This is more of a rant as I have posted for help on here in the past for other stuff only to get 0 replies. But if there is anyone on this forum that is willing to help, great.

Just getting sick of this car, lately, always something wrong with it and don't want to keep dumping more money into it. last winter, the coolant inlet pipe deteriorated and leaked, I spent extra money, flushed the system, replaced upper and lower rad hoses, new temp sensor, new thermostat... then few weeks ago, the muffler and strap rusted through. so fixed that, I tried a few places and no sells a new strap so I made my own hanger. The coolant level light comes on ever since winter but no one sells the tank/sensor. Could order one from rock auto but have been putting it off. also last few months ABS light comes on randomly. Dont really need ABS especially in summer so whatever I guess. But now last week, If I accelerate a little, there is a huge clunk/bang noise from front pass wheel. Today it did it again, so I look and couldn't find anything serious. cv axles look good, there is a little bit of play in front end but to hard to tell where its coming from. Everything feels like there is a little bit of play but nothing seems serious enough to cause the noise. might be control arm bushings, might be ball joints or tie rods, maybe trans mounts. I try moving one tire back and forth and the joints on that side seem okay but other side clunks, then check other side and everything seems okay but hear sound from other side? I did notice tire rub on pass front wheel well, so something must be loose enough to cause that, just cant pin point it. And the new house we bought has the worlds smallest garage so its a pain in the ass to work on the car.

I did have plans to do a eco/m62 swap, and if I did go that route, I would not mind spending a little bit and replace everything on front end but just feel the car is not worth it and it is a @!#$ty platform for mods/tuning. So planning to buy something else just cant really afford to right now. If I did sell the car, id probably sell the suspension separate. If anyone knows a fair asking price for koni reds and sportlines with mounts and new energy bushings on rear struts, let me know.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

First we all are to help out and yes some post do get overlooked so do not feel like your being ignored.I see you have a 14 year old car that has reached the area of things JUST wear out!!!! As for the coolant tank sensor I am sure Gm probably sells this but not a low cost buy,however step up and go dealer if no one else sells it online.Now as for the clunk sound on the passenger side that probably is your front wheel bearing going bad.A simple check to verify this is easy.Car parked level ground and chocked jack up the passenger side and remove the front wheel.Then put your hands one on each side of the rotor with the caliper still installed and try moving the rotor left to right.If you notice any noticible movement as said and even up and down your bearing is going bad.Some times you may not have enough movement with the caliper still installed to notice,and you might want to double check if the free play with the brake components on are not way out line,and take the caliper OFF to see if it gets worse and or you see some gouging in the rotors(tell tell sign) a front bearing is going bad.Even though a cv joint may not be bad or a busted boot,tie rod ends (busted boots) or excessive play and upper ball joints same deal.I am betting front wheel bearing is your noise as no busted cv (good sign) joint is not clicking or just when turning a certain way however a bearing can create the same scenario but no real sign like grease out of the cv boot,gouges in the rotors and or uneven braking or grabbing.I am no way a 3rd gen guy but understand the general wear out items on most cars and sure hope this helps revive the get it fixed,and confidence this site offers even when post seem overlooked.The traffic on here has slowed down and most do not always address the maintenance area as they use there Js as kick arounds or have dealt with these problems and do not read the forums on fixing it as they have been down that road and done.Ok and hope this helps you out coming from a 1st gen guy and I am very mechanical in experience.

I thanks for the reply Ron. I had a good look over the car today and it is the strut mounts, everything in the front end is tight, took wheels off, had a helper move steering wheel left and right, tie rods good, wheel bearings seem good, ball joints good but when I grab the strut spring and move it back and forth, there is lots of play on both sides, you can really notice when the tire is on, which is why I didn't know where it was coming from before. I've never had a strut mount go bad on me before so wasn't really looking up there. So hopefully that is it, not sure if there is anyway to tell if trans is going bad, that is one of my biggest worries but hopefully it is just the strut mounts, I know the trans mounts are pretty worn out so those may need to get looked at too. Was looking into a newer vehicle but don't really want payments yet.... May stick it out a little longer.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Agree with the strut mounts....roads are real bad around here....


Thinking coolant sensor....temp one is my thought.

Keep that car going....


http://www.autorentalandsales.com/images/2004Cavalier005.JPG

Just read this thread and wow do I sympathize. My 2001 has been a great car until it just seemed to hit a brick wall where everything has started to fall apart within the last few months.

While I was recovering from the spring-clamp hell / radiator and hose job from a few weeks ago, the water pump gave out and I had to take it to some place since I was too worn out to do it myself. After they put this chameleon green coolant in the system which I am still pissed about and can't find information about (are all the bottles of dexcool I have now a total waste?) - they also gave me a list of things to add to my already long list.

