Problems with 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. on several occasions, while driving, the instrument panel failed to operate as intended. the contact stated that the fuel gauge, engine temperature gauge, and tachometer were inoperable. the vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. the dealer was not notified. the manufacturer was made aware of the failures. the approximate failure mileage was 170,000.

Gauges for temperature do not work, sometimes reads below zero, sometimes slightly above there is no change in reading whether cold, or running for several hours - at any speed speed gauge works intermittently, sometimes recording 100 mph, when the car is doing no more that 20-30 mph. at other times, it seems to be running about the speed limit, when compared with other traffic, then record 100+mph.at other times, when going with traffic, the gauge reads 0mph there is no way to know if the car is overheating, or what speed the car is going. this has been the case for about two months, and i was told it was the 'setter', and would cost me $900. which i did not have. it is very upsetting .

All gauges don't work. speedometer,fuel,temperature.

There is a known issue with the gauges in the 2005 chevrolet cavalier causing them to malfunction or not function at all intermittently. this is a safety hazard because you do not know how much fuel you have, the temperature of your engine, or your speed when the gauges fail.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. while the vehicle was parked or while driving, the fuel and temperature gauges failed to display the correct information. there were no warning indicators illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 120,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. while driving 25 mph, all the instrument panel gauges illuminated without warning. it was diagnosed that the electronic instrument cluster failed and needed to be repaired. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. when attempting to drive the vehicle, the fuel, temperature, and speedometer gauges failed to work. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the instrument cluster gauges failed and needed to replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failures. the failure mileage was 53,000. the vin was not available.

The speedometer has failed to register any speed and is stuck in a position past the highest speed on the gage face. the tachometer needle jumps around also leaving you no way to judge your speed. i just bought the car. the previous owner said it failed some time ago while he was driving it. i am pacing other cars while i am waiting for repair parts to get here.

Already complained here once. now my car fuel gage is broke gos all the way over and hits on my temp gauge every so offen. dont really know how much gas i have in it, but least can go 300-365 miles. depending on how much i drive. i dont think that it should break after only 41000 miles. last time i wrote on here it was my temp gauge that hit on my speedometer.. think before long all will go out. wish someone would do something for these cars, kind exp to keep fixing. paid cash for the other one to be fixed. only drive the car once in awhile. its not an old car so. not very safe car as far as i am concerned, dont have the money to go buy a new one........

The front passenger side electric window does not work will not roll down will not roll up. the rear-driver-side electric window does not work will not roll down will not roll up, the rear passenger side electric window does not work will not roll down will not roll up. *tr

Started vehicle all gauges except rpm stopped working read online and saw how common this issue is with this car and was advised to file a complaint about it here in hopes of a recall. *tr

My mom was driving the car as normal down the road one day and all the guages in the entire dash suddenly stopped working. some came back on and off a couple weeks. some never did. but after a couple months all stopped working and now nothing works. no heat guage, no fuel guage, no temp guage, no speedometer, and no fuel guage.

Speedometer needle is showing wrong speed, randomly shows all over the dial. *tr

Speedometer gauge does not work. only way it works is to take out the fuse and reinsert the fuse. fuse box is located on inside left driver side dash. i take out the fourth fuse on the bottom (10a ) i have to do this everytime i stop the engine. this is a safety issue since one does not know how fast/slow one is driving. sometimes the speedometer shows 0 mph sometimes it will show 120+ mph. based upon my internet research this is a very common problem. it is unfortunate that someone will have to be injured before a recall. i brought the automobile to a car mechanic who indicated i needed a new cluster. however, he could not promise me that it would fix the problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. while driving 20 mph, the speedometer fractured along with the horn and the front passenger door latch. the vehicle was repaired by the contact. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. the failure mileage was 56,000.

Temp gauge tends to stick in the middle and will not go down after i shut off my car when i drive more than 30miles. after a few hours i can usually get it back down but one time it went all the way over to mph area and then that needle got stuck under which i had no clue how fast i was going because the other needle. needles to say i barely drive anywhere outside of town because of the issue. *tr

A short while after i bought this car i noticed all of my gauges went out. i was nervous to even drive the car because i didn't know how much gas i had or how fast i was going. now i'm constantly having trouble when iget gas. even when i know for sure that i need gas after pumping for a few seconds, it never fails that the pump will stop as if my tank is full. this morning my check engine light came on. i take very good care of this car and all of these malfunctions seemingly one right after the other make me question the safety of this vehicle. *tr

