Problems with 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

I have had my used chevy cavalier 2004 car for almost a year. as i have been driving the engine has just stopped. this has happened 4 times in the time span of 5 months. no one ( auto shops) can find the issue. they have zero answers. this is dangerous and has caused accidents. i would be banned from the internet if i said what i really want to say to chevy. the most recent time this happened was yesterday...aug 3rd 2017.

Cluster panel temp gauge was fluctuating now the gauge is staying in one spot so have no idea if temp is good or not. what if something is wrong with the engine i will not know without this working. have taken to two garages they both say its the cluster panel. stationary and while driving ,gage stays the same.this started about a month ago with only 68,500 miles on it. *tr

My cluster stopped working a while ago. since i didn't get a recall on it i was unaware of people did complain about it until my car caught on fire where the cluster is and all the wires are totally burned up. i am furious. i read other complaints and some people had the same problem. i could not read all of them so, i don't know how many caught on fire. thank god i didn't get injured or death. chevrolet should be held responsible for this. please help.

Speedometer has stopped functioning. safety issue because i can no longer tell how fast i am driving. *tr

My temperature gauge has malfunctioned and is stuck at 195 degrees when i turn my car on. it then rises just as normal but stops at 260 degrees which is in the red zone

Instrument panel does not work. therefore do not know the speed in which is being traveled, temperature of engine, amount of fuel or anything. check guages light comes on and goes off like every week. have no clue why it stopped working and personal mechanic is appalled at the issue.

2 issues. first, temperature gauge read higher and higher each time the car was started until the needle went all the way around to the speedometer and kept the speedometer from reading the speed. entire gauge cluster was replaced. second issue was passenger front seat belt would periodically lock, not allowing the passenger to use the seat belt.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the instrument panel failed to function properly. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage and vin were not available.

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. *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

For several years now, the interior light has been coming on intermittently when i hit a bump in the road. last year i went shopping, got back into my car & started it, or rather tried to start it, but it shut down quite quickly. thinking it was a fluke, i tried to start it several more times with the same results. not even pushing on the gas could keep it going. after towing the car & having it sit around for a while before someone could finally find the electrical issue, it was 'repaired'. the issue was the wiring for the ignition switch. the repair completed was a cheaper route than replacing the actual switch. what i didn't know until too late last year was the 'service w/wrench' and 'theft system' lights were the warning that the switch was about to go out. the interior light has been doing the same thing again & the theft & service lights came on again last wednesday, 7/15/15, and now i know i have no choice but to replace the ignition seitch. last year i contacted gm but they only wanted to make a note about it. i'm sure that as time goes on others will have issues too. how can wires come loose or break behind a steering wheel? plugs, hoses & things like that i can fully understand, but not something that is hidden & supposedly safe behind a steering wheel

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. *js

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. *tr

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. *tr

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. *js

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.

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? *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

Car shut off no power steering gauges shut off everything turned off but lights stayed on and flashers worked. *tr

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. *tr

Speedometer stop working. *tr

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. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet cavalier. while driving approximately 30 mph over a bump in the road, the vehicle began to shake. the contact also noticed that the vehicle failed to start properly on multiple occasions. there were no warning lights illuminated; however, the interior lights would not illuminate. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

Speedometer does not register mph, stays at 20 mph when at rest and goes up when car is driven but unknown speed person is driving at. also the temp gauge needle is not even on the area to register the temp of the engine. this is a safety issue and should be recalled. i have heard from my local mechanic that this is a common thing & i have read several posts on line similar to my complaint. please recall this part so that everyone driving this type of vehicle is safe by knowing the temp of their engine & knowing their driving speed. *tr

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. *tr

There is a well known problem with the horn after time/wear with the 2003-2005 chevrolet cavalier. there is a issue with the contact in the steering column to active the vehicles horn. the problem is caused by the rotating ribbon circuit contact under the steering wheel having a broken filament for the horn circuit, the part is known as a clock spring contact. the horn will not work by pressing either button on steering wheel, but will sound as part of vehicle security system by pressing key fob. this issue can lead to accidents, and injury. this is a know problem reported by many vehicle owners on different forums, databases, and searches. please fix or recall this part chevrolet, to prevent accident, injury, and death. *tr

My 2004 chevy cavalier speedometer quit working. this seems to be a common problem with this vehicle. a recall is in order! *tr

Speedometer is unreliable. sometimes it shows faster, sometimes it shows slower. sticks in place at times. next, the temp gauge made me think my car was running very hot and i bought a $25 temperature sensor first, that didn't help, so i was going to replace thermostat. then i learned about this being a problem with thousands of these cars, so i am not doing anything to it until there is a recall. i'll use a gps to tell my speed. i have had two speeding tickets over this because i had no idea the thing was not working right until it got really bad and started sticking in one place for days. each ticket will give me two points on my license because of this. my insurance will go up. also, i don't get paid for the time i take off to go to traffic court over these tickets. i am 65 years old and never had a ticket until these two. thanks, chevy. *tr