I can look forward to replacing both half-shafts because of torn boots on both sides, although I've been driving for years with one wide-open and grease-less and have not had any problems yet. But the thing they listed that was new to me and has be really puzzled is they said "3 motor mounts are very worn" and need to be replaced. WTF? I have no idea about that or how much it would cost or what kind of job it would be.

Failing clutch, failing starter (I think I damaged it hitting it so hard and repeatedly when I was trying to get the fan assembly in and out with the radiator job)....now it only starts once every two tries. And what really makes my life hard is that I live in an apartment complex and have no place to work on the car. I wish there was some place that leased-out garage space to do that sort of thing.

Best of luck.
DJ

spring clamps, I had to deal with those last winter in -30 C. I hear you, now today going home, the car started sputtering like it did before, big hesitation and no power then hicup and go, then hesitation. last time, I changed spark plugs, converted to performance neon coil and msd wires, not sure if plugs are bad again or something, last time I bought iridium because I figured they would last longer. I plugged in my scanner and my upstream o2 sensor is all over the map so I think that might be it maybe? Thinking of changing the o2 sensor maybe.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

almost wondering if its fuel injectors maybe? just my o2 sensor was going from about .950V to .050V bouncing all over the place. Now sure if this is normal? I started it this morning and it was running rough.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Well changed my upstream o2 sensor, still runs like @!#$, checked the fuel injectors, they all have between 12.8-13.1 ohms so those should be good? pulled my plugs, still look good, gap is good, I converted to a neon coil and MSD wires so no crap LD9 ignition parts besides the ICM, which not sure, maybe that is the problem? The hesitation is mostly from 1000-3500RPM under load. after 3500 sometimes there is a little hesitation but it usually clears up and goes. Just getting sick of dumping money in this POS. We just bought the wife a new SUV and trying to sell her Mazda but I may just keep it and sell the Cavalier. The Mazda is slow, has an auto, but the reliability is about a 9 or 10, the Cavaliers reliability lately has been about a -2 . After buying the new SUV, I won't be able to buy anything else until next summer at earliest, which I will probably be leaning towards a wrx or sti.

If there is any more helpful people left on this forum, any advice would be great, I just read other threads with similar problems and people dump 100s or 1000s of dollars and still cant fix the car. If I do end of selling the car, I'll probably sell the suspension, neon coil set up(with plug and play adapter harness), and intake. If there is any interest, pm me but if I do go ahead and sell the car, I'll create a classified ad for them.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Would fuel filter make a difference, I changed mine about 15000-20000km ago? I also remember putting a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in middle of last week, problem started Friday afternoon? Just at a lost here, I took vacuum hose off of regulator and no fuel came out, just vacuum on hose, not sure if there is anything else to check? I have a scan tool and it can check to sensors and everything changes when you rev it up or driving, so I assume the TPS, MAP, IAT, etc, all work..... I'd rather keep the cavalier but need it to be working again....


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Also should add, I drove it to work today and it does run better than before and once you get past 3000rpm, it runs pretty good, just the 1000-3000 with more than 50% throttle, and it runs like crap.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Well I changed the fuel filter and put some fuel system cleaner in. I noticed the map hose was dried out looking, I don't think it was leaking but could of been so I changed it with new hose. The hesitation doesn't happen as much now but still does it. I can watch tps readings slowly climb to 100% so that is good. Map sensor readings going up to 94kpa, if you slowly accelerate, it slowly climbs, if you stomp on it, it's instantly up at 90 kpa. So it appears to be working properly. When I stomp on it, it appears that it is pulling timing, not sure if it's knocking.
Question though, is this the fuel pump maybe? Does it use more gas at higher rpm or when you stomp on it at lower rpm? Causing if you slowly accelerate. It's okay but if you stomp on it, it bogs down. Maybe there's not enough fuel and runs lean? Pulls timing. ?





2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Any means of checking Fuel pressure?

Might try to see if I can rent a tester. Does that sound like the problem?


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

small update, when I cold started it this morning, the idle was a bit rough, timing ranging from 5-28*. After I started driving, it was okay, I accelerated slowly and smoothly but after it warmed up a bit, I stomp on gas and it falls on its face. Also idling at a light for about 2 min, after I started driving and accelerating slowly, it was hesitating as well a little. after I got to 3rd, it was okay again. I will look into getting a fuel pressure tester but is there anything else I should look at? Would discounting the regulator vacuum hose help at all? That would increase pressure right?