Gadge cluster doesn't display any correct information. at first the tach started reading incorrectly, ex. 4200 rpm with engine off/ reading does not change with engine speed (rpm). next the temp gadge , ex. 200+ degrees when starting after 12+ hours engine still cold to the touch. later the fuel gadge, reading changes and fluctuates moment to moment. also the interior lights and security system seem to be involved. alarm goes off spontaneously regardless if it has been enabled or not. interior lights sometimes function sometimes not. seems to be a major defect in the computer or electrical harness as individual components test ok. with some online research this seems to be a very common problem with this specific vehicle,

The weather was in the 10s and single digits. i was traveling in pair, we did not exceed 35 miles an hour as visibility was very poor due to snow and winds. i noticed my speedometer was accelerating, believed my tires were spinning on ice. i come to a stop and realized my speedometer was still going 60 miles an hour. drove the rest of the way home following my friend who was previously following me. the mph needle made its way to point straight down. i wouldn't have expressed concern if other chevy cavalier owners had told me to, because it has happened to them too. i am a new owner of this car, bought it from a dealership so i don't know that how well taken care of this car was. i pride myself in taking extra car of my vehicles. i do not think the speedometer should have failed unless it was because of operator misuse, and i have not misused my vehicle. *tr

The temperature gauge needle has gone so far to the right (and not registering correct temperature) that it interferes with the needle on the speedometer gauge therefore, the speedometer needle can only register up to 15 mph when you are actually going at least 45 to 55 mph. i have read the other complaints on your site and i would like to know how many you have to receive regarding this same problem before a recall will be issued? is everyone at nhtsa and chevrolet/gm just waiting in hopes that soon all of these cars will be off the road therefore, they will no longer be an issue? i truly believe this to be a safety issue, not knowing how fast or slow you are traveling and/or whether your car is burning up or not. this issue really needs to be addressed as soon as possible as i don't see these cars going away anytime soon, people are just continuing to drive them as they are, with the gauge problems. how many people will have to be injured or die in an accident because of this problem that everyone chooses to ignore before something will be done about it?? they cost too much to repair and it usually does not fix the problem. we own two of these cars, the other one is a 2004 and in addition to the speedometer not working properly the gas gauge is not working either! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the speedometer and both turn signal lights failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

Over the winter i noticed my rpm gauge was not work properly then two months ago my temp gauge started acting up, then yesturday my speedometer started doing the same thing. checked online today to look into fixing the problem and found out this is a recurring problem in other 2005 cavaliers. dont understand why if so many peolpe are having the same problem why there hasnt been a recall on the make. *tr

I have had some of the issues others have mentioned. twice all the gauges went dead-stayed in the positions they were in when the ignition is off. twice the horn didn't work- had to roll down the window and yell! when the gauges went the first time, i stumbled on the fix. i'd removed the fuse to test it-tested ok. put it back in, now all gauges worked fine. i realized that the two problems are related-both get power through the fuse panel. the dash vibrates so much that these two in particular work loose. now i remove the fuse panel cover every couple of months and push down on all fuses and relays. problem solved. to the people with the "[xxx]" temperature gauge, good luck on that one. i hope this info helps. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The speedometer would not move from 50 mph. later in the day, the speedometer was moving up and down erratically. *tr

I just bought a 2005 cavalier from a private party and a couple days after i had it i noticed that my speedometer said i was going 110 mph while i was on freeway my heart dropped i immediately let off the accelerator to reduce speed. i began to observe that others were passing me so i got off on the next exit. when i came to a complete stop the speedometer read 55 mph. i turned the car off and restarted it hoping that would fix the problem but it didn't. since then my gas gauge and temp gauge has been reading improperly. i tried to turn off the car and restart it a few times to try to get it back to normal but seems to make it worse. what cab i do to fix this since its a very common problem and chevy won't fix it even though it could cause an accident. i'm a parent and i am supposed to put trust in this car and company to keep my children safe?!?! please recall and fix this problem. thank you *tr

I have a used 2005 chevy cavalier and the cluster panel is not working properly. the gas gauge doesn't give me an accurate gas amount in the car and the mph works sometime, but often than not, it isn't accurate. i checked with gmc and they say there is no recall to replace it and the cost is $700, which i cannot afford on a fixed income. can something be done. i know there have been problems with cluster panels in other gmc vehicles. *tr

My daughter was driving the car when all of the gauges on the instrument panel started moving up and down, over and over. this included the temperature gauge, gas gauge, and the speedometer. my daughter could not determine how fast she was driving and it was a distraction that could have resulted in an accident. same thing happened about 2-3 years ago, and it cost me about $500 to replace step motors. *tr

