Problems with 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

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??

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.

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

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.

Instrument cluster gauges malfunction periodically and lock into one position or don't work at all. cant tell what your speed is , temp is, rpm etc! this i think is a safety issue and should be addressed. i see this is happening to many people as i have investigated it on line. this is pretty much what's happening... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzily3gxexa. *tr

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. *tr

The entire instrument cluster panel completely went hay wire and the speed would increase and decrease. everything was flashing to the point it was actually scary. i pulled over to the side of the road and it stilled continued. i finally decided to continue home and after about 6 miles it finally just stopped. i researched this problem on the internet and have found that so many more have experienced the same thing happening but some have had their car actually start on fire. please advise if there is any recall in the near future before someone has to lose their life over this. thank you so much for any consideration. *tr

Erratic instrument panel..sometimes after turning ignition key on all panel lights stay on (beyond normal)and all gauges go off..sometimes ok when starting but some lights come on (air bag, service eng, abs gas gauge, etc) after driving ..sometimes all instr gauges go out completely while driving including speedometer...they sometimes come back on and sometimes not...i entered my make and year on google to see if other owners have similar problem and found out many do..interesting to note that while researching on google i found out chev trucks in year 2003 had a recall due to faulty instrument panel controls but the autos were not recalled.. i feel this is a definite safety hazard since i sometimes have to drive with no speedometer, gas gauge and an airbag light that stays on. i do not feel safe driving this vehicle for any length of time and have to resort to only short trips (grocery store, dr appts, etc) i would like to know why gm has not recalled this 2003 chevy cavalier..esp when they have recalled the same yr and make trucks for faulty instr panels.. i feel this faulty instr panel is placing me in a very dangerous position each time i get behind the wheel and needless to say do not feel safe driving this auto at all... *tr

The problem is with the speedometer. i was traveling at what i thought was about 40 mph and i looked down and my speedometer showed 65 mph. when i cam to a stop my speedometer only went down to 25 mph. the next morning it was down to 0. one week later it went up and didn't go below 35 mph and it has kept increasing. now when i get in the car the speedometer is at 95mph. this is a huge safety issue. please issue a recall for these items. the cost to repair is $500 and makes it too expensive for it to be feasible. *tr

tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that while driving 50 mph, all of the illuminated gauges and interior lights switched off independently. the contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to stop. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the failure and current mileage was 710,000. *tr

When driving on a long trip, i noticed that the speedometer kept increasing after each time i stopped the car. when i stopped, the speed read 25. i went 45 mph, it went to 70 mph. etc. it now rests in vertical position facing down. the gas gauge has also begun to go haywire. i also noticed that the car would longer can go into cruise control (without working for a few minutes then shutting off), i am thinking because of the speedometer or cluster. either way, it now no longer works at all. seeing everyone's complaints on here and with "government motors" not doing anything about it, i will not put my trust in their brand on any future vehicles. this also happened on my 2005 cavalier. good thing for a gps... *tr

Speedometer stopped working and is stuck on 52 mph. fuel gauge is stuck on full, temperature gauge is pointing to nowhere, and the tacometer is pointing at zero. it seems to be a common problem with this vehicle. *tr

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. *tr

Speedometer is not working looks like there's been several complaints on the internet about this issue with other chevrolet cavaliers. *tr

I am the owner of a 2003 chevy cavalier and i have 2 complaints that should have been recalls as there are many with the same 2 problems, first every gauge in my car quit working no rpm, no gas guage and no speedometer. second ever since i bought my car for no reason at all it would just stall at redlights when i would take off, dealer said no problem, i have nearly wrecked many times because of this, the latest was today i have read many forums that say they found out it was the faulty plastic fuel pump, why no recall this is going to get someone killed. *kb

Speedometer goes haywire so you have no idea how fast you are going. other gauges (fuel, temp) also erratic. seems this is a common problem with many gm vehicles and is very dangerous! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that when driving at various speeds, all of the gauges on the instrument panel cluster failed. the vehicle was taken to a dealer and they advised him that the cluster needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered to pay half of the repair cost. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 51,900.

