CarComplaints.com Notes: Widespread instrument panel failure is a common and frustrating reality for many 2004-2005 Chevy Cavalier owners. They're often left in the dark when it comes to knowing how fast they're going, what their engine temperature is, or even how much fuel they have left in the tank.
The likely culprit is a series of bad "stepper motors" which control the gauges and are no longer covered under warranty. Think not being able to see your speed is a safety issue and should be recalled for all owners? We'd agree. Trouble is, apparently the NHTSA does not.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 1
Average Mileage:
73,543 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The gauges show nothing no speed no gas no mileage nothing. I have seen a lot of complaints of this matter why is there nothing being done about this problem. I was always a Chevy person but now I am moving on to something else. Chevy does not like to fix there problems they leave it up to the people to spend tons of money to fix the prob when they know what the prob is. This is uncalled for.
Carcomplaints.com notes: Widespread instrument panel failure is a common and frustrating reality for many 2004-2005 Chevy Cavalier owners. They're often left in the dark when it comes to knowing how fast they're going, what their engine temperature is, or even how much fuel they have left in the tank. The likely culprit is a series of bad "stepper motors" which control the gauges and are no longer covered under warranty. Think not being able to see your speed is a safety issue and should be recalled for all owners? we'd agree. Trouble is, apparently the NHTSA does not. This is truly a serious safety issue. This issue has been reported thousands of times to various agencies and it seems the Cavalier was never made. No one will address this issue or any others involving this Cavalier.
2004 Cavalier, 2.2L DOHC, 5-speed manual transmission. While driving at 60 mph vehicle felt as if cruise control was engaged. Rpms would not fall off as fast as usual when foot taken off gas, and when I depressed the clutch (which was just replaced last week due to another known issue that Chevy refuses to recall) rpms went above 4,000. Tapped gas pedal thinking maybe it was stuck and it only revved higher and did not come down on its own. Rpms continued to climb as I came to a stop, around 6,000 by the time I pulled over. Shut the car off and immediately back on, no problems for the rest of the trip home (another 8 miles). I cannot risk my car revving at 6,000 rpms in stop and go traffic which I'm in every weekday and I can't shut it off and turn it back on to fix the problem, so I have to find out what causes it and fix it asap. Thanks for another spendy repair, Chevy.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled as all of the warning lamps illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician was unable to duplicate the failure however, replaced the fuel pump as a precaution. The repair failed to remedy the failure. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the technician determined that the ignition switch was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,426 and the current mileage was 111,600. Updated 7/10/15 updated 8/23/2017
- Manchester, NH, USA
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The gauge cluster on my 2004 Cavalier has suddenly started malfunctioning. This is a serious safety issue as I do not know how hot my engine is or how fast I am going. The tach and gas gauges seem to still work (don't know for how long though), but speedometer and temp gauge do not. My car has very low mileage and I will just have had it for 10 years as of this month. I am the only owner of this car and it has been well taken care of. I cannot believe that Chevy will not recall this faulty gauge panel. This is a safety issue and not a part that should just suddenly wear out on a car. With all of the issues that are suddenly surfacing with GM I am shocked that this has not been recalled before and I know I am not the only person to have this issue. God forbid someone not know this is an issue and they pull over because they think their car is overheating and get out to check only to get hit by another car. I will never buy another Chevy again unless they step up and take responsibility for this faulty gauge cluster.
The instrument panel cluster gauges (speedometer; gas gauge; tachometer) started acting crazy and the dials would jump all over the place. Finally, the dials just stopped working. At the same time my inside dome light stopped working. It would go on when the car was not running so it had to be disengaged completely so it would not run down my battery. Right after that my car turned off while being driven and the keys were still in the ignition. (this has happened three times).this vehicle does not appear under any recalls. I called GM directly but was not able to get any resolution due to language barriers (the reps did not speak english). This was reported to car complaints.com and hundreds of reports and complaints have been reported for the same thing (especially the cluster and electrical problems) but no recalls have been issued. These are very expensive items to have fixed and pose serious safety issues. Many, many people need help and no where to turn and GM has ignored these problems with the 2004 Cavalier completely. All fuses have been checked and replaced as recommended as well as all other recommendations on how to fix. On behalf of all Cavalier owners who have been ignored please, please help!!!! this has also been reported to motortrend.com. Thank you for any help you can offer!!!
Bought this car new, every time we hit a bump with key ring and car driving the interior light would flash on and off like the key was just turned on, we complained and they could never find a thing, so now when you drive it and hit the key ring with all the other keys on it the light flashes on and off, Chevrolet could never find the problem and now there is a recall for the same thing that happens on a 2004 Cavalier as later models of Chevy.
