Ok guys, I'm at work and I go on my lunch break and the car turns over and over but never fully starts. I check the battery, there's some corrosion on the positive terminal; I clean the terminal with coke and my pocket knife and reattach - seems to start stronger, but no change.

Call my dad. Dad calls Chevy dealership that worked on it before. Verdict (they came up with seperately) is that there may be a fuel issue. Chevy guy says fuel filter needed to be changed ever 20k miles. WTF?

I think "@!#$, don't remember that in the regular service intervals in the manual."

The car shut off on me last night while backing into a parking spot - I thought maybe it was an electrical issue because my cruise control went out intermittently that day, and there is a random clicking noise coming from the steering column (the turn signal sound).

SO. If it's a fuel issue, how @!#$ am I? Either the lines, the filter, or the pump in the tank could be bad, general quote of $950ish off the top of his head. We're currently going to tow it to the dealership for them to look at it in the morning...

Any ideas will help!

Seems this is happening to everyone now. Mine started off like that. Quick question to see if its the same problem.

Did you disconnect the negative before going after the positive?

No, just disconnected the positive. The negative is the ground, so...why would I disconnect that first?

Quick update though; car started up when the tow truck arrived. Still taking it in for a look, but that made me happy. The price of repair went from $1000 in my head to under $400 just based on that alone.

Probably need to overhaul the car and replace a lot of things anyways; belt, plugs, wires, battery, ignition coil, header, exhaust, forged rods, forged pistons, crank, muffler, cat, seats, throttle body, stereo...

Always disconnect the negative first, and reconnect it last. Thats a major rule of thumb when working on a car and needing to disconnect the battery. Doing it the wrong way can cause a power surge that could fry the BCM or the PCM, the spark from the positive can light off hydrogen gas from the battery making a big noise, and so on. Check the underhood fuse box, and make sure the fuel pump relay is seated. Mine worked loose once as I approached a stop light and killed the car dead. I ended up having to replace it too, my car would occasionally die while driving. Replaced it, hasn't died like that since.

Ok. Well, the dealership has quoted me $950 - they say it's the fuel pump. I don't know that they've checked the fuel pump relay, but when I decide if I'm going to pay them, I'll ask them if they checked it.

$950...isn't that just a bit @!#$ rediculous?

If you've got a day, you can do it yourself for under $100. Just make sure you have a place to put all the gas when you drain the tank.


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2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)

ya pump is not hard to replace like 2 15mm bolts holding on the tank..

belt, plugs, wires, battery, ignition coil, header, exhaust, forged rods, forged pistons, crank, muffler, cat, seats, throttle body, stereo...???

stereo.. wtf and why would u need to replace that @!#$ unlesss u have like 400k miles over reacting by far.. change ur fuel filter first..

Instead of asking them if they checked it, swap it with your A/C relay, its the same part, and then see if it starts up. If so, drive it to a cheaper shop and get your fuel filter changed. 950 is a major expense for having the dealer do the fuel pump. Pep boys did the labor on mine for about 300 I think, and the pump itself cost about 160 bucks for a Bosch stock replacement from O'riellys, that is, if its something you don't want to tackle yourself. I had a full tank, and did not want to deal with storing 15 gallons of fuel, and screwing something up, so thats the route I took.

That Thing Got An Ecotec? wrote:Ok. Well, the dealership has quoted me $950 - they say it's the fuel pump. I don't know that they've checked the fuel pump relay, but when I decide if I'm going to pay them, I'll ask them if they checked it.

$950...isn't that just a bit @!#$ rediculous?

You got lucky. My problem went to the next level by breaking the fuel pump and burning the wires. Then the ECU was fried. It was a total of 1,200$

The fuel pump with labor and new wires for me were 600 total.

Went out again yesterday, same thing; turning over but not starting - they replaced the ignition switch now, said it would be ready tonight.

I really hope this is the last goddamn issue - it's a pain to be without a car and having to pay off $950 for a repair

Do you have any idea about the turn signal like click from the column. I have the same thing with mine. It's been happening for a couple of years now, very spiratically. Nothing ever seems to happen associated with it but it makes me wonder what it is.

Check my post in the Maintenance Forums ... I have no clue if the wiring diagram is the same for later years , but if its a Chevy at least, mayhaps it may shed some light, I dunno.


The reason why I pointed you to that thread, is because I happened to screw up and accidently do something to the TURN SIGNAL SWITCHING thing, I think I bent it somehow, I don't know, but this is what happened:

You know how your Accessories and Fuel Pump kick on when you turn your key to the ON position? Well, When I did whatever it was to the Turn Signal Switching thing, the Flashers started Flashing, and the Accessory, Console Lights and Fuel Pump kicked on and off in sync with the flashers.

I was like WTF ... but I am not sure if I crossed a ground with one the of Turn Signal Flasher contacts or what, I can't rmember ... All I do know, by assumption only, is that the Turn Signal Switch Assembly and some other odd components are somehow intertwined with the Ignition Switch (the wire harness that operates your Accessories, Fuel Pump and Starter).



I probably have NO CLUE what I am rambling on about, but thought maybe this would ring a bell\idea.


1987 Chevy Cavalier Stationwagon RS
I NEED OVERHAULED

The clicking noise is coming from a relay mounted right by the steering colum. If that gets voltage the coil engages and it makes that weird clicking that makes you think somthing is wrong in that area of the car, when it really isnt.

The only way a relay starts clicking like that is if it is getting low voltage and making or breaking whenever voltage spikes above or below the coils working voltage.

Or it can be from an intermiten switch problem sendig it irratic voltage.

But if I were to diagnos your problem I would go with a bad battery first. Which can cause all of those problems. It might turn over but just not have quite enough to get it running. Then you let it sit for a bit and aa little voltage spike allows it to start.

I had all of your symptoms before and troubleshot the crap out of the car and it turned out to be just a bad battery.