2002 Cavalier LS Sport - 3 Problems

Hello,

I have 3 problems that I'd like to get some advice on. First of all, I'm not extremely mechanically inclined. I change oil, filters, rotate tires, but that is about the extent of my abilities. When I try to do more, I usually get in trouble. I am posting all 3 together since they may be somewhat related but I'm not sure exactly how.

Car: 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sport 2.2 L4 Ecotec - 88,000 miles (my daughter's car)

Issue #1
One week ago, we had the front struts and mounts replaced by a local shop. They also replaced the front lower control arm bushings. Today, I went to change the oil and noticed that I had 3 dash lights on. (service, trac off, and ABS) I asked my daughter if she noticed it while driving it this past week since we had the repairs done and she said no. The car seems to drive ok. Do you think it is likely that a wire wasn't hooked up right or perhaps they damaged a sensor when the shop did the repairs? I know this is probably difficult to tell for sure but I'm just looking for some possible things that they might have tinkered with while replacing the struts. Any idea what that combination of lights might mean? (service, trac off, and ABS) Any chance issue #2 could be causing the dash lights to go off?

Issue #2
I went ahead and changed the oil and while doing so, I noticed that the hose coming off the valve cover was in bad shape. It was cracked pretty bad and had a hole in it. I pulled it off and the local dealers didn't have the hose in stock so I just got a 1/2 ID hose (not preformed) from an auto parts store. When I went to put it on, I found that the barb on the big plastic piece (I think they call it a resonator) was broken. I thought it might be threaded in with some type of pcv valve but it appears to be just a hose barb. Now it appears I need to replace this piece or fix it. I went to the local hardware store and picked up a brass fitting with a 1/2 hose barb on one end and a 1/2 pipe thread on the other. My thought is that I can drill out the hole where the hose barb was and thread in the brass fitting. (I hope this would work like a tap/die set which I don't have.) I think the ID hole of the fitting is larger than the plastic one that was molded into the resonator but not positive. Do you think this will work? Do you have any better suggestions?

Issue #3
While taking the resonator off, I noticed that it had a milky substance that was collecting inside along with the other plastic piece that goes back to the air filter. I would guess I poured out 1/4 cup of the stuff or slightly more. I wiped it all out the best I could. The color of the substance was like peanut butter. It was about as thin as a melted milk shake. There was also this substance plugged up in the hose as well which may be the reason it was cracking also. Also possibly related, there was a little of this same type of substance on the underside of the oil cap but it was a more yellow color. In doing some reading, I found that this can be caused by not letting your car warm up enough in the winter. (My daughter is famous for starting it and driving right away. We have had some pretty cold weather over the last month or so. (midwest) This doesn't seem very normal to me even if the car is driven cold. (She drives about 10 miles one way to school) I'm hoping this isn't more major like a cracked engine block or blown gasket. The oil I drained while changing the oil looked normal to me and not milky. I have a compression checker kit that I bought to test an outboard boat motor but I have never used one on a car before and wouldn't really know how to go about it on this car.

I am posting a picture of the engine since this car had a few different engine choices. (The arrows are pointing the hose and the resonator housing.)

Thoughts ? Ideas? Suggestions? I would appreciate any help I can get on any or all of the problems described above. (Keep in mind I am not a mechanic so please use as much non-mechanic language as possible.)

Thank you very much.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg140/gnrboyd/2002CavalierLSSport22L4EcotecL61Eng.jpg

The "Service" light is that the little wrench looking one ?
Check the wiring and sensor condition on the front where the struts were replaced. May have nicked a wire, loose connector, make sure wires are securely in the connectors, check sensors for damage.

If all seems well test alternator output voltage should be a least 14 volts.

If still not resolved do a "trac off/ABS light" search in this forum.

As far as the milkiness in the resonator, the hose on the valve cover is the PCV valve ?

Oil fumes and condensation combine to give you what you observed in the resonator.

As far as threading the brass fitting in the housing, should work if properly bored and threaded, (Using a tap). Use red lock tight on the threads of the fitting.

