Sitting in park the speedometer needle will go from zero to 35 automatically with out driving?

Tiny
ACLORI66
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 27,000 MILES
When the vehicle is sitting in park the speedometer needle will go from zero to 35 automatically with out driving. I replaced the speed sensor but it still moves up without car being on or driving it. Example the car is not driven for a day and it sits. The next day I decided to drive car the speedometer needle has moved from zero to 35 just sitting. Can you let mw know why. Thanks
Thursday, October 7th, 2010 AT 6:29 AM

14 Replies

Tiny
CCLARE2001
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2005 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
The speedometer on my car has stopped working and the fuse is suppose to be good how can I go about fixing this myself and what might the problem be? Any help would be great thanks
cclare2001
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
SIRSCHMOOPY
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2003 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
My speedometer on my '03 Cavalier is constantly wrong. I can have my car at a complete stop and the speedometer will read like 50 mph. Just today I was driving and it wasn't even on the speedometer, it was pointing directly down when I was going around 65 mph and then stayed there when I turned my car off. This has been happening several times a week and the only thing I can do to try to correct it is to start turning over my engine. What is the problem?
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
DANNY L
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello, I'm Danny
It sounds like the printed circuit board or the stepper motors in the cluster may be faulty in the cluster to be causing an abnormal reading since the car is otherwise running normally. I've attached picture steps below on how to remove and replace the trim to gain access to the cluster as well as remove and replace the cluster itself on your Cavalier. Some places like speedometer shops can repair instrument clusters. Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
BRIANADENAY
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
  • 2002 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 184,000 MILES
I have the car listed above and I took it to get an oil change. When it was done my car was smoking coolant was leaking out of my car, speedometer isn’t working and it won’t shift out of first gear. It wasn’t like that before I took it in or any days prior. I pay attention to my car so I know when something is wrong. Can anything I named gone wrong with someone doing an oil change on my car? I feel like it’s the places fault rather than my car just being old like they are trying to tell me. Again noting was wrong with it before I took it in. The assistant manger from the place drove to my house and told me it was my heater core. I looked up info in that but I never had any of those warnings to inform me and even transmission doing anything crazy. I’m really confused and frustrated. Please have some type of answer that could make sense to me.
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
It is hard to link those things that are happening to an oil change but anything is possible. However, it feels like some info is missing. How long after the oil change did this start? Was it doing as soon as you picked it up or some days after?

Next, did they only do an oil change or did they perform other services as well?

Based on the info so far, I don't see how it is related and I am not sure the heater core makes sense either if the speedometer isn't working and transmission issues. However, I suspect they aren't address that. More then likely the heater core will just address the coolant issue.

Let us know this info and we can go from there. Thanks
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
BRIANADENAY
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
KASEKENNY1
It’s started like 5-10 minutes after the car was taken from the place. They said the just topped off my fluids ie, coolant and transmission. So it wasn’t days it happened just mins after. I’ve always taken it there and I’ve never had any issue with my car after it left from getting an oil change. I just think is super strange.
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
If that is the case then it makes the idea that it is a coincidence pretty hard to believe. It is possible that they didn't do anything but if it were me, I would be asking them to check it out. When the service manager looked at it and said it was the heater core, did you show him everything it was doing including the speedometer?
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
WRENCHMAN002
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
  • 1996 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 96,000 MILES
The speedometer quits after 35 mph. The odometer is still working while the speedometer drops to 0. We replaced the vss and it does the same thing. Cant figure out what else could be wrong. Any one have some suggestions.
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
RHALL77
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,361 POSTS
Stop at your local dealer and have a sweep test performed on the speedo gauge. You may need a new IP cluster. The stepper motor may have went bad
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
WRENCHMAN002
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
The cluster is one piece and I was told I have to get a new cluster, found one on ebay for 59.00 for a company that repairs them. Thanks for your help
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:28 AM (Merged)
Tiny
2CP-ARCHIVES
  • MEMBER
  • 4,542 POSTS
  • 1992 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 100,000 MILES
1991 Chevy Cavalier. The speedometer stopped working. Nothing is digital. Everything is completely basic. Nothing powered. I looked for a cable behind the dash and found nothing. Not even anything close to a cable. Looked AGAIN for anything that looked like a sensor or (anything) NOPE. Looked around the engine for a sensor or cable. I'm pretty lost now. O.K. I bought the book on the car and it sort of helped. It told me to replace the cable. Went to buy one. The mechanic there said it should be a sensor. Possibly just corroded. LOOKED and LOOKED. Just can't seem to find it. Found something. (This will be interesting to explain) here it goes. I found a wire it connects to a big round cylinder. Located closest to the windshield (under the hood) on the left hand side. (It's located way up in the hood, I mean right next to the windshield, not even close to the transmission right behind and to the left of the air filter) Now, the cylinder has two wires going into it. One is black colored, that one looks really clean and inserts into the cylinder. 2 pink colored, simply has a clip, and slips onto a L bracket (pretty small). Went ahead and unscrewed the pink one. Cleaned completely. No more corrosion. Reconnected. Wow! The speedometer wants to work. Where can I find were the pink wire goes. It should go to the transmission. But where? Can I get to it without dropping anything off? Like the cover of the transmission? I really need help. (Can you tell)? I know you two get a lot of goofy questions. This will be one of the best. Using cylinder as a description. Please help me out after you get done laughing. Thanks guys!
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:29 AM (Merged)
Tiny
2CP-ARCHIVES
  • MEMBER
  • 4,542 POSTS
We are not laughing we know how frustrating it can be to solve car problems. We are not sure what the big round cylinder is or what the pink wire is about without having the car in front of us. However we feel your problem is with the vehicle speed sensor. It should be located on the transmission tucked underneath the motor very close to the passenger side axle. If the wires have come off or are corroded, this could be your problem. If the wires and connectors look okay, then most likely, the sensor is bad.
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Thursday, July 8th, 2021 AT 10:29 AM (Merged)

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