2001 Chevrolet Cavalier - Page 9 - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

WHEEL BEARING USUALLY STARTS MAKING A ROARING TYPE NOISE WHICH USUALLY GETS LOUDER THE FASTER YOU DRIVE, SOMETIMES THEY WILL BE LOOSE , TO CHECK JACK UP THAT WHEEL AND GRAB TOP AND BOTTOM OF TIRE AND SHAKE, IF THERE IS MOVEMENT, TRY TO GET SOMEONE TO ROCK TIRE FOR YPU AND WATCH WHERE AXLE GOES INTO CENTER OF BEARING AND SEE IF AXLE IS MOVING WITH TIRE MOVEMENT AND SPINDLE REMAINS STATIONARY, THEN IT IS BAD BEARING, OR SOMETIMES THERE WILL BE NO MOVEMENT, THEN BLOCK REAR WHEELS AND RUN CAR WITH THAT WHEEL IN AIR AND SEE IF YOU HEAR NOISE, GOOD LUCK.

i would have the rear brake limiter mechanism checked first as this device regulates brake pressure so it is equal to both back wheels, if this is ok i'd check that the wheel cylinders aren't sticking and that the brake shoe assembly has been replaced properly

I think it is time to find an accredited brake specialist . At the best with a hub it may be bad wheel bearings but I consider it a problem with the mechanics and their lack of commitment to fixing your problem

Not on this year of car.

change the distributor cap

You shouldn't have been installing any parts You should have diagnosed or found out if you had a problem & what is was ,through some type of testing Your best to stop & let a shop continue on Every item you talk about, has nothing to do with making any change, because of temp change,are you even thinking things through logically ! There could be six or eight reasons or combination of things, that would cause an unsteady or incorrect idle condition,if that is your question

new ignighter and coil and spark plug wires solved my problem

Hi there my car did the same ending up it was the ignighter and coil and the spark plug wires was not the best after that my car a honda crv is running nicely again hope this helps. Ulla

Is the check engine light on ?

loosen of the highest hose connection and run till coolant comes out or take it to a radiator shop and have the air lock removed by a pressure apparatus.

One thing you did not mention is the radiator fan. Is it coming on at 230 degrees ? Has the exhaust been checked for a blockage ?

suspect a blown hose, heater hose probably behind the engine. now when you fill it back up you have to bleed the air out of the system and the bleeder valve is usually a brass screw close to the area of the thermostat... find the leak first and foremost or catastrophic engine damage can and will occur

run fault codes to check for faulty sensors.

check the side wall of your tires. as may be fitted on wrong .may have sided tires fitted which must be fitted for the side marked on the wall.

chck connection on steering wheel may be loose when pressing horn

this part of the circuit has a fueable link near the battery..check to see if its bad or corroded or whatever..

The system is probably clogged.The "squirters" sometimes get gummed up. Remove them and clean. Be careful they can be brittle. If you do break them, get some from a junkyard.

Might have a front wheel bearing going out take it to a shop they can hook up a computer and tell you which bearing it is

I had the same problem on my 2001 Sunfire (same car as the Cavalier-different branding) which I was able to fix successfully. My symptoms were: -Traction Control OFF light illuminated -Cooling fan running even if engine cold and it was freezing outside (I also noticed that when the Traction light illuminated, the fan would then begin) -Rough idle with black smoke when cold -Poor fuel economy I have a code reader which produced codes P0130 and P0171. These are error codes for the upstream oxygen sensor (the one under the hood). I simply replaced the O2 sensor (it took me 10 minutes). I did not reset the check engine light after the repair as I wanted to see what the car would do on its own. The idle was much smoother with no smoke and the cooling fan stopped running unnecessarily. After 1/2 mile down the road, the Trac light went away and the system functioned normally. I tested this by trying to accelerate quickly up a snowy driveway. I also noticed that the acceleration and shifting (auto tranny) were smoother. I reset the check engine light. All is satisfactory. What was happening to the car before the repair: P0130 is usually for a bad O2 sensor and P0171 is the sensor detected that the motor was running too lean (but it actually wasn't-the sensor was essentially giving a false lean signal). The rough idle, black smoke, and poor economy are due to running too rich. In my case, the sensor told the PCM (the car's computer) that the air/fuel mixture was too lean. In response, the computer said "OK, more gas!" That's why it ran rich. This was evidenced on the old O2 sensor as well...it was completely caked with carbon from an excessively rich mixture. This further destroyed the performance of the O2 sensor.

The oil pump is the next step. It could be bearing or other things like blocked return flow that did not come out with the flush, bearings on the cam shaft etc.