1998 Chev Cavalier Malfunction - Electrical & Lighting Systems

Question: I have several symptoms that I'm hoping has one cause. The dome light won't come on, checked bulb and fuses and they're good. The high/low indicator blinks on and off continuously. Occasionally the temp gauge drops to zero and then returns to normal. When this happens the warning lights blink on. Thanks for your help jj

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Technican: Hello, Did all these symptoms appear at the same time? Has anyone been working on the car recently that a ground wire might be loose or broken? Have you checked all the fuses when the key is "ON"? I'll need to do some research about wiring and the possibility of a body control module's relation to all these functions/systems.

Owner: We just recently purchased this car so I'm not sure if someone has worked on it. I suspect someone has been into the dash. When the temp gauge drops to zero, if the headlights are off, I noticed that the headlights would turn on. I also noticed that if I keep the engine revved up that the problem doesn't appear. The voltage at the battery is 11.9 volts and doesn't seem to drop at idle. Would a scan of the OBD-II system tell me anything? The Hi/Low indicator doesn't tell if the High Beams or Low Beams are on, it just blinks on and off at about a one second rate.

Technican: Have you had the alternator checked? If the engine is running, the volts at the battery connections should be around 13.6-14.2 vdc., 11.9 is too low. It takes only 7 vdc to turn "off" the no charge light on a dash. But it takes amps ( not just volts ) to charge a battery and run all the systems demands. A local (national chain) auto parts store will check your battery and charging system at no fee if you can get down there. Give them a call and confirm this and lets rule these posibilities out. One thing is for sure. Low voltage drives the car's body systems nuts. I doubt OBD II will tell you much here. You may see a charging system out of range code. In this case it would mean dropping too low. Is there a ground wire from the battery negative cable connection running to the car body in addition to the heavy cable that grounds on the powertrain? Should be. What series Cavalier do you have, please? What size engine?

Technican: Hello, any change in the status of this question? Just checking in with you,

Owner: We found that the small wire on the ground side of the battery cable wasn't there. I ran a 10 gauge wire from the battery terminal to the base of the battery bracket and that corrected the flaky dash light operation and the radio operates normally now. Where is this wire normally connected at? I still have the brake light, abs light and air bag light on. I hoping that the poor grounding has caused error codes that need to be erased to get the lights to turn off. I am able to lock up the rear brakes. Would error codes disable the abs system? Thanks for all your help Jack

Technican: The ground wire you made would have been originally attached to a bolt or threaded stud on the radiator support or the front fender under the hood. Locations can vary but the consistancy is that the battery negative cable connection grounds to the body in addition to the powertrain. Have you re-checked all of your fuses with the key in the ON position to ensure they are all good? What series Cavalier do you have, please? What size engine? It will help my research to know.

Owner: It has the 2200 engine. I looked at the fuse for the air bag and it looks good. How do you check them with the power on?

Technican: To check fuses with power on I use a 12 volt test light (available at Wal-Mart Automotive Dept., Sears, and national auto parts chain stores) with the aligator clip connected to a good ground on the car body. Just touch the probe end of the test light to the top of each fuse on each side of the fuse where you see the metal contact just below the plastic. The light should light on each side of each fuse that lights the test light at all. Note: Some fuses won't light the test light at all unless that particular system is turned on first. Examples would be a rear defogger or headlamp/foglamp fuse. You may use a dc volt meter for the same task. You would look for battery voltage instead of a light to verify the status of the fuse.

Technican: Still need help here?

Technican: How are you doing with this car, please?

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