I was driving down the highway making a turn and my power steering went out it beeped at me and the dash displayed "power steering". When I restart my car its fine for a wile but then it dose it again and from what I can tell speed, turning,rpms, temperature distance have nothing to do with it. I was ran off the road due to this with my wife and child in the car my daughter smacked her head on the window I tore something in my should just trying to steer.
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt electrical complaints
Page 11 of 12: complaints 281 to 310 of 323, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Power steering failure signal comes on after any length of time of driving, at any speed and on any pavement. The steering wheel locks up and the car has to be turned off and restarted in order for the steering to reset. Fuel injection failure. Key won't turn in ignition. Cd player picks and chooses when it will work.
2005 cobalt door automatic.. Since june-july of 2006, the automobile has repeatedly been taken to 2 different dealerships for repair or correction during the warranty period. The would act as to stall, shaky, and hesitate while driving. Each time the dealer said they were unable to find or determine the problem. Now, that the warranty is out and the car has done the same problem (july 10. 2008) the dealership says there is a problem and they will have to look farther into it.. I knew this was going to happen, the moment its out of manufacture warranty, they can find a problem with it.
2005 chevy cobalt power steering goes out at random, car locks you inside, you have to go out the window, car dies while driving. These are all common problems with this car. Chevy does not make redesigned parts to replace its current stock of bad parts. Someone is going to get hurt, if chevy is not forced to take action.
Power steering light warning light comes on check engine light comes on, security anti theft light comes on all gauges fail, speed, gas,tack the car will run rough and stall car will not shift multiple computer error codes dealer replaced a computer component didn't fix problem. The car is unsafe to drive when problems occur.
Started out with the modulator going out one week after I had my car. Now every week my wipers quit working and the fuses have to be replaced. I have seen sparks come from the fuse panel and I am worried about a fire. I am to take it to the shop on monday. That's as soon as I can get in. This should not be happening. This was my first new car and I have heard nothing but horror stories since I bought it. I haven't met a happy cobalt owner. And I can't wait to get rid of it. The incident date is not accurate because it is happening every week.
I have had my 2005 chevy cobalt since july 2005. At 800 miles I had it serviced for a leak in the passenger floorboard. It was in the shop 5 times before they found a fix. Next was the lights flashing on the dashboard, specifically the check engine, brake and high beam lights. Then the heater would not blow so it was in the shop to have that fixed. Then the reverse lights stopped working and there is condensation in the headlights. Now, two days ago, my power steering light comes on and it becomes very hard to steer. I almost had an accident when I couldn't turn fast enough. When you turn the car on and off it works again temporarily. I will be taking it to the shop again, but at this point it has 50,000 miles and is out of warranty. Very disappointed with the quality of this car!!
Went out to warm up my car, as I do every morning. The car would not start. When we got it started , it sounded like a go kart or 4 wheeler putting. Decided to drive it to dealer and had my husband follow. It made it about 5 miles and started smoking and sparks were coming from the exhaust. It died and wouldn't start back. We had to call in a tow truck to take it to a dealer. The dealer just informed me that it is an ignition module. We will see if that fixes the problem. This car had problems since the day I got it. When I got home with it in august 2005, the trunk ajar light stayed on even though the trunk was not open. Took it in to a shop and they replaced a computer, which immediately burnt out while there. I had to wait an additional week for them to get another one in. About may of 2006 the car was leaking from the air vents and the passenger dashboard. Took it in and the problem seemed to be fixed for a while. May of 2007 I had the same problem and took it to another chevy dealership the problem seemed to be fixed for only 2 days. It still leaks to this day and I get condensation on the dashboard when it s hot enough. My radio has shorted out twice from this problem. My trunk constantly makes weird tapping noises and when people are in my car, they think someone is in the trunk. My car is now at the third local dealership on about its 6 + visit. I see other people with the same complaints as myself, and wonder why we are all paying out of pocket for things that should apparently be recalls. My gauges also work by themselves, when the car is off and keys are removed. The dealers claim this never happens in their view. I am very dissatisfied with my purchase and would not recommend this vehicle to anyone. Mainly because of the lack of concern from the chevy dealers to fix the solutions for myself and others that I have read about.
2005 chevy cobalt issues with the ignition module and stalling. Consumer states that the ignition module is defective causing the vehicle to stall. *kb the consumer stated the ignition lock cylinder would bind, which made it difficult to turn. The dealer replaced the shifter assembly, however the problem continued.