Used this method on the overflow spout on a radiator, still no complaints from the customer.

Check the wiring harness's and sensors for damage on the front where the struts were replaced. Make sure the wires are securely in the connectors.

Check alternator for output voltage of 14 volts or better.

Threading the brass fitting into the resonator should work. Might want to use red locktite on the fitting threads.

If problem still not resolved do a search on this forum using :trac off/ABS light" as search.

Hope this helps.

Yes, the service light is the one that has the wrench icon.

I'm not really sure what I would be looking for in checking the wiring and sensor near the front struts. Is the sensor near the brake pads/rotor? (Like I said in my original post, I'm no mechanical genius.)

I wouldn't have any idea how to measure the alternator output. I have a volt meter but not sure where to connect it on the alternator. I have a battery load tester also so I assume that would tell me the same thing??

I am not really certain if the hose is the PCV valve or not. I don't think so because there isn't anything that looks like a PCV valve on either end. The hose just appears to connect the valve cover with the resonator. Where the hose barb broke off, there was nothing behind it. It was just a hose barb molded into the resonator.

Just to be clear, the resonator is made of plastic. It is about 1/8" thick so I am concerned that the brass fitting won't bite enough to hold. I don't own a tap and die set so I was going to rely upon friction and the brass threads to cut into the plastic. I thought if it didn't hold, I'd try some epoxy to keep it secure. Would lock tite even hold brass to plastic??

I appreciate your help.

I was able to get the brass fitting into the resonator and put the hose back on. I just used regular 1/2" I.D. hose since the no dealers in town stocked the pre-formed hose. It did kink a little but will be fine until I can order the correct hose. (I might not even need it but I'll probably get it anyway.) I cleaned out the gunk in the resonator also. I also took out the air temperature sensor, cleaned it up a little, and put it back.

None of the above had any bearing on the 3 dash lights. They are still present but the car still seems to drive ok.

I checked the alternator with my load tester and I'm around 14.2 or so. (In OK zone on meter.) I also pulled the fuse on the ABS under the hood and it was ok.

Since I had the struts replaced just last week, I am going to stop digging until I get a chance to talk to talk to the shop that did the strut work. I plan to take it to them this Thursday since I'm off work. Hopefully they will at least check it out and make sure it wasn't something they had done to create the problem. At the very least, they should be able to hook it up to their computer and tell me what error codes I have.

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks for your help.

That service light is the engine oil monitor system telling you to change the oil. To reset it, turn the key to the on position and fully press the gas pedal 3 times within 5 seconds. Sometimes a thick floor mat or a slightly stretched throttle cable will make it necessary to fully open the throttle by hand at the throttle body.

J-Ri - I tried your suggestion twice and no luck. There was only 3200 miles on the car since the last oil change so I wouldn't think a sensor would be telling me to change the oil. ?? Is the sensor looking at oil quality to determine if an oil change is needed? (I've only had the car 6 months and this is just the second oil change I've done.) Anyway, it didn't work for me. Thanks anyway.

That usually works on most GMs... some go through the radio, some go through steering wheel or dashboard controls... whatever your uses should be given in the owners manual. NEVER go by the oil life monitor... if you do, it'll definately be fine until the warrany is up. After that, they have a new car they'll sell you to replace yours with the junk motor. It goes by several things to determine how much life is left in the oil (and I forgot them all, could search if you really want to know). Change every 3,000 miles... or a bit higher with synthetic.

Please post back what the shops findings were. Extremely curious.

Will do. I have an appointment on Thursday.

Issue #1
One week ago, we had the front struts and mounts replaced by a local shop. They also replaced the front lower control arm bushings. Today, I went to change the oil and noticed that I had 3 dash lights on. (service, trac off, and ABS) I asked my daughter if she noticed it while driving it this past week since we had the repairs done and she said no. The car seems to drive ok. Do you think it is likely that a wire wasn't hooked up right or perhaps they damaged a sensor when the shop did the repairs? I know this is probably difficult to tell for sure but I'm just looking for some possible things that they might have tinkered with while replacing the struts. Any idea what that combination of lights might mean? (service, trac off, and ABS) Any chance issue #2 could be causing the dash lights to go off?




