles hard. It does it though when the AC is turned off. You can see the RPM gauge go above and below the normal 500 RPM. If you turn the AC on then it levels out. It will occasionally idle hard with the AC on, but rarely and not as much.
The car drives well and is not overheating.
The cold air box is a black plastic box that sits forward of the engine/valve cover. It connects via black plastic tube to the air filter box on one end and to the engine on the other. I took it off it. 'Lo and behold it was full of oil.
View 1 Replies2003 Cavalier auto 116K miles - Car is sputtering and stalling at stoplights with a/c on. What can I check?
View 6 Replies