Hi guys!

First of all, I have a 2003 Cavalier with Eco. It has 86000 kilometers on it. I give it an extremely good maintenance, fuel filter changed 2 months ago, oil changes every 4500 km etc...

I was at a stop sign waiting for a pedestrian to cross the road when for no apparent reason, the engine just stalled. It restarted well and still does but what could be the cause of this??? I went to the dealership and they said it was normal, wich I told them was BS once again. Any ideas guys??

On a side note... This car is the biggest POS car every to come out of GM and any other car company lol. Just to give you an idea here is what I went trough with it and I might forget stuff too.

--19000 km : Alternator belt spliting in half for no reason. Dealer changed belt.
--23000 km : Alternator belt spliting in half again. Dealer changed belt of other company.
--28000 km : Alternator belt spliting in half again. Dealer changed belt plus bender. Finally problem fixed.
--30000 km : Major water leaking in trunk. Dealer recarpeted whole trunk.
--34000km : Front windows scratches by themselves while going up or down. Dealer replaced windows.
--36000km : Front windows scratches by themselves while going up or down again. Dealer replaced windows and rubbers.
--36000km :Front windows scratches by themselves while going up or down again. Dealer tells me its normal. No it's not, I never done any gravel road not even an inch. By the way it cost me 2 tintings and now I still cant have tinted windows because it gets all fuked up.Problem not fixed..

--40something km :Heater blew. Dealer replaced it.
--59700 km : Starter makes a "grinding" noise when starting. Dealer says it's normal.
--60200 km : Starter dead... I went to go renting movies with my girlfriend, it was 10pm and -20 degres out. Everything worked good, heater, radio and all except for the starter who is not working. Cost me a 120$ towing + a 400$ starter, because the warranty stopped at 60000 km. Not bad for a starter that was "normal".

--71000km : Both spring in the drum brakes "snapped" (WTF) causing the brakes to seize and overheat. Drums all crooked, brake cylinders overheated,brake pads also and had to be changed. 400$+ bill. No towing this time, I was to mad to stop the car.

Now 86000 km and engine stalls for no apparent reason. The dealer ship told me that the big red wire going to the battery (My audio system) is the cause!??? Is this anoter BS or what??? Battery and alternator got tested and their good as new.

I'm just tired of getting upset because of this car, I'm also tired of fighting with the dealership. I think and told them also that they are the biggest bull@!#$ters I ever seen. Am I right or not?

Thank you and sorry for this long post!

To me it sounds like you may have picked up a lemon. Thats a lot of crap to have to deal with on a 2003, especially the water in the truck which boggles me. I dunno, maybe the robot on shift that day came down with a computer virus, or found out that his wife was sleeping with a calculator...

I have a buddy who returned his 2006 Cobalt to the dealer 9 times before having to give his car up, and I also know older cavys to roll over a million kms. I don't think a lot of thought are put into our cars since they are of a lower line. I noticed trim in my g/fs 05 z24 last night that wasn't even trimmed properly, like a piece of plastic you would expect to find in a dollar store.

But that in itself is the benefit of our cars... you could buy a 2.2 stock for 12,500, put 7,500 into it and have it take any 30,000 stock vehicle out there. Just takes time and know-how.

Far as the stalling engine, first thing I would look at is the fuel filter (if you haven't done so already, now would be a good time to change it anyways). OR, you could have had a little water in your gas. This IMO would be the most likely cause seeing how it started up again.

Remember, dealers are like insurance companies, they will do anything to save a buck. Reference the big red wire, they are just grasping onto something that's after market to take the onus off themselves.

Good luck man, how it works out.

T




-----> Fast? I can beat a Camaro in a free fall... <-----

Sorry, missed the fuel filter change... still could be clogged tho...




-----> Fast? I can beat a Camaro in a free fall... <-----

its the ecu. i have an 03 also and i did research b4 buying it. i think it was some website like edmunds that had a list of problems for each different year cavalier, and any other car.unfortunatly its a pricy little problem. about $400-500, other issues were the factory brake pads needing replacement very early.

u wouldnt happened to have had any trunk latch problems or power window switches MELTING IN YOUR FACE would you?
my car has 106000 iv had it for a month, second owner, ive spent more on duct tape than dealer payments.

good thing is, mine was 6000 and while im in college its a great little go-kart i can pack people into. and... i wont feel bad at all when i pull the engine and give the rest to pick'n'pull.

honestly dude, if your looking for a daily driver. get a toyota. those things are indestructable. my gf went 25thousand with no oil change. compression chekc says 112 psi average. with 180000 miles.. not bad.

i heard the stalling is very hard to duplicate so selling your car to a poor unsuspecting fool on Ebay would be your best bet.

thats my opinion.



Listen F***ers. FASTERTHANAHONDA is a joke because I WORK FOR HONDA. I'll talk @!#$ about Fords to, that doesn't mean I can beat a 12 second mustang.

your ecu prolly needs to be reflashed....too bad your warrenty is up....i think its a known issue for your car. I have an 04 with about 46000 on it no problems yet....had it since 37000.....

Hey guys thanks for the responses!

I just came back from the dealership and they are still being anal about my sound system doing this (lol). The service manager never talked about the ECU or whatsoever. The car didn't stall today...Weird.

Quote:

u wouldnt happened to have had any trunk latch problems or power window switches MELTING IN YOUR FACE would you?

No not at all.

Quote:

its the ecu. i have an 03 also and i did research b4 buying it. i think it was some website like edmunds that had a list of problems for each different year cavalier, and any other car.unfortunatly its a pricy little problem. about $400-500,

I hope not... Anyway the car is clear title, if it is the ECU and is gonna cost me 400-500$ I will deal with it myself...

I'll put my winter rims on , take out my sound system and just @!#$ing push it off a cliff. I'm just sick of this car.

My car did the same with stalling, the ECU was re-flashed and no probs since, there may be a recall, it did not cost me anything to get done. As far as the other stuff, find another dealer, some of those things like the belt should have been fixed the first time. Any GM dealer can do the work for the ECU.

I forgot to tell you guys than my engine got rebuilt at 75 000 km because it was knocking like crazy, knocking harder than a diesel Volkswagen...lol They installed new pistons, sleeves, gaskets and all...under warranty. I saw the dealers bill and it was like 2750$(cdn.) to rebuild my ECO...How much is a brand new crate engine??? lol They worked like 20 some. hours on it.

The GM service manager just called me, telling me that finally it might not be my audio system (DUH) that causes this engine failure.

I told him again for the ECU re-flash and he told me that imy car has a new program in it since they rebuilt the engine.

He suggested me to try fuel injector cleaner... I will try this. For 4$ I might as well try it.