Had this problem with my '03 Cavalier. Those three lights on signify an issue with the ABS system. This can be caused by the harness not seated into the wheel speed sensor or the harness somehow damaged. GM has a technical service bulletin out to address this concern on the 2003-2004 Cavalier. The left wiring harness has a high failure rate. This may not be your problem, but the harness fits 95-05's so definitely worth a look.


ABS/Traction Control Lamp… The ABS warning and Traction Off warning light may be present on 2003-04 Chevy Cavalier and Pontiac
Sunfire vehicles. Diagnostic trouble codes C1223 and C1225 may be stored in memory. The codes indicate a defective wheel speed sensor. Replacing the sensor is not the solution. The condition is the result of a connection related problem with a front wheel speed sensor harness, usually the left side. Testing the harness with a volt/ohm meter may not reflect a problem, as the condition may only occur with suspension movement, flexing and vibration. The left front speed sensor harness connector wires may separate from the connector. A replacement harness from GM is available (part #12187091). The procedure involves splicing the new jumper harness into the existing harness.

Updates:

Issue #1 - I took the car to the shop this morning. I had explained to the mechanic about the 3 lights coming on (service, trac off, and ABS) and that just one week ago they had replaced the struts, strut mounts, and front lower control arm bushings. I thought perhaps during the install, they did something to cause the lights to come on.

The mechanic hooked up the scanner and reported that the front left ABS sensor was bad. (2 error codes but I did not write them down.. something about excessive wheel speed variation or something like that) He said there was no connection between the work they did to the suspension and this sensor so they could have not caused the failure. (The part is only 6" away from the strut) I tried to politely ask a couple of times if it would have been possible but he still said no. Keep in mind this mechanic is an extremely nice guy and I do think he is honest. (However, I don't like how he warehouses his parts at local auto parts stores, buys them at a slight discount off retail, and then adds in a hefty mark up. He claims this is common practice in the auto repair industry. My opinion is that if you are going to mark your parts up by 100%, you really need to buy at real wholesale rates to be fair to the customer. If not, you should maybe mark them up 10%-20% and no more. Anyway, that is another subject for another day.....)

He shows me the plug and the sensor. It appears in tact and not damaged. The plug also appears to be fine. I reluctantly tell the guy to go ahead and replace the bad part. He has to order it and I had to come back in the afternoon.

I bring the car back in the afternoon and they put the part on. It doesn't fix the problem. They then come back and say that they found the real problem which was a broken wire at the connector. He showed me the wire and one end was completely out of the plug. (It wasn't that way this morning but then again we were not pulling on it at that time.) Anyway, he tried to fix the existing plug but it didn't work. He didn't have a new plug and said he'd have to order it. I have to go back tomorrow before I will know 100% if that solves the issue or not.

rdh2.... looks like your posting was right on. Were you posting a service bulletin? Can I ask where you got it? If I print that out and take it to the mechanic, he might consider the possibility that they contributed to the problem and reduce the repair bill.

discnik... looks like you were correct as well about the abs sensor/wire.

He is quoting 85.00 for labor and parts to fix this issue. (35.00 part / 50.00 labor.) Considering my issue where proof isn't really possible, do you think this is fair? I did ask him to also take a look at the brakes since I've noticed some vibration/rubbing on the front end. What do you think about the 85.00. Ordinarily I wouldn't worry 85.00 which is small on an auto repair bill but I just spend about 800.00 a week ago on the struts, mounts, and lower control arm bushing and if they caused the problem, I think they should fix it. It's probably one of those things I'll just have to eat since I can't actually "prove" anything. Your thoughts?

Issue #2
The bandaid fix on the resonator seems to be holding up. I put an OEM hose back on to replace the straight hose I had put on last weekend. (It was slightly kinked and probably would have been fine but I wanted to put the right one on anyway.)

Issue #3
Based upon what others have said, the milky substance is probably from just not letting the car warm up enough in the winter. I will keep an eye on it though.