I just bought a 2005 chevy cavalier with 60k miles on it, one owner, and never missed a maintenance appointment. the car is immaculate. a few days after i purchased it the speedometer got stuck at 18mph and then dropped to 0 when parked. all other gauges work except the rpm's ... neither the speedometer or tachometer has moved an inch since they dropped to 0. it is a serious safety concern. i went online to try to look up what the problem may be, and instead found blogs where 1000's of people are complaining of the same issue, same story on their 05 cavaliers. this definitely should be considered a recall! i am not sure how much this is going to cost, but it obviously is a continuous problem for most 2005 chevy cavalier owners, and chevy should take responsibility! *tr

My 2005 chevy cavalier speedometer (not digital) and rpm gauge doesn't work at all from time to time. it either shows i'm doing 0 m.p.h. or it goes past 110 m.p.h and stays there even when the car is shut off. it hasn't shown the correct speed in which i'm traveling at anytime in the past 6 months or so. i've had to download a speedometer gauge app on my smart phone to get an idea of how fast i am going and even that is untrustworthiness. i've looked online for similar complaints and apparently there are multiple sources for the years between 2003 and 2006 experiencing the exact same problem. i've called multiple chevrolet dealerships about this problem and was told that it's a known problem and chevrolet most likely will never recall this defective equipment and was quoted a price that ranges from $700 to $1200 because the whole instrument cluster would need to be replaced. i for one do not think the consumer should bear the brunt of this cost as it is the manufacturer's (chevrolet in this case) problem who is responsible for installing faulty equipment from the assembly line. from all the online posts and others complaints about this problem i've seen that date back to 2007, i cannot imagine why this problem hasn't been addressed at all. if this isn't considered a safety issue as no one can really know for sure how fast they are going, i don't know what is. *tr

I was on my way home today and think god my husband was driving..my gauges are not working on the car which is does from time to time. we merge on a major highway and the gas pedal accelerated and would not stop it just keep getting faster,, my brakes would not even stop it or the emergency brake either..we had to run some red lights because we could not stop it so we could try to get home without crashing the car to stop it but we could slow it down putting it in neutral but it was burning up the brakes and transmission. finally we got in front my house and had to put it in park fast just to stop it. the gas pedal only accelerates and the brakes don't even work on it...we could of died today!!! i'm so glad i was not driving it..i would of had to call 911 and have the cops box me in to stop. i messed up my brakes and transmission on it just to stop it today. i went online to check for any recalls and i see that people had problems but no recalls...i saw my life flash for my eyes today and put my trust in my car everyday thinking that they made it right..??? *tr

Speedometer cluster broke and cost $400.00 to be rebuilt. a service report was issued to the dealership that this is a common problem. after searching the web for complaints, i found there has been thousands of complaints on the same issue on all gm vehicles. why is there no recall? *tr

1st issue was the speedometer started malfunctioning off & on. it shows going much faster than car really is going. doesn't happen all the time. 2nd issue was warning light which a station told me that the code is for a malfunction in the fuel line, it shows a major leak, but repairmen could find no real leak. warning light does go off & on, so not on all the time. 3rd issue was off & on the front driver & passenger windows start rolling down or up and then just quit, but start working again after shutting off engine a couple times. 4th issue was the rpm meter started doing what the speedometer had been doing. 5th issue is the passenger side wiper stopped working. that's the only one that hasn't "fixed" itself. all the others are off & on working or not working. the wiper was the latest incident with all of them starting in the past 6 months. *tr

As i was driving in a residential area near my residence, i noticed the speedometer stuck @ 30mph even after i stopped for a traffic light. my son removed the fuse & then re-inserted it. speedometer then went back to zero so i thought it was a loose fuse. same thing happened several days later and speedometer stuck @ 50mph. my son removed & re-inserted the fuse and speedometer went back to zero. but a few days ago while driving in a 30mph zone, the speedometer eventually stuck @ 110mph. this appears to be a very common problem with this make & model of vehicle. i'm surprised that a recall has not occurred because this is definitely a safety issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet caviler. the contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the entire instrument panel failed and became dark. the contact stated that she restarted the vehicle and the failure recurred. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified and stated that the vehicle was not included in a recall. the failure mileage was 63,100.

