Hey guys..need some help here...I used to post alot on this board when I had my sunfire and everyone was always so helpful.
My wife has a 99 Cav 2.2L. About 2 weeks ago her dummy light that looks like a battery came on the dash and in a few miles the car died. Started back up and drove home now problem. Owners manual says that's a charging system problem. Took battery to auto zone and they said it was shot...so i bought a new one. Once new battery was in took it back to auto zone to check alternator output. It was shot. Bought new alternator and battery...and everything was great.
about 3 days ago my wife and i swapped cars in the driveway. she moved the cavalier took her key out and we switched places cuz i wanted to drive and i put my key in to start it and nothing happend. The car was dead, dome light was really dim, cd player and radio wouldn't work.
i took the new battery out and ran it on my charger and it said it was completely charged which blew my mind. I put the battery back on and the car started up fine. I assumed maybe I didn't have the positive on good or corrosion. I took off the positive terminal red sleeve and it was coated all in the inside with green corroded chunks. I took a drill with a wire brush and got the copper terminal shining and the car started great.
Couple hours later after driving around shopping and stuff we started the car and put it in reverse and the car stalled out???? So i started it and stopped it like a 10 times with all the power AC on and everything and I couldn't get it to stall again. However, yesterday driving it with 4 people in the car I noticed when stopping at red lights and while stopped the car would shudder a little bit like the RPMs or idle was dropping pretty low. Since the car doesn't have a tach i have no clue. No problems ever before changin the alt and new battery. I had the new alternator output tested fine. Battery is AC Delco, alt is generic. I thought about getting the fuel filter replaced, but it just seems the idle problem has happed since the battery change. Read another post of someone changed the battery and her idle when lower.
Thanks,
Robert O.
Did you also clean the Negative cable at both ends?
Alont
I also brused the negative end that connects to the battery until it was gleaming. The grounded end that connected to the fuse box I left be as it. It didn't look that bad, at least the same condition as the other exposed grounds on the car like on the starter..etc. I did wiggle it when the car was on an nothing happen. I really thing the initial problem was caused by the chuncks of corrosion on the positive terminal and I don't think I had the battery secured enough as it could move on the tray. I have since cleaned the terminal and tighted down the battery clamp securely.
I mean how costly would it be for GM to put a goddamn battery guage or even a tach in the car.
QUESTION....does the PCM register error codes without setting the check engine light off. I was going to go to autozone or advanced parts preferrably and have them check for codes, but the engine light never went off.
Thanks,
Rob