I was driving and had been in my car for about five min and smoke started coming out of the bottom of where the radio and heater controls are..at that time i pulled over and saw flames in the dash and it was growing and i called 911 fire and we closed the doors and waited til the fire truck got there and handled the fire. it completely destroyed my dash steering column front windshield and head liner...all my instrument panels and wiring are fried. i believe it was a faulty wiring system...if not would like to know how this could have been prevented and how do i fix my car.. *tr

Speedometer stoped working! saftey issue! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that while driving mph and above, the speedometer and temperature gauges would not illuminate. in addition, the fuel gauge was providing inaccurate fuel level readings. the vehicle was neither inspected nor repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

Speedometer registers over 120 miles and beyond even when stopped. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the instrument cluster panel failed while driving 35 mph. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the parts needed for repairs would take two weeks to become available. the manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 68,244.

While in park my 2003 cavalier tachometer reads at 5 rpm while driving at 30mph my tachometer reads over 7 rpms. the engine sounds normal contacted chevy and was told they did not have enough complaints to do a recall when it is a safety issue it should not matter the number of complaints i can not afford to pay 500 to fix this with no guarantee it will work. *tr

Driving at 60 mph just died on the interstate,pulled over started back up also at 60,000 miles fuel pump went out nothing but problems with this 2003 cavalier they are a lemon,why isn't something done????? before someone gets killed if they haven't already!! *tr

I have a 2003 chevrolet cavalier that is on it's second instrument cluster and now it has gone bad, no speedometer, no fuel gauge and no temperature. i've researched this problem and there are hundreds of complaints like this. if gm is in such great shape as recently reported, then why can't your organization instruct them to make good on the safety of their vehicles? i can't sell the vehicle because no one wants to buy a vehicle that they have no idea of how fast they are going or how much fuel is in the tank. *tr

2003 cavalier, the defroster knob cable has gone bad 2x's before it is gone again, the driver side window motor went last year, last month the fuel pump went, the passenger side motor is going, the speedometer is messed up along with the tack, it sticks. my daughter drives this car just turned 17, the speedometer said she was going 105, when she shuts the car off it says she's still doing 35, at times the car wont start, don't know exactly why, this is bs, there is only 72000 miles on it, gm needs to start fixing these problems, some one is going to get killed. *tr

The instrument panel stopped working. i ordered 2 used ones they did not work. i had the dealership rebuild it and it still does not work. i have searched online and several people have the same problem. gm has recalled this item on several models but not on the cavalier as of yet. i have spent hundreds and still have not fixed the problem. no speedometer, gas gauge. *kb

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.

2003 chevy cavalier speedometer failed at 49,240 miles. resulting in potentially unsafe driving speed in otherwise perfect driving conditions. *tr

The fuel gauge began to malfunction about a year ago. assuming it was just the float, i decided i would ignore it and use the trip odometer to determine how much gas i had left. unfortunately, because the gas gauge went well past full, into the realm of what would be considered two tanks of full, the temperature gauge needle could not move. eventually, the gas gauge needle went past the temperature gauge (now at what would be considered two and a half tanks) which freed the temperature needle to actually register. now, the temperature gauge is malfunctioning, resting at the half way point even after the car sat all night in our recent frigid temperatures. it now runs in the red even though there is nothing wrong with the engine. now, the speedometer is showing signs of malfunctioning, as it reads 5 mph though i am at a complete stop. research on various internet message boards suggest this is a very common problem in not only 2003 chevrolet cavaliers, but other years and models of chevy vehicles. when i complained to gm that a malfunctioning speedometer was a safety issue, i was greeted with "there's no recall, it's no longer under warranty, can't help, your problem, deal with it." following this logic, what's stopping gm from creating more defective vehicles, if the problem happens after the warranty expires? they've adopted the attitude it's "not their problem." at what point is a defective speedometer not a safety problem worthy of a recall? *tr

My entire instrument panel on my 2003 chevy cavalier has stopped working. first it was the gas gauge that stopped about 2 years ago. i just learned to live it. then recently my speedometer and rpm meter stopped working as well. i have had multiple price estimates done and none have been under $500 and i just plain and simple can't afford to have it done while i'm currently unemployed. i have researched other cases of faulty instrument panel and there are literally thousands of complaints on gm models including the cavalier. this is certainly not safe and i'm assuming it's illegal to drive without a speedometer but still after years of complaints to gm of faulty instrument panels there has been no recall. *tr