Fuel gauge, temp gauge, tach, and speedometer are not working properly. these are common problems on these cars as you are surely aware of. gm should be forced to recall these vehicles and repair them. these are serious safety issues. thanks *tr

The vehicle dash board gauges started to rapidly fluctuate from minimum to maximum values as i was traveling down the road at 60 miles/hour. the tachometer was the first gauge to malfunction and does not work 95% of the time. the second gauge to malfunction, later on in the week, was the fuel gauge. the needle will display a full tank of gas at one moment and a near empty tank minutes later, proving to be unreliable to estimate the fuel level. shortly after, the temperature gauge malfunctioned and moved from left to right never settling at a stationary temperature. i fear, through personal research, that the speedometer will be the next gauge to malfunction, making it unsafe to determine speed since the tachometer is already not working. *tr

The gauges are failing to operate. this started with the gas gauge and is now affecting the temp gauge. i took it to a dealer for testing and it reset itself when plugged into the computer for diagnosis and it also does this if you disconnect the battery for a few minutes but very quickly stops working again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the speedometer malfunctioned and was providing erroneous readings. the vehicle was taken to a local repair shop, who diagnosed that the instrument panel was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 270,000.

Speedometer quit working, now i have no idea how fast i'm going, can never tell if i'm speeding or going too slow. that isn't safe is it.... gm needs to issue a recall to their cavalier speedometers before someone gets hurt seriously! they also need to quit selling junk!!!! *tr

The contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated the instrumental cluster electrical system failed and caused the speedometer to provide incorrect reading when contact drove 55mph the speedometer read 30mph. the speedometer was not replaced. the contact also wanted to stated that the fuel gauge failed but was replaced. the approximate failure mileage was 83,000 and the current mileage was 99,211. li

While driving both the speedometer and the temperature gauge failed, temperature gauge is now stuck showing vehicle is overheating (it is not), speedometer moves all over and registers either a speed over 100 mph when on the road or registers either 20mph or 60mph while sitting still at start-up. due to this issue i have no idea what speed i am going and must gauge speed by what other drivers are doing around me. *tr

The temperature gauge has stopped working as well as the speedometer and rpm gauge. the gas gauge is the only one still working reliably. *tr

I purchased a 2005 chevy cavalier new in december of 2004 and in march of 2013 the gauges stopped working. they would randomly work one or the other now all my gauges have stopped working all together. i have no clue how fast i'm going or how many rpms i'm using or if the car is overheating or not! *tr

The speedometer was the first gauge to not work. it is now stuck at 45mph at all times. now my gas gauge does not work. it even interferes with the temperature gauge. now the rpm gauge is starting not to work. some days it works fine and other days it sits at 5 thousand. the temperature gauge is the only gauge that works. *tr

I loved my 2005 chevy cavalier when i first bought it back in 2006. after a year of driving my speedometer, as well as all the other gauges. now my window on the passenger side will not go back up. chevrolet has really put a bad taste in my mouth and i plan to never purchase any vehicle from chevrolet again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. while driving at an unknown speed, the speedometer displayed an incorrect reading. the vehicle was taken to a dealer. the technician diagnosed that the stepper motor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the contact stated that four years later, while driving at an unknown speed, the fuel gauge malfunctioned showing an incorrect reading. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 29,111.

The speedometer is not working it is all over the gauge, it freezes sometimes and other times it is pass the 120mph mark. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cavalier. the contact stated that the speedometer and fuel gauge failed. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure mileage. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 45,000 and the current mileage was 59,000.

Speedometer stops working and stays on 100 car only has 35,000 miles, also the power steering line broke open and the emergency brake at times pops onto my tire causing my car to slam forward and then it releases. i replaced the brake line and the power steering line but the main problem is the speedometer /cluster

Last december my 2005 cavalier experienced a speedometer malfunction while i was traveling on the highway. i was in an area where the speed zone changed from 50 mph to 65 mph. the speedometer registered my increase in speed fine. when i slowed down, the speedometer stayed in place. over the past 7 months my dashboard gauges (fuel, temp, speed, rpm) all malfunction. sometimes they reset themselves. most of the time i'm never sure how fast i'm going or how much gas i have. my engine temp will read off the charts even on a cool morning after it has sat still all night. although this started last december, the problems continue to this day. i have poured so much money into other electrical issues with this car already, i'm convinced it is not worth one more dime to fix the instrument cluster. i've spent hundreds on power window motors that continuously malfunction. the rear right blinker has consistently gone haywire as well. i had resigned myself to the fact that i was one in a thousand who happened to get an electrical lemon. after reading all the complaints from other cavalier owners, however, i realize that chevrolet in 2005 played a sick joke on the whole lot of us. i have owned several imported cars, mostly honda's and toyota, and have never been as displeased. gm should be ashamed. the car drives great. i was very excited about it when i bought it as i liked the look and feel of it on the road. i'll never buy another chevrolet. *tr