I'll post back when I know for sure if the plug fixes issue #1. I'd still like to know your thoughts about the repair bill.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

The shop got the wrong connector in on Friday, so they scavanged one from an old junker "out back" and didn't charge me for the plug. I still had to pay 51.00 for labor for all of their diagnostics and repairing the plug, but at least the lights are now gone. (I hope this plug holds up.)

It seems obvious to me that they somehow jarred the plug/wire when doing the struts and caused this issue to begin with but they said it wasn't possible. Just one of those things I guess.

Now, while driving it around I noticed a clatter in the front end when coasting. (more noticable at higher speeds) Also, when you brake gradually at a light/stop sign the wheels seem out of round. The mechanic said he recommended changing the rotors as they were probably warped causing both issues. (They were replaced by the previous owner about 35,000 miles ago.)

My daughter noticed the same thing after we got the car back and said she hadn't noticed it before. I now wonder if the broken wire to the ABS sensor could have caused the brake on that side to wear excessively, heat up, and warp the rotor. (Not sure if that is possible or not....just throwing out ideas.)

I guess since I will never know really what happened, I will just change the brakes/rotors and cross my finger that nothing else goes wrong.

hi everybody,i know that its been a while on this topic,but i have exact same problem ,my resonator air box broke,and i have this yellow peanut butter thing,im wondering how did u manage to connect pcv hose to resonator box

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1315/1c5463e7e96312619193320.jpg

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3012/95e65d945cfc12619192770.jpg

Welcome to AF!

In the future, go with your instinct and start a new thread if one is this old :)

I had that happen on mine... it's a terrible design, oil gets on the plastic and softens it. What I did was find a threaded fitting and a matching tap and tapped the hole for the fitting. I used a nylon one for low cost (as I was replacing the factory intake w/ a supercharger in a couple weeks), but I would strongly suggest brass or steel for a long-term repair. I coated the threads of the fitting with a two-part epoxy, you don't have to use as much as I did, I only used that much because we have pre-measured epoxy cups at work, which is where I was when I repaired it. It was either use it all or waste it. The reason for the epoxy was that you don't want to damage your new threads (and the plastic is very thin and kinda soft). I just snugged the fitting by hand and let the epoxy dry for a couple hours, that was the regular 24 hour dry-time (exactly like JB Weld, which is what I use at home). You could use the quick dry stuff too, don't need much holding strength, just to seal it and keep it from turning out.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh68/J-Ri/Airbox.jpg

And since I didn't see it before, here's my thoughts on the questions presented before:
Updates:

Issue #1 - I took the car to the shop this morning. I had explained to the mechanic about the 3 lights coming on (service, trac off, and ABS) and that just one week ago they had replaced the struts, strut mounts, and front lower control arm bushings. I thought perhaps during the install, they did something to cause the lights to come on.

The mechanic hooked up the scanner and reported that the front left ABS sensor was bad. (2 error codes but I did not write them down.. something about excessive wheel speed variation or something like that) He said there was no connection between the work they did to the suspension and this sensor so they could have not caused the failure. (The part is only 6" away from the strut) I tried to politely ask a couple of times if it would have been possible but he still said no. Keep in mind this mechanic is an extremely nice guy and I do think he is honest. (However, I don't like how he warehouses his parts at local auto parts stores, buys them at a slight discount off retail, and then adds in a hefty mark up. He claims this is common practice in the auto repair industry. My opinion is that if you are going to mark your parts up by 100%, you really need to buy at real wholesale rates to be fair to the customer. If not, you should maybe mark them up 10%-20% and no more. Anyway, that is another subject for another day.....)

He shows me the plug and the sensor. It appears in tact and not damaged. The plug also appears to be fine. I reluctantly tell the guy to go ahead and replace the bad part. He has to order it and I had to come back in the afternoon.

