Cavalier FAQ

[KustmAce]

Ok, I frequent this forum, as I have a Cavalier myself, and I have noticed the same questions being asked over and over again. Frankly, its getting a bit irritating. This is why I decided to form an FAQ, to answer some of the main questions people have.

This will be a work in progress, and I dont know everything, so feel free to add as you see fit. Try to keep it in the same form as the one's I have done, so I can link to it.

Shifter Knob Removal
Want your car LOUD?

[KustmAce]

Shift Knob Removal:

1995-2000
There is a U-Clip underneath the knob. Put the car in 2nd, 4th or Reverse and use a flathead screwdriver or needlenose pliers to take it out.

2001+
Just pull straight up.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...t+knob+removal

[KustmAce]

Want your car loud?

There are several ways to get your Cavalier to sound lean and mean.

-You could head to your local Pep Boys or Checker Auto Parts and buy an APC muffler, and bolt it onto the tip of your stock system.
-You could buy a cat-back exhaust system.
-You could run straight pipes

Some resources for exhaust systems:

www.rksport.com
www.highrevmotorsports.com
www.magnaflow.com
www.flowmaster.com

If you want to avoid ridicule, want a loud sound and a good quality system, go with the cat back exhaust.

[PCracer51]

The shift knob removal is the same as the 1995-2001 for the 90-94 modles, or at least my 92 was

[trickedout13]

No free advertising

[Three_Fingers]

Here's a couple contributions from a Pontiac Sunbird (same thing as the Cavy) owner. This is mainly regarding the '92/'93s with the 2.0L SOHC engines, but a lotta this applies to just about ANY car.
Oil light flickering in hot weather? Don't suspect you oil pump or mains right away.
Synthetic oil is the way to go. Hot weather and dino oil don't work very well together.
Synthetic oil maintains it's viscosity better at high ambient temps. I use Castrol Syntec 10W40 year 'round. It's a bit more expensive, but oil is way cheaper than a new motor.

2.0 engine ticks and rattles like a Jamaican steel drum band? Been there-done that (twice).
Anything and everything you need to know about cam replacement and how to avoid having to do it all over again 3000 miles later I can tell ya.
I can also tell ya how to make that neat valve compressor tool that is no longer made (or if it is-it's flippin' impossible to obtain) used to shove the valves down so ya can remove the rockers and lash compensators to get the cam out.
It's made from a piece of el-cheapo bed frame, a section of steel bar from the bottom rack on an old shopping-cart, some collar clamps available from any hardware store, a J-shaped bar from an old electric garage-door linkage, and a carpenter's mini-"Wonder bar" twisted 90 degrees with the end ground out to fit around the valve stem.
With this tool you can bolt it down to your engine's rockerbox with the valve cover bolts and slide it back and forth to one-handedly remove all of the rockers and lifters on the exhaust side before switching it over to the other side for the intakes.
Beats loosening the rockerbox to relieve the spring-loading, eh?

Car running weird? Maybe your injectors are fouled.
You can make your own injector cleaning/flow test rig using an old portable drill stand, some 5/8" heater hose, an air compressor or hand pump, an air line water separator and one of those cheap "ultrasonic" jewelry cleaners, some coat hanger wire and a salvaged fuel injector electrical plug from the junk yard.

Cleaned and checked mine and they're good as new.
You wouldn't believe the crud that fell outta them.

Plugs and wires are the 2.0's worst enemy.
BUY THE GOOD, EXPENSIVE ONES!
Ya get what ya pay for and the $18.00 Advance wires'll mimic all kinds of problems similar to water in the fuel tank, TPS problems, O2 sensor problems, MAP sensor problems, etc.
Check the secondary ignition wires FIRST to save ya a lotta hassle.
The cheap ones burn out internally near the spark plug end-ya can't see it unless ya cut the wire and look inside.

Got a high-mileage 2.0? Everything's in order and no "check engine light" but the car still misfires when it's cold? Hard to keep coolant in the overflow bottle?
You probably have a cracked head.
This problem drove me bug-hockey until I pulled the O2 sensor out and saw it al eaten away and crusted white (The minerals in the water from my cooling system-water doesn't belong in the exhaust unless it's condensate from the chemical reaction of gasoline being burned-water vapor is one of the by-products of gasoline combustion, in which case there are no minerals in it because none have been dissolved in it to start with, as tap water DOES contain dissolved minerals from the ground it came from.). If there's white crud on the O2 sensor-there's only one place it can come from and that's the cooling system.
I found cracks between the intake and exhaust valves on cyls 2, 3, and 4.
Reg'lar Stanley Steamer, it was...no visible steam from the exhaust except on cooler, damp days it took longer than normal for the usual hot exhaust/cold pipes vapor to go away. Plus that annoying cold misfire...