Speedometer in my 2003 chevy cavalier jumps and doesn't display the correct speed. *tr

I own a 2003 chevrolet cavalier ls and on dec. 25 when i turned on the rear defrost button smoke started to come out from inside the steering wheel column. i could not get the rear defrost to turn off so i had to turn off the car and remove the fuse to it. shortly after this incident the power windows have stopped working and the fuse to them is still good, i replaced it just in case but the windows still do not work. the odometer has also stopped working so i have had to guess my speed. i feel that this is a huge safety concern since the rear defrost does not work i cannot see out the rear window on cold days, i also cannot tell how fast i am driving which can cause an accident, and the power windows have stopped working. the car is due for inspection next month and i cannot afford to fix these problems, this is my only vehicle and rely on it to get to and from work everyday. i have also placed a complaint with general motors concerning this issue as i feel that the problems that have occurred are a result of poor or hurried workmanship in that area of the vehicle's manufacture. *tr

About a year ago, my speedometer went crazy (~80,000 miles), and a few days ago my fuel gauge followed suit (117,000 miles). i saw the same problem widely mentioned on the internet, including an actual recall on the trucks which use the same instrument cluster. dealer said repairs would be $300-$500 which i couldn't afford, so i just used the tachometer to gauge my roadspeed. can't live without the fuel gauge though. *tr

I own a 2003 chevy cavalier and the temperature gauge does not work and now the rpm gauge isn't working. i have about 45,000 miles on it and the dealership says i need to replace the cluster. after doing a lot of research on the internet about the repair, i have discovered that this is a common problem among all cavaliers; the cluster needs to be repaired. i will have my car repaired this week and will need to spend $500 to repair it. i have even called gmc's customer service to see if their is a warranty on the part or a recall. why are car owners spending $500 plus to fix this problem when it is a known problem? *tr

My speedometer began operating erratically about 1 year ago for the last 3 months it has not operated at all stays below 0 at all times. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that within a few minutes after parking her vehicle, it caught fire. the fire department extinguished the fire. the vehicle was destroyed. the contact stated that the electrical system caused the fire. prior to the failure, she noticed that the windows opened after the vehicle was turned off. when she turned the air conditioner off green smoke emitted into the vehicle and the fire started immediately after the green smoke was present. the dealer and manufacturer have not been notified. the vehicle identification number is unavailable. the current and failure mileages were approximately 75,000. updated 10/21/09 *bf the consumer stated when she turned the ac switch to off, smoke began to emit from the vehicle. the consumer stated even though the car was off, the ac was still on. updated 10/20/09

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the key seized in the ignition and they were unable to shut the engine down. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 130,000. updated 08/19/14*lj updated 08/23/2017*ct

I am the original owner of a 2003 chevrolet cavalier. it has 120000 miles on it. a couple of years ago i noticed my gas gage seemed to be stuck, the car had approx 90000 miles on it at the time. a couple of months later my rpm gauge started doing the same thing. about a year after that my speedometer started to also go haywire followed by my oil gauge. my whole instrument cluster no longer works. it has not been fixed because i can't afford it and it has not been recalled. but after looking at how many cavalier have had this same problem i believe it should be recalled. *tr

All gauges work erratically or not at all. lots of other people having similar problem. read there stories here: http://www.carcomplaints.com/chevrolet/cavalier/2005/electrical/gauges_have_gone_haywire.shtml. *tr

While driving on the highway, i looked at my speedometer and it was not moving above 35 miles per hour. i pulled over and saw that the speedometer did not go to zero; it stayed at 35 miles per hour. i turned my car off and on, and the speedometer decreased to 30 miles per hour. after turning my car off and on six to seven more times, the speedometer finally went back to zero. after that, i began driving again. the speedometer worked fine. the next day, the speedometer got stuck at 50 miles per hour. without pulling over and turning the car off, the speedometer began working again, however, it showed i was driving at 100 miles per hour, when i was driving with highway traffic at about 50-55 miles per hour. this happens just about every day during the summer months. when it is cold, this tends to happen less frequently, maybe once a month. the car has been taken to two or three mechanics and each time i am told that there are no problems. the computer says there are no problems with the car. this problem, when first noticed, could have created a serious hazard if the speedometer was stuck at 55 miles per hour, and the driver exited to a city road at 30 miles per hour. the driver would hit their brakes, thinking they were driving fast, possibly causing a collision. when the speedometer is not working there is no real way to tell the exact speed that you are driving. general motors was called the day of the problem and a report regarding the problem was created. *tr

