2003 Chevy Cavalier car engine shaking and check engine light is flashing.
Asked by Ricardoguitaro1 Sep 27, 2016 at 08:01 PM about the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Coupe FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My 2003 Chevy Cavalier recently started acting up. The engine shakes very
harshly when it's idle. When I drive the shaking issue seems to go away but
the check engine light starts flashing when I accelerate. Also when I am
accelerating there seems to be a lack of power behind it. I have to really press
down on the gas to get it going at faster speeds. I think the problem might
have something to do with the cylinders but I'm not sure.
16 Answers
firebird338 answered 8 years ago
When was the last time you had a tuneup ?
KingScorpion answered 8 years ago
Check your wires see if any burn marks or spilts
Ricardoguitaro1 answered 8 years ago
II changed the spark plugs to see if that would help. The check engine light was off when I turned the car back on, but the engine was still shaking vigorously. Then when I tried to drive it the check engine light came back on.
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Kind a sounds like its out of time but it may be a computer issue.
Ricardoguitaro1 answered 8 years ago
I'm pretty sure it's a cylinder misfire, but I'm not quite sure how to fix it. besides changing the spark plugs, what else could I do?
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Test them with a voltmeter in ohms. Put one lead on the tip that wire connect to and other lead to the metal threaded area it will read OL and the one lead to the other electrode tip that goes inside head and throws the spark and other lead to metal threaded area OL if neither or one reading is not OL its bad.
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
If all plugs are good wires can be tested too.
Ricardoguitaro1 answered 8 years ago
the plugs should be good because I just changed them. I was thinking that maybe it could be the ignition coil? or maybe the fuel injector?
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Check the connections to them first may just be loose.
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Sounds like a miss on one or more cylinders.
Ricardoguitaro1 answered 8 years ago
Hey guys, so it's definitely a cylinder misfire and I think I've narrowed it down to the ignition coils/control module. I used a test light to see if the ignition control module was distributing energy to the coils. When I checked them, 2 of the 4 prongs in the ignition control module weren't lighting up. So I assumed that that was the part that was broken. So I bought a brand control module to see if that would work, but I got the same result. 2 out of the 4 prongs did not light up. So now I'm completely stumped. Could it be the wires that connect to the ignition control module that's causing it to not work? PLEASE HELP
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Crank shaft position sensor sends its message to the ECM/PCM and then the ECM/PCM sends the data signal to the Ignition control module and the ignition control module (ICM) then tells the 2 coils when to spark. I vote Crank Shaft Position Sensor or bad wires to/from it.
enginecreator answered 8 years ago
Check to see if there is juice to the crank shaft position sensor if no juice check the wiring and fuses under hood & dash.
Ricardoguitaro1 answered 8 years ago
It was the ignition coil! I replaced that, and everything is running great. Thanks for everything guys!