As I was driving down the road the vehicle stopped running and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I then tried to start the car again but it did not start. So I tried again a few more time. The vehicle did start so I took the car in for repairs the next week which was my first attempt. It took 2 more visits to get the car fixed correctly. It turned out to be the ignition switch sensor. Just like the recall by GM. But my model is not included, I hope it will be added in the future.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. The contact stated the instrument panel failed to function properly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Suddenly without warning the whole instrument cluster panel (fuel gauge, speedometer, RPM gauge & temperature gauge all stopped working correctly and then suddenly stopped working at all! found out that this is a common complaint and very expensive to replace. It is very dangerous driving without knowledge of your speed! there should be a recall on this also as it is a very common problem and dangerous.
When I turn on my car defroster, it starts popping very loud. At one time it started popping when I set the car at idle, and when I returned to the car, it was filled with smoke or dust. I had to air out the car for a while before I could drive it. The defroster doesn't pop every time, and it quits after about 30 minutes each time. Also, when I bought the car, it needed a new console, so I had it replaced. The day-time running lights go out and flash at people. When they go out, the service light comes on. I have to drive with my headlights on so the day-time running lights do not flash at people.
Horn won't blow, had it serviced and they said horn was good. They track the situation back to the air bag/horn connection. Never had an accident in this vehicle. So I don't understand why the horn won't blow. The guy that serviced it, said the connection for the horn is connected to the air bag and I would need a new air bag to possible fix this issue. What could I possible do to get this corrected? it's been like this for a couple of years, I've been worried about this issue and getting more worried about it lately.
Recently General Motors issued a recall on the ignition switch for some of their cars, but it does not include all of the vehicles affected with the exact same problem. Here is a list of cars currently listed, but I want my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier added to the recall too: Chevrolet cobalt, Pontiac G5, Saturn ion, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac solstice, and Saturn sky. Many years ago I tried to get a local Chevrolet service center to fix the problem in my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. They could not fix it, so we just kept driving the car. Had I known it would affect the air bags getting deployed I would have written to you sooner. This problem needs to get fixed by GM as soon as possible on all models listed including my 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier. The defect allows the ignition switch to move from "run" to "accessory" if I hit a bump or I use a heavy key chain. That shuts off the engine and may disable the front air bags. The loss of the air bag crash protection is my biggest worry. Please help me get this fixed and warn other people who have 2004 Chevrolet Cavaliers with the same problem.
Speedometer quits working; today's example; we were entering an interstate and accelerating to the 65 mph posted speed limit, and the speedometer locked at 45 and stayed there. Did not change and remains there until we got the car home. The worst part is my son, a student driver was driving and had no way to know how fast he was going and had to remain there until we could get off the interstate and exchange places. This is dangerous and needs to be investigated. I researched the internet as well as this site, and see many more with the same complaint.
My instrument panel is not working properly. The speedometer was indicating incorrect speeds before it stopped working completely. The gas, RPM, and temperature gauges indicate incorrect information as well. This is a real safety issue.
2004 Chevrolet Cavalier instrument cluster; at first the temperature gauge showed hot causing us to pull over to the shoulder of the road and investigate, 27 years as an automotive technician kinda helped me come to the conclusion real quick it was not overheating, then the tachometer would go completely around and peg from the underside and that's where it is and has stayed, the speedometer ceased to work shortly after the tachometer went haywire and the fuel gauge also has its moments, sometimes it works and sometimes it don't and all of the check engine lights and service soon indicators have a mind of there own, the car has no trouble codes and there is no reason GM hasn't recalled these and other vehicles with the same instrument cluster problems, funny they sent me a letter on my 03 Silverado cluster and I haven't had any problems with it but I look at all the complaints on the Cavaliers and no such recalls, you might ask why I haven't fixed it myself with all my experience and I will tell you right now, why should I have too" GM should step up to the plate and fix its faulty clusters it is dangerous for any of these informational items of the cluster to be faulty or inaccurate it can cause a motorist to travel at an unsafe speed causing an accident or to pull over onto the shoulder of the road and be at risk of being struck by another motorist from behind these are very dangerous situations, ask yourself how many people have been hurt or fatally injured because of the faulty clusters, who knows; but one would be one too many don't you think"
The speed cluster acts up from time to time. Sometimes the mph gauge doesn't read or is not accurate or sticks and sometimes the heat gauge doesn't work and sometimes the gas gauge doesn't work. Sometimes I get a brake light that lights up and sometimes the ABS light comes on. The entire cluster acts up from time to time with all different things wrong.
While driving down a highway the speedometer stayed at 65 mph while he brakes were depressed and the car was slowing. When the car was parked 15 minutes later and shut off wit the key removed the speedometer still read 65 mph. This continued for some time before replacing the speedometer cluster.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Huntington, WV, USA