My speedometer is going crazy and is at the 6 o'clock position. next the temperature gauge went all the up and both of these stayed after turning off the car. the car is also make a strange noise. *tr

The instrument cluster on my 2003 chevy cavalier went crazy just before 40, 000 miles. sometimes it works, sometimes the gauges take turns working or not working, sometimes nothing works. some days i don't know how fast i'm going, how hot my car's running, or how much gas i have....not to mention rpms. this is very unsafe, and at 40k, i feel it's a bit premature. *tr

Vehicle instrument panel cluster no longer works accurately. started with tachometer but now effect all gauges - fuel, speedometer, tachometer and temperature. electrical outlet on driver side also doesn't work and dome light turns on sporadically. the failure is now constant and i am unable to tell how much fuel i have, if my vehicle is overheating or how fast i am traveling. i will have to replace the entire panel to the cost of $800! *tr

My speedometer was acting up for a year. while i was driving it would stop. when i would come to a complete stop it was stuck on 65mph. made driving hazardous not knowing exactly how fast i was driving.if i let it sit for awhile and cool of i would start it back up and the speedometer meter would go down about 10 mph so i would beat 55mph instead of 65mph. everytime i would start the car it would go down further. then it would work properly for a few months w/o acting up and then start all over again. this went on for about a year. when i finally had it replaced it completely stopped working the needle registered 110 mph and was not coming back down. i had to wait 2 weeks before the dealership was able to replace the instrument panel b/c the had to order the part they were completely out of stock. they told me they've had to replace the ip in alot of vehicles lately. *tr

January 14,2009 my car almost caught on fire due to acid from my battery liking into the battery pan. i had to unhook the battery and take it out of the car. my step son was driving by my house when my cars lights were on andthe car had been sitting for about 3 hours. i went outside and the lights were very dim. i tried to start it up and the car started smoking and i immediately turned the car off. there were sparks so i had to put out the small flame and remove the battery. i had the car towed to parker pontiac buick gmc that same day. the small fire burned through my windshield washer fluid line the cost to me for repair of the small fire was about 487.00. *tr

I was checking to see if there was a recall on a 2003 chevy cavalier fuel pump because i was traveling on the highway and the fuel pump went out costing me almost $800. also the motor for two of my power windows have went out. *tr

The gauges in these cars go crazy i didn't spend money to fix it instead i went online and found a ton f people this happened to the gauge cluster in the cars go haywire and you can not tell. some go in the speedometer mine went in the temp gauge and the fuel gauge now people have been to mechanics and they can not find what is wrong with them mine first went about 4 months ago and the only way for me to reset my gauges is to pull the fuse out and reset it otherwise it will not reset back to e or 0 and the thermo gauge has gone into my speedo needle so then i can not tell how fast i am going at first i thought it was just me and no big deal but then i went online and found so many people wit this problem why should we have to fix something that gm obviously didn't get right i don't think its right at all especially because its with alot of people now the gauges go crazy all the time not just when it rains or its cold but constantly i am pulling the fuses out. *tr

Fuel pump failure; car just died on the turnpike; had to be towed to mechanic. car was under warranty; speedometer doesn't work; its moves all around and is not accurate; still not fixed never happens when the mechanic has it; car has trouble starting; have to crank it 2-5 times to turn on. still not working mechanic cant find anything wrong with it. *tr

My speedometer stopped working properly. the needle does not return to zero at stop or when the car is turned off. it registers in excess of 110 mph when the car is in motion. this seems to be a very common problem with all gm cars and trucks made between 2002 and 2005. gm offers free repair for trucks and suv's, but not all dealerships know of the directive since it has not been publicized. all car buyers must pay for the fix - which exceeds $500 - because gm won't acknowledge the problem exists in the cars. *tr