The speedometer sticks and does not report accurate vehicle speed. above a certain speed the gauge will freeze and be unusable. this happened without warning while i was driving on the highway and could easily have caused an accident. this is a known safety issue on other gmc cars from the same time period (mine is a 2004). in addition to the speedometer, the tachometer and the fuel gauge are also completely inoperable. the whole instrument cluster is defective. it is incredibly dangerous and expensive to repair, and should be covered under the same recall as the other chevrolet products. *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

My speedometer stopped working. apparently i'm not the only one this has happened to. i've been reading a forum on http://www.carcomplaints.com/chevrolet/cavalier/2004/accessories-interior/speedometer_stopped_working.shtml and between the mileage range of 30,000 and 50,000 this has happened to signifigant amount of people by no fault of their own. this is extremely dangerous for people who have no way to afford getting it fixed and chevrolet should be liable to fix this issue. they cannot expect to charge upwards of $500.00 to repair something that was poorly manufactured. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet cavalier. while examining the vehicle the contact noticed that the instrument panel gauges were not functioning. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the instrument panel would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the current mileage was 61,000 and the failure mileage was 60,650. updated03/15/12 *bf the consumer stated the problem started with the gas gauge. which started off as an intermittent problem and became worse. the gas gauge needle then started blocking the temperature gauge, which caused that needle not to work properly. the gas gauge and temperature needle were facing the steering wheel. the consumer was informed the entire instrument cluster would have to be replaced at a cost of $650 plus labor. updated 05/30/12

The speedometer shows incorrect speed while moving or speed while parked. *tr

The cluster on my 2004 chevy cavalier stopped working while i was on a road trip, i have done much research the past few days and came to the conclusion that the cluster in the 2004-05 chevy cavaliers are defective due to many other people having the same problem. this is a real safety issue because i don't know how much gas my car has, how fast im going and if my cars temperature is to high, if y'all could get to the bottom of this issue it will be greatly appreciated. *tr

It was sometime in nov. 2011 when the speedometer stopped working for no reason. every once in a while it will register the speed but it is not correct. i have seen a lot of complaints about this same problem with the same car model. and from what i have learned online this can be a very expensive repair. there really should be a recall on this part. all drivers need to know what their speed is in order to be safe and responsible driver. *tr

The speed cluster acts up from time to time. sometimes the mph gauge doesn't read or is not accurate or sticks and sometimes the heat gauge doesn't work and sometimes the gas gauge doesn't work. sometimes i get a brake light that lights up and sometimes the abs light comes on. the entire cluster acts up from time to time with all different things wrong. *tr

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*cn

Speedometer stuck at 60mph. its not that old of a car and only has 58 thousand miles on it this should be a recall with all the people complaining the same thing happened with the low miles ridiculous! *kb

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. *tr

I have a 2004 chevy cavalier and the speedometer sticks. it say"s i am doing 80mph when i am actually doing 40mph. and when i am parked it say"s i am doing 50mph. *kb

I was driving down the street and my entire cluster went out. i spoke to chevy customer service and they stated it was a recall, but the recall date expired. however, i was not notified. *tr

Speedometer first began to malfunction, followed by all other gauges. no gauges work properly now. speed is unknown, rpms is unknown, amount of gas in tank is unknown, proper function of engine is unknown. *tr

Dash cluster abnormal operation, in regards to fuel gauge and speedometer. speedometer is inaccurate says i am currently traveling more the 110 mph when vehicle is at a state of rest. fuel gauge also inaccurate sticks when engine is shut off, when restarted the fuel gauge moves in excess of its limits pinning against temperature gauge. during warmer weather the fuel gauge doesn't work and neither will the tachometer. very disappointed. contacted gm and was given the run around. customer care noted that no one has complained about this defect on these vehicles. very unsafe, don't know exactly how much fuel i have and have resorted in using a gps for speed reference. recall needs to be issued! *tr

Gas gauge malfunction 1month ago, went half way to the right of full upon fill up, have been keeping track of gas by trip miles.this fuel gauge is halting the temp gauge from rising to normal. today 1/17/11 started car this morning and speed gauge is pointing straight down to steering wheel. proceeded to drive 8 minutes to work all the time the dash was going crazy the mileage spot had the word error on it,& every light was on, the dashboard- all of them. apparently this has been a problem for sometime with this car. gm is aware and doing nothing.i have found out by looking it up on the internet tonight. through my research im guessing i need a dash cluster at the cost of 500.00. i feel a speedometer should last for at least 10 yrs, my car is 6yrs old. i bought this car brand new and have followed the recommended service. *tr

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. *tr

2004 chevrolet cavalier. consumer states temp gauge looses its bearings and ends up over in the speedometer area and speedometer will not go pass 11 mph *tgw