Car purchased on 3/14/05 from rk chevrolet. Starting sept. 12, 2006 the car electrical system started malfunctioning. Various dash board lights came on, tick noise from the shifter, power steering light and fails, and the gauges began to go crazy! The car also wanted to shut off, and has boosts of energy. The same issue occurred november 2, 2006, june 8, 2007, september 19, 2007(colonial chevrolet), and october 16, 2007 (colonial chevrolet). After we got it back from colonial, the same problem occurred approximately 2 days later. Colonial chevrolet indicated that that could not fix the problem and they were waiting to talk to gm about it! They even suggested initiating a buy back. We have been in contact with gmac in detroit about the issue and no answers have given nor a resolution. Currently we have to drive a very unsafe car that jolts, can't turn, and will not accelerate at times. We have been requesting at least a rental (safe car) until this problem can be addressed and no one has offered this in lue of a resolution. What has been done: PCM replaced: (9/15/07)body, throttle (8/7/07, 11/2/06), replaced: body control (11/2/06); shifter bind & ndash; replace slide, automatic control lever replace, floor shift replace, wiring /connector steering suspension ride control??< control assembly. Floor shift replace (9/12/06).
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the instrument panel lights do not illuminate at all. The vehicle is currently at the dealer and they stated that the vehicle was designed in that manner. The current and failure mileages were 14,160. Updated 1/15/09 *cn on rainy or foggy or overcast days, the instument panel light does not come on. The vehicle has black faced gauges which can not be read under those conditions. Updated 01/21/09.
I have a 2005 chevy cobalt with less that 30k miles I was driving home from work when my car just shut off no hazard lights turn signals brakes steering no power at all I could have been killed in all traffic because there was no way of signaling. It took three tries to get it started again there was no warning check engine light never came on I immediately took it to the dealership because this was the second time it has happened to me I had this problem last year also gm never had a recall they just put a plastic piece around the ignition and said it was fixed I told my dealer that there was a bulletin out about this and I asked them why there was no recall to replace the ignition switch after this second incident gm wanted to put a magnetic device in to keep the key from moving in the ignition any they placed a piece of plastic in my actual key I called gm and placed a formal complaint because this is a serious safety concern people are going to be hurt or killed if they get involved in a rear end collision or have no way of pulling off roadway spoke to my service manager and dealership replaced ignition switch there has never been a recall on this I do not trust that it will not happen again I am afraid to drive this car this is not the only problem I have had with this car the fan blower the shift on the floor the sunroof switch keeps falling out of the roof the window motors have burned out my interior paint and door handles were peeling after the first year I don't blame my service department because they have fixed the car the way gm told them to I feel very unsafe in this car why should I have to wait until he ignition shuts off a third time this could be my last if what is gm doing about this? Are they going to do a recall? What else has to happen to me before they take this seriously? I am extremely dissatisfied with this car and I do not want it anymore. *tr * 12/12/07 *bf the dealer stated driver side rear power window was inoperable. Updated 12/12/07
I had been driving my 2005 chevy cobalt coupe yesterday for about an hour and a half when it just suddenly shut off. I had the cruise control on and was going about 80mph and I have about 27,000 miles on the car. I lost power steering and had to coast over to the side of the road. No warnling lights came on before hand. After I pulled the car over, I was able to restart it with no problems and it drove fine all the way home for another hour or so. I have seen many other complaints on this website similar to this one. Luckily there were no cars around and the road wasn't very busy but its disturbing to imagine what would have happened if that had not been the case. The car is going to be worked on tomorrow so I don't know what the dealer thinks is wrong with it yet.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The engine turned completely off. There were no prior warning indicators. The MPH was unknown. The dealer replaced the ignition switch, however; the failure continued. The current mileage was 15,804. The failure mileage was 15,700.
I had just over 25,000 miles and my first my power steering light came on then the car just started stalling and power steering locked up, also was making a clicking noise. Then the car competely stalled and could not be moved at all. The dealer replaced the shifter. My car again was fine while driving on the highway approximately a month to two months then my warnign chimes were coming on but indicating nothing. After a total of a trip on the highway after slowing down to a mim. Speed on non-highway my power steering light again came on and my car started stalling and jumping, steering locked up and car was making a grinding noise. I shut the car off and restarted, it was fine for the time and as soon as possible I sent to dealer for repair. Dealer states it is the body control modular. I am afraid that my life my be in danger if this would happen at highway speed not to mention the lives of others on the highway as well other chevy cobalt owners.
Severe steering and braking problems. Mechanics can't find problem. A lot of times, on the highway or at speeds greater than 40 MPH the steering starts to shudder and make a machine gun noