Idled rough 2 times, ran fine then died. Lights been flickering a year. Please help.

Tiny
SBGTF06
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 135,000 MILES
Dome, Headlights And Panel Lights Flicker. I Had ABS Work Done. On The Way Home My Panel Lights, Dome Light And Radio/clock Lights Flickered. I Restarted The Car. A Mile Later All Lights And Instruments Flickered/jumped Like My Car Was Possessed.I Did Not Notice Any Engine Trouble Just Electrical. Had It Looked Over-nothing. Drove It For A Year With All Panel Lights, Clock, Radio And Headlights Flickering Super Fast The Whole Time. Last Night The Vehicle Idled Rough At Red Light. I Put N Neutral And Gave It Gas So It Would Not Stall. Happened Again At Next Red Light. I Got To Work And Let It Idle In Park Far A Minute And It Purred Like A Kitten. I Turned Off The Car And Made Sure It Would Crank. Perfect. 8 Hours Later, I Cranked It And Let It Idle In Park A Minute. Perfect. As Soon As I Put In R, The WHOLE CAR DIED. No Lights, Radio, Engine. DIED. I Got Scared And Quickly Turned The Key. I Did Not Notice The Switch Was In The Position Where You Could Roll Windows Down Without Cranking Car. All Of The Lights Came Back On On About 30 Seconds. I Turned It Completely Off. I Waited A Minute And The Car Cranked Again. Drove 15 Miles With No Prob. Today Someone Glanced At Wires, Vac Hose, Coil, Plugs And They Only Noticed A Crack In A Vac-fixed. Coil 'plug' Hanging On By The Boot-fixed. I Pulled Out Of There Drive And My Radio Crackled And All Lights Flickered Real Quick. I Turned The Car Off. Cranked It And Drove 5 Miles No Prob. Auto Parts Said That Alternator Was Pushing 14.2 So It Was Good. My Battery Had To Be Replaced. Cranking 'amps?' Was Supposed To Be 500 (or 550) And Was Only Putting Out 184. My Dome Light, Panels And Headlight Did Not Seem To Flicker So I Thought I Was In The Clear. Drove 10 Miles And The Flickering Started Again. I Am Scared To Death To Drive Because I Do Not Want To Lose All Power While Going Down The Road Or An Electrical Fire. I Do Not Know What To Do. Ongoing Problem May/not Have Anything To Do With This Is The Classic 1998 Cavalier ABS Problem. My Car Does A Popping Under The Hood Close To The Driver And My ABS & Traction Lights Come On. On 2 Occassions I Had Been Stopping During This Systems Check And Lost Brakes.
Saturday, February 25th, 2012 AT 1:33 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
The first thing I would do is have your battey tested make sure your battery cables are clean and tight. Also have the alternator tested.
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Saturday, February 25th, 2012 AT 1:46 AM
Tiny
SBGTF06
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks for replying. I did. My alt is excellent, but the battery needed replacing so I did.
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Saturday, February 25th, 2012 AT 2:00 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Are you sure the battery cables are clean and tight?
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Saturday, February 25th, 2012 AT 3:18 AM
Tiny
SBGTF06
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Yes, the mechanic sprayed the cables and used the wired brush.
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Saturday, February 25th, 2012 AT 11:25 PM

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