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Well I am getting a pressure tester tomorrow but I noticed that GM was nice enough not to put some ugly schrader valve on the fuel rail, thanks GM.... Anyways though, does anyone recommend a good spot to t in? On a older thread someone said they were able to connect it by the fuel filter? I guess it depends what kind of fittings or adapters I have, My boss at work is lending me one and was a mechanic for 20 years so he should have a good one I'd image. He was thinking maybe the TPS or MAP may be glitchy? Because I watched them on scan tool well driving and they appear to be working proper but maybe there is a small glitch in sensor for a sec that the reader doesn't pick up? Said fuel pump could be possible too.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Never had a chance to check fuel pressure yet but I was watching my TPS on way home last night and if there was hesitation, before I let off but I kept my foot on petal this time, and the TPS never went to 100%, it was around 40-60-55-48-50-45-60, etc.... never got to 100% or even close. so I think maybe that is in fact the problem. new one is $38 so guess its not bad, other thing I think might be problem is ICM? not sure if that would affect anything? Starting to think fuel is not the problem because I can have no issues WOT sometimes.



If this is in fact the problem and it fixes it, does anyone know what might cause the ABS light to come on randomly? Winter is around the corner and it is nice to having in the winter. This morning, no ABS light came on, but randomly soon after driving, it comes on, could be in reverse, just after I start driving. Any way to test the wheel sensors? I will search later but usually have to go through 100s of threads to find anything on this forum.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

New TPS = waste of $39
Cheapest ICM is $200 so not sure I want to waste that much and still gave issues... I guess try and seach for the best way to check fuel pressure so I can hopefully cross the pump and regulator off the list.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Well last night I was bored so I decided to check my plugs again, I had problems with plugs last time, if you search spark plugs, its the first thread that pops up, but my NGK platinum only lasted 20000km, thought they would last longer, and thats when I converted to external neon coil and msd wires. got rid of the ld9 crap, because I needed boots and coil housing looked like its seen better days. But anyways, I made the gap smaller on my NGK iridium plugs and cleaned them up and the car barely hesitates now, I think it feels a little slugish, maybe because of the small gap but it runs better, so I bought some platinum plugs I am going to change later today, was too late last night. but I have less than 10000km on my Iridium plugs, I dont understand why they would be bad? They look kind of burnt on insulator so this time I went with a 1/2 step colder plug to see if it makes a difference. stock plugs TR55, I got TR6. I know my car uses a bit of oil some maybe the oil is @!#$ the plugs up? I know the ignition in these cars suck too but thought the new coil and wires would fix that. I guess I might have to change plugs every oil change?


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

The plugs could easily be your whole issue, LD9's generally only like stock AC Delcos.

Nic Crosby wrote:The plugs could easily be your whole issue, LD9's generally only like stock AC Delcos.

X2

Rich Grayo posted a pic one time of all the different plugs available for one engine in our cars (I believe it was the LN2, but it's completely feasible that the problem is across other engines as well). The length of the plug bodies varied greatly, meaning the electrodes were not positioned in the same exact spot of the cylinder. The AC Delco was the longest of the set. I would definitely stick with the OEM plugs. Also, if your TPS was giving you those readings, it still may have been faulty, just not the only problem. Any 14 year old car is going to have more than one thing wearing out, so it is likely a combination of things.

Okay, well I'm going to put the tr6 plugs in after work, see how long they last, I was looking for ac Delco last night but Canadian tire didn't have them, might have to get them from gm. I thought many people had good luck with ngk though. I know Bosch is garbage though. Just spend bunch of money on ignition stuff like 8000 km ago. So figured stuff would last longer. Do you guys run ac Delco platinum or just copper?


If I get it running 100 % again I was going to look at abs, any common issues to look at? I found on other forums the sensors should have around 1000to1500 ohms. Not sure what else to look at.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Just copper

The ABS systems on these cars suck, I've had better luck just disabling it, but I don't have to worry about inspections either. It's usually the wheel speed sensors, but I have had the module go bad. I would check to make sure the connectors aren't corroded.

Okay, well plugs helped but still a slight hesitation, if lug a gear a little, you can feel it but normal driving, it drives nice now and the last two times I replaced with NGK, I had zero problems until after 10-20k kms. So must still be something else. #3 and #4 plug looked worse than #1 and #2 as well, could there be internal problems? Might be worth it to sell it as is now that its running alot better? Just don't want to buy another beater and can't really afford anything better right now, was hoping to get another winter out of the car and buy something next summer.


ABS does suck usually too but in winter it's nice to have or else you touch brakes and tires lock up, car stalls, you let off its running again, just annoying. Its nice, just to lightly push brakes and feel a little vibration on brake pedal. And we get like 8+ months of winter, actually had 1/2" of snow last week.... so its really nice to have. The ABS light has not come on in few days now so might just be a short somewhere, hopefully just a connector or something....


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Well car has been running strong for last 500 km or so and now this morning it was raining , not sure why that would matter back anyways it was running kind of crappy , not as bad as before but still not good.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

well there was a coolant puddle under the car this morning, put it on hoist at work and there is coolant dripping from water pump area. I said @!#$ it and drove it home like this, so who knows how long the car is going to last now. thinking of driving it until it blows up or trying to see if I can get a loan for a newer car. I have a rad fan override switch so I turned fans on whole way home and never overheated. I guess we will see.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car