Basic car adviced needed (vehicle, trucks, mileage, engine)

[ilovemycomputer90]

I'm 19 years old and have been driving a 1998 chevy cavalier for over a year now. I got it when it had 114,000 miles on. I've put about 7000 miles on it. I didn't drive it very often (took the bus senior year of high school), but now I'm commuting to college four days a week, 60 miles round trip, with a nice mix of country driving, highway driving, and traffic sitting .

Recently I've been having problems with overheating. This year I've replaced the radiator, tubes, and the water pump. After the water pump was replaced, car ran fine and didn't overheat for months. But I just had the radiator replaced last week due to overheating issues again (it was way overdue anyway). Unfortunately it was still getting hot so the mechanics "flushed" something (heating or cooling system? not quite sure what was done here). Took it for a long drive yesterday and luckily the engine stayed at a normal temperature. Hopefully it'll stay like this.

Couple quick questions:

How long do these cavaliers normally last?

How often should the oil be changed? I don't want to be cheap when it comes to car maintenance but is an oil change every 3000 miles really necessary? Or could I get away with 4000?

How long is too long for cars to sit? Obviously I'll be getting plenty of use out of this vehicle this upcoming year (assuming it doesn't give up on me), but I was just curious. Last year I think I may have let it sit too long (more than a week at a time on occasion) which caused it to run a little funny when I would drive it for the first time in a while.

During the winter, how should I deal with the possible build up of salt and sand?

I know these are a lot of questions, but any advice would be appreciated. I just want to learn how to take good care of a car (this was partly inspired by my mother not changing her oil in over 6000 miles ).

Thanks

[sailordave]

Your car uses GM's Dexcool coolant. If traditional green anti-freeze is added it will gel up forming gunks of tube clogging materials. If you only used the dexcool coolant then that shouldn't be the problem. Had you had your thermostat checked or replaced? They're not expensive and some models are very easy to replace yourself. If the thermostat is sticking then it will stick shut and your car will overheat.

[ilovemycomputer90]

Yeah, the thermostat was replaced. I think there were two that were replaced actually.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by ilovemycomputer90

I'm 19 years old and have been driving a 1998 chevy cavalier for over a year now. I got it when it had 114,000 miles on. I've put about 7000 miles on it. I didn't drive it very often (took the bus senior year of high school), but now I'm commuting to college four days a week, 60 miles round trip, with a nice mix of country driving, highway driving, and traffic sitting .

Recently I've been having problems with overheating. This year I've replaced the radiator, tubes, and the water pump. After the water pump was replaced, car ran fine and didn't overheat for months. But I just had the radiator replaced last week due to overheating issues again (it was way overdue anyway). Unfortunately it was still getting hot so the mechanics "flushed" something (heating or cooling system? not quite sure what was done here). Took it for a long drive yesterday and luckily the engine stayed at a normal temperature. Hopefully it'll stay like this.

Couple quick questions:

How long do these cavaliers normally last?

How often should the oil be changed? I don't want to be cheap when it comes to car maintenance but is an oil change every 3000 miles really necessary? Or could I get away with 4000?

How long is too long for cars to sit? Obviously I'll be getting plenty of use out of this vehicle this upcoming year (assuming it doesn't give up on me), but I was just curious. Last year I think I may have let it sit too long (more than a week at a time on occasion) which caused it to run a little funny when I would drive it for the first time in a while.

During the winter, how should I deal with the possible build up of salt and sand?

I know these are a lot of questions, but any advice would be appreciated. I just want to learn how to take good care of a car (this was partly inspired by my mother not changing her oil in over 6000 miles ).

Thanks

1) With conventional oil just change your oil and oil filter every 3,500-3,700 miles and you should be fine.

2) I would always make sure my car is driven at least once a week--in the Winter twice, but this is not scientific.

3) In the Winter with salt and such just get a car was that washes the undercarriage. Every 3-4 weeks is what I do.

I have no idea on how long Cavaliers last, maybe some other members know, but it will vary greatly on how it was maintained in the past and the future.

I think it's good that you are asking these questions.

[ArcticPhoenix]

Originally Posted by ilovemycomputer90

How long do these cavaliers normally last? About 60K miles... you are extremely lucky your Cavalier is still running at all... my biological mother had two of them and they didn't last her more than 60K miles...

How often should the oil be changed? I don't want to be cheap when it comes to car maintenance but is an oil change every 3000 miles really necessary? Or could I get away with 4000? You could get away with 4-5K miles on it, depending on the quality of oil you use... but I wouldn't recommend it with such an old car.

How long is too long for cars to sit? Obviously I'll be getting plenty of use out of this vehicle this upcoming year (assuming it doesn't give up on me), but I was just curious. Last year I think I may have let it sit too long (more than a week at a time on occasion) which caused it to run a little funny when I would drive it for the first time in a while. Unless you live in an extreme environment, you shouldn't worry about 1 week of just sitting... (extreme being extremely cold or major swings in temperature)... I wouldn't leave it longer than a couple of weeks, but a week shouldn't cause the battery to run down or anything...

During the winter, how should I deal with the possible build up of salt and sand? Have your car washed regularly at a car wash that washes the undercarriage as well... this is extremely important.

I know these are a lot of questions, but any advice would be appreciated. I just want to learn how to take good care of a car (this was partly inspired by my mother not changing her oil in over 6000 miles ).

Thanks

I hope my answers help you. Now, granted, the vehicles my biological mother got may have just been from a bad... umm... "edition"... "batch"? Whatever.. anywho, Cavaliers are not, from my personal experience, very good vehicles. Most American made vehicles from the 90s (with some notable exceptions) are NOT that good of vehicles... quality wasn't the greatest back then, and even though they are decent cars now, this reputation is haunting them... Your anecdotal mileage may vary. However, I would not recomment a Cavalier that was released prior to about 2001-2002 to anyone. I hope that yours lasts you a long time, though.

[las vegas drunk]

To give you an idea how long Cavaliers last, if they are maintained...

Chevrolet : Cavalier:eBay Motors (item 390098515592 end time Oct-02-09 13:00:13 PDT)

[texdav]

You bascially are learnig a valuable lesson in maintenance. The manufacture publish a mantaincne shedulke and spend alot of time doing it. I have learn over the years that you need to stiock to it or even a little better or eventually it adds up to bigger problems.I know people that basiclly do liitle unless the car breaks down and then gripe because often it is inconvenrient;cost big bucks damage etc.

[Grandpa Pipes]

"How long do these cavaliers normally last? "

With proper maintenance you own a bulletproof car that will run & run & run & run & run.......

My son put over 200,000 miles on his 1996 then gave it to charity for some needy person to put more miles on it. Run like a top when they drove it off to the charity lot.

[ilovemycomputer90]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

To give you an idea how long Cavaliers last, if they are maintained...

Chevrolet : Cavalier:eBay Motors (item 390098515592 end time Oct-02-09 13:00:13 PDT)

Very impressive. Looks like a very well maintained vehicle. Unfortunately I don't have a garage to put my car in, so it's exposed to New Jersey's lovely weather.

I would also assume that living in a "mountainous" area would cause more wear and tear to the engine.

But great advice so far! Thanks!

[Deez Nuttz]

Originally Posted by ilovemycomputer90

Recently I've been having problems with overheating. This year I've replaced the radiator, tubes, and the water pump. After the water pump was replaced, car ran fine and didn't overheat for months. But I just had the radiator replaced last week due to overheating issues again (it was way overdue anyway). Unfortunately it was still getting hot so the mechanics "flushed" something (heating or cooling system? not quite sure what was done here). Took it for a long drive yesterday and luckily the engine stayed at a normal temperature. Hopefully it'll stay like this.

Couple quick questions:

How long do these cavaliers normally last?

How often should the oil be changed? I don't want to be cheap when it comes to car maintenance but is an oil change every 3000 miles really necessary? Or could I get away with 4000?

How long is too long for cars to sit? Obviously I'll be getting plenty of use out of this vehicle this upcoming year (assuming it doesn't give up on me), but I was just curious. Last year I think I may have let it sit too long (more than a week at a time on occasion) which caused it to run a little funny when I would drive it for the first time in a while.

During the winter, how should I deal with the possible build up of salt and sand?

1. Not sure how long they last but I'm sure 200k is not out of the equation with proper routine maintenance. I had one, a 95 model that had 146k on it when I got it and I sold it with 151 k on it. It ran and drove good but had an issue with the head that I didn't want to invest any more money into.

2. Change the oil every 3k miles. Yeah you could push it to 4k but why? Oil is the life blood of the engine. Clean oil is essential to the longevity of the engine.

3. How long is too long? Depends. I think once a month at minimum a car should be started and driven. What's "funny" about your car when you let it sit? I know mine in the morning the head would allow coolant to leak (it was cracked, a common issue on aluminum headed 2.2's) into the cylinder and on start up it would run rough and belch out white smoke until all the coolant was burned off.

4. In the winter, use the local car wash to get rid of the salt and sand.

Your car came with Dex-cool antifreeze. It's orange in color. It's notorious for gelling up and clogging up the cooling system. That's why we call it "Dex-clog".

That's probably what the mechanics were flushing out, was that orange marmalade looking jellified crap Dex-clog. Hopefully they replaced it with the good old green stuff. But another thing to check is to see if your electric fans are coming on. They don't come on until the engine hits a certain temp. When they do come on if your radiator is working properly you should be able to feel hot air coming out of the fans as it draws the ambient air across the radiator where heat exchange happens.