I bring the car back in the afternoon and they put the part on. It doesn't fix the problem. They then come back and say that they found the real problem which was a broken wire at the connector. He showed me the wire and one end was completely out of the plug. (It wasn't that way this morning but then again we were not pulling on it at that time.) Anyway, he tried to fix the existing plug but it didn't work. He didn't have a new plug and said he'd have to order it. I have to go back tomorrow before I will know 100% if that solves the issue or not.

rdh2.... looks like your posting was right on. Were you posting a service bulletin? Can I ask where you got it? If I print that out and take it to the mechanic, he might consider the possibility that they contributed to the problem and reduce the repair bill.

discnik... looks like you were correct as well about the abs sensor/wire.

He is quoting 85.00 for labor and parts to fix this issue. (35.00 part / 50.00 labor.) Considering my issue where proof isn't really possible, do you think this is fair? I did ask him to also take a look at the brakes since I've noticed some vibration/rubbing on the front end. What do you think about the 85.00. Ordinarily I wouldn't worry 85.00 which is small on an auto repair bill but I just spend about 800.00 a week ago on the struts, mounts, and lower control arm bushing and if they caused the problem, I think they should fix it. It's probably one of those things I'll just have to eat since I can't actually "prove" anything. Your thoughts?

Issue #2
The bandaid fix on the resonator seems to be holding up. I put an OEM hose back on to replace the straight hose I had put on last weekend. (It was slightly kinked and probably would have been fine but I wanted to put the right one on anyway.)

Issue #3
Based upon what others have said, the milky substance is probably from just not letting the car warm up enough in the winter. I will keep an eye on it though.

I'll post back when I know for sure if the plug fixes issue #1. I'd still like to know your thoughts about the repair bill.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

The shop got the wrong connector in on Friday, so they scavanged one from an old junker "out back" and didn't charge me for the plug. I still had to pay 51.00 for labor for all of their diagnostics and repairing the plug, but at least the lights are now gone. (I hope this plug holds up.)

It seems obvious to me that they somehow jarred the plug/wire when doing the struts and caused this issue to begin with but they said it wasn't possible. Just one of those things I guess.

Now, while driving it around I noticed a clatter in the front end when coasting. (more noticable at higher speeds) Also, when you brake gradually at a light/stop sign the wheels seem out of round. The mechanic said he recommended changing the rotors as they were probably warped causing both issues. (They were replaced by the previous owner about 35,000 miles ago.)

My daughter noticed the same thing after we got the car back and said she hadn't noticed it before. I now wonder if the broken wire to the ABS sensor could have caused the brake on that side to wear excessively, heat up, and warp the rotor. (Not sure if that is possible or not....just throwing out ideas.)

I guess since I will never know really what happened, I will just change the brakes/rotors and cross my finger that nothing else goes wrong.

Chances are that the problem was caused by them, but wasn't their fault. Things break sometimes, had the wire/connector not been flexed when replacing the strut, there would not have been a problem at that time, it probably would have been fine for a few more months. Flexing a good wire doesn't do any harm... It was probably bad, but not yet broken completely. Even though it's close, I don't see how they would hit the wheel speed sensor while replacing the strut. And he is right about the markup, that's common practice everywhere. It's pay more for the part or pay a lot more for labor, really makes no difference. The shop has to make money on it, after all it costs money/time to find the part and in most cases the car just has to sit on the hoist while the part is delivered, or has to be put back together without the part and put outside, both of which take time out of the technicians day that he doesn't get paid for. A lot of the time customers don't answer their phone right away and we're left wondering if we should move on to the ext car or wait for a call back. You'd be surprised how many people ignore several phone calls (for approval on a repair) and then call back an hour before closing and expect the car to be done since they called back. Anyway, there's frustration on both sides there :).

Since there's a TSB for this problem, the damaged connector probably wasn't there fault either. I can't even tell you how many times I've gently tugged on something and had it crumble in my hands.

$85 seems very reasonable for replacing the harness.

The "clatter" and the "warped" rotor may have been caused by them. Any time the rotor is removed (which it would have had to be for the sensor), you have to clean the rust off the rotor and hub or some flakes can make the rotor wobble a bit.

The sensor would not have caused any abnormal brake wear. Any time the ABS light is on, ABS is inoperative.

thanks a million.i really appreciate your quick response,and im gonna try to do my best to fix this problem