Floorboards wet?
Ya prolly got plugged cowl drains. I cleaned a big McLargeHuge mouse nest outta the right side drain under the air intake plenum for my heating/cooling system. There's a rubber flapper blocking a hole on either side of the cowl vent area (where the windshield wiper linkages are. Clean those out and make sure the flapper is free to move and the interior flooding will stop.
Same for the lil' rubber elbow-hose thingy that drains you air conditioner's evaporator case. It's on the firewall down where it drops away under the car.
carefully stick a piece of coat-hanger wire into JUST THE HOSE and ream that sucker out.
Don't actually stick it in far enough to jab the actual evaporator core or you'll hear a big hiss and end up with 4/55 air conditioing (4 windows/55MPH) until you replace the core-and that job is a regular hop inna nuts, my friends...

Brakes feel weird? Pedal travel too far but brakes work OK near the floor?
Chances are your rear brakes need adjustment.
Most times the automatic adjusters don't work (I found that a brake center tech one time had installed the lower brake shoe return spring backwards which hung up on the star wheel adjuster and kept it from turning when the secondary shoe pulled on the ratchet.
Auto-adjusters work when you drive backwards and hit the brakes. the secondary (rear) shoe pulls on a lever which ratchets the star wheel so it turns and the shoes get spread out until they just contact the drum. It's supposed to make a perfect adjustment every time unless you assemble it wrong. The manual parking brake is also supposed to make this happen as it works on the secondary shoe also.
If your rear brakes are out of adjustment-your front pads are doing all the F$#@ing work and you'll go thru them like Sonny goes thru Cocoa Puffs... (An' I'm Coo-coo for f$#@ing Cocoa Puffs...).

Got a rattle in yer 2.0 on the passenger side?
It's prolly the accessory drive-belt tensioner.
The bearing takes a dump after awhile and the pulley gets sloppy. It rattles like hell, especially under acceleration whenthe top run of the belt bounces a lot. Cheap and easy to replace.

Replaced a timing belt recently and it keeps jumping time on ya?
That's because ya mighta forgot to tension it properly.
The WATER pump is the adjustment for the timing belt.
Yup, that's right. The $#@&ing WATER pump.
It sits in it's O-ringed hole on the front of the block and is driven by the timing belt. It's a concentric configuration which means it's off-center from it's hole. You adjust the timing belt tension by loosening the three bolts that hold it in and rotating it until the proper belt tension is reached-then you torque the bolts back down again.
The position for the old belt will MOST LIKELY NOT work for the new belt.
Contrary to popular belief-all replacement timing belts are NOT the exact same size.

Old R12 air conditioning sucks? Not cool enough?
Spend about $20 and get a R134a retrofit kit.
unscrew the cap off the low side service port and push down on the tire-valve (Schrader valve) looking thingy. If it hisses at ya, yer doin' it right.
rlease all of the old R12 (NOT EPA recommended but who gives a damn about them anyways, it's HOT outside!) Besides...R12 is regulated, expensive and you need to be a licensed plumber or mechanic to get it anyways...
Once the hissing stops COMPLETELY, screw the adapter fitting onto the LOW side service port.

This'll be somewhere either on the line that goes to the big condenser radiator thingy in front of your engine's cooling radiator, OR it'll be right there on the side of the accumulator vessel ('bout a fat soda can sized thing made of aluminum, sometimes covered by some dense foam rubber to keep it cool-the low-side (suction) line goes from it into the firewall to your evaporator core (where the cold air comes out into your AC ducts).
Screw the charge hose onto your 8oz oil charge can and plug it onto the service port.
Leave the engine off for this. Hold the can UPSIDE-DOWN so all the oil and refrigerant drains out as a liquid.

Then after the oil charge can is empty. Unplug it from the low side fitting and screw one of your refrigerant cans on there and plug it back into the low side fitting. Screw the valve down to pierce the can and open it back up with the can held UPSIDE DOWN again so the R134a comes out as a liquid.
NOW you can put another can on there, but this time hold it upright so a gas only comes out.
Start the engine and turn on the AC to MAX with the blower alla way up.
Now comes the part I can't stress enough. Make damn sure you hook up to the LOW side port!
With the compressor running if you hook up to the HIGH side (pressure) The line that gets HOT (the low side is the one that gets cold)
You stand a chance of having the can explode in your face and shrapnel sucks.
Don't confuse the ports now.
Keep adding the stuff until it won't take anymore.
Sometimes this can take awhile.

You should have icy cold air coming out of your vents now.

I usually keep an old, empty can of "Check and charge" refill on hand because it's got a gauge on it that measures the refrigerant charge whether ya actually use it or not. It's got a pushbutton to charge feature and ya don't hafta press it to read the charge in the system, just hook it up to the low side port. Overpressurization causes not enough cooling and seal damage and over-oiling plays hell with the reeds in the compressor. The compressor will let ya know if there's too much oil by hollering at you.

Well, that's it for now-I'll add more as I think of it..

[cyberphobia]

Can I post a car for sale on this forum.
THX

[KustmAce]

Yes, but we do have a classifieds section here at AF: here

Might get a better response there.