2005 Chevrolet Cavalier

Chevy Cavaliers are, without a doubt, the most poorly designed/built car ever sold. No offense.

If you search here, or on the internet, you will find a bazilllion posts from people with crappy Cvas.

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Good luck.

It sounds like your distributor cap is what is being described and this does fit the bill for your symtoms.

If the innards do get wet, yes, you will have your issue. Get with "your buddy" who first gave you this indication and confirm. If yes, replace cap and rotor..........Good luck.

Welcome to CR4, like what Lyn said there has to be "bazillion posts" asking the same basic question why their Chevy Cavalier won't start. It's hard to say what the part is from your description. So, if you could post a picture of the part that your in question of, someone might be able to identify it and direct you in the right direction. It seems like that you might be in over your head with this and that you'll end up having to take to a repair shop for the repairs.

My money is on the fuel pump. There should be a fuel rail with a schrader valve where you can test the fuel pressure.

Such a problem can occur when arcing takes place while the battery was disconnected and reconnected. I am almost certain that the on-board computer has been corrupted. The workshop handbook should give you what should be done in such a situation. You may try to see whether the problem disappears by exchanging the computer.

Check this site. The thing shown is called the coil pack, which is used with distributorless ignition. Your car doesn't have a distributor cap or rotor. The coil pack is expensive, so you should not replace it without being sure what the problem is. The spark plugs are under this thing, not in this thing. It is not likely that this entire thing fails all at once.

If you have a friend with a running Cavalier of about the same year, you could swap this piece, and see if that fixes the problem. A local junkyard might let you do this, too (maybe you could give them $10 to try theirs.) You might also look for a good mechanic that people trust.

If anyone ends up replacing several things (trying to find the problem without doing real troubleshooting) fight with them. Dual failures are extremely unlikely.

Talk to auto parts shops about your symptoms -- often they will know that there is a part that frequently fails on a particular model to produce your symptoms. For Cavaliers, the most common cause of the car being able to crank but not run is the ignition switch and immobilizer system. But all this stuff can be tested, so don't just start replacing stuff. First be certain you have found the cause (of the 25 or so that can give this symptom).

Ga from me K_Fry, I was thinking on the same lines, just didn't want to be the one to drop the bomb on the OP. I wonder if the OP has the skills to replace the coil pack? _{Could be like sending a novice into a 60kv sub-station, hoping they don't get fried while working within the sub-station.}

it sounds like a bad ground connection or battery terminal. clean all ground wires and apply a coat of grease to prevent corrosion. check the battery teminals for corrosion and frayed wires. have a load test done on the battery. check the battery cables for heat. that will indicate a a bad connetion.

does the motor crank slow. if it does, it could be a bad starter also.

iif all the ground and battery terminals are clean and it still won't start, take it to a gararge that can diagnose the problem. ignition modules are prone to fail.

1) One area to check is the Crankshaft position sensor (CPS). GM cars have one or two of these sensors and if they fail the car will turn over but will not be allowed to start. Check Wikipedia for reference info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crankshaft_position_sensor

2) One other thing is to borrow an ODBII code reader and see if there are any failure codes. Some auto parts retailers will loan or rent you a code reader. They can tell you what the codes mean and also provide information on what the most likely will resolve the problem if there is a failure code.

Metal recycling centres can help. Weigh it in.