My 2001 checy cavalier has a 2.4 liter engine with 167,000 miles on it. while going down the road at night i suddenly lost all my electrical power. radio , headlights, turn signals...and my dashboard gauges are all stuck on the reading they had when i lost the electric. the car still ran great. the only electric i had left is my hazard lights.

SOURCE: No rear brake light / turn signals on 2001 Chevy Cavalier

The problem is the turn signal/headlight/hazard switch assembly on the steering column which the brake light wiring runs through. The part is easy to change and cost about $50 at most parts stores

SOURCE: Chev Cavalier 2003 only one rear turn/brake/hazard light

I have a 2002 Chev Cavalier that had the same exact problem. I replaced the bulb harness (purchased from a chevy dealership for around $5) which was fairly easy to do. I have had zero problems with it since.

SOURCE: electrical problem

Find the ground wire on one of the lights and add another ground wire to a good clean metal surface and see if that fixes the problem. It defently sounds like a ground problem at one of the lights.

SOURCE: 99 cavalier Smoke coming out from under dashboard!

now this may be a long shot... but i had a similar problem on my cutlass. but it wasnt wiring...... it was from the tube running from the head of my engine...... the smell and smoke were coming from hot oil coming out of the crank case vent tube and then being sucked into the air inlet for the heater/ ac.

since a electrical wire's protective cover is petroleum based as is oil.... they smell very similar

Bruce Bracey

• 1000 Answers
• Posted on Feb 21, 2009

SOURCE: My 2001 Chevy Impala won't start,and engine won't

First things first. Do you have a volt meter to check the battery voltage? What engine do you have?
Let me know.
Regards,