intermittent cranks, won't start

I'm guessing that your starter switch should be replaced. Try not to over think this.

Go over the remote starter wires. Those, and aftermarket alarms, are often badly wired

during the times it does NOT start....is the Security light flashing?

GW

No. But, I'm old enough to know how often I'm mistaken. I will check again, just to be sure.

I'm, not so good with new cars but on a classic car with an automatic that would indicate the neutral safety switch in/on the steering column. They are prone to rust and cracked plastic bits.

I don't think a Cavalier ever had a column shift...

OP, if the engine is running and you wiggle the key and/or adjust the tilt column, what happens then? I'm suspecting that the coil/run wire from the ignition switch is tenuous, but taking apart a steering column to verify is not a lot of fun.

nate

Right on that.

Nothing with the key.

An 'interesting' thing today, while driving: there was an intermittent buzzing under the dash. I reached under and flexed some wires, ... and the dash gauges all dropped to zero. The car kept running, though. After I changed the steering tilt, I couldn't get it to happen again.

I suspect the buzzing was a relay in the remote start module. Whether that's the cause of everything, or just a side-effect of the actual problem, ...?? It should make it easier to find the problem, in either case.

It was a bad splice in an ignition switch wire ('ckt 3' on the Chevy wiring diagram), buried under the dash. Whoever installed the remote starter had cut out a factory 3-wire splice, and tried to put 3 10-gauge wires into a 10-gauge butt splice. Not really a good fit.

That doesn't explain why it never failed after it got started. Maybe just luck, or maybe more adventures to come.

G

This car has separate circuits for the start and run positions. There's a r esistor that limits the current when the engine is running. If your car had no problem starting, but died as soon as you move the key to the run posit ion, the first thing you should check is the limiting resistor for an open circuit.

The 84 Cavalier I used to have with the pushrod 4 would consistantly give m e 27MPG. These days, the cars I have will give me around 17. Go figure!

Fuel mileage does not improve or gets worse due to the bloated weight and excessive power of current vehicles - does anyone really need a

5,000-pound vehicle with 350-HP to commute to work? (I often get by with 254 pounds and 9-HP - and 95 mpg.)

I also had an 84 Subaru wagon which weighed about the same (2300 lbs) with a 5 speed manual. Boy that engine was crappy. It got no more than

21 MPG. The Chevy with an automatic was faster and smoother. That's the last time I take automobile suggestions from hippies.

Had an '85 Cavalier with the 2.0 from about '92 til '98. Kids were embarrassed being seen near it after they got in high school. Wife didn't like driving it to work either. A real rust bucket. Gave it to my brother, who got a few more years out of it. Never checked mileage on it, but my '03 Impala does 33 mpg - highway. Not sure about city mileage.

My wife crashed the Cavalier into the back of a car which hit the car in front of it which hit the car in front of it. She said the car in the middle looked like an accordion. The front of the Chevy received minor damage. Another set of impact piston thingies and a bumper was around $100 from the junkyard. There was no rust on the car but it was pretty un-cool looking. Most car parts are over-priced or priced about right. Parts for the Chevy was so cheap it made me feel guilty to pay so little.

I sold it to some college kids and we'd see it around our little town for quite a while. I like to think that it's running around somewhere still.