Help: Head lights, wipers not working right, when turn on it unlocks car door & happened all at once

Asked by Dean Aug 13, 2012 at 03:38 AM about the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sport Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2003 Cavalier LS Sport, 92,000+ miles, 2.2 EcoTec engine, 2 Door. Car is in really "good" shape. a few days ago i got up in the morning to drive my wife to work, started the car and when i went to turn my lights on, nothing happened to the lights BUT i could hear the driver side door make the sound of it being unlocked. It will do this every time i turn on and off the lights, it does turn on my dash lights though. Then i went to try my wipers and they didn't seem to work either, again every time i turn them on and off i can hear the unlock sound in my door. Also when i push the lock button on my keys or on my door, it will not lock anymore but the unlock button works fine. Once i put car in to gear (don't matter which one) the lights and wipers will work, wipers wont change speed much when i go through the settings. For the headlights when i try to put my high beams on you can see my lights flicker like it would do when the high beams come on but nothing happens, Also the blue light in the dash that lets you know the high beams are on does not show up at all.

I'm not a car person or the money to get it fixed at this time. We have had the car for the past month and everything worked ok, it was given to us by my wifes father and was worked on A LOT before getting it to make sure everything was in working order.
what i looked at
I checked all fuses by the driver side door and none are burnt out or seems to be damaged
i even checked a few to see it they where working
i checked fuses under the hood and all seem to be ok.
i check the wires coming from the battery and none are broken, burnt or ripped.

"Everything worked before a few days ago, everything happened all at once"

3 Answers

20

This is more of a Question than an Answer: Everything Dean has said above is a perfect description of my 2002 Cavalier. I tried fixing it myself, but it continues to malfunction. Although, when you pull out the fuse for the wipers (which was in perfect condition) Everything, besides the wipers, work properly as if this issue had never occurred. The After making this vague discovery, I purchased a new fuse for my wipers. But unfortunately, this did not correct the mistake. Is it possible that ONLY the fuses influence my cars behavior? Or could it be the battery.. perhaps a bad light bulb.

2 people found this helpful.
100

I have a 2002 cavalier with the older style 2.2 and headlights and wipers quit working. The solve to this problem for me was the ground under the battery tray. NOT the ground on the tray itself. Their are 4 black wires that lead to a gray plug that is under the battery tray. A 10 mm bolt holds the ground in place. I removed the bolt. Drilled a new hole in the battery tray and put a new bolt and nut on and problem solved.

10 people found this helpful.
10

I can confirm this I followed Phils advice and it worked. I didn’t have four wires it was the main negative line that runs to the engine block and a small ground off the mainline .

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Cavalier

Looking for a Used Cavalier in your area?

CarGurus has 46 nationwide Cavalier listings and the tools to find you a great deal.

ZIP:

Own this car?

Share your experience with others.

2003 Chevrolet Cavalier

Review another car

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    John Saffrahn
    Reputation
    4,830
  • #2
    dandyoun
    Reputation
    1,990
  • #3
    mbar1
    Reputation
    1,670
View All

Know more, shop wisely

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Pontiac Sunfire
19 listings
Used Chevrolet Corvette
690 Great Deals out of 11,986 listings starting at $3,200
Used Ford Escort
18 listings starting at $2,200
Used Ford Focus
384 Great Deals out of 5,119 listings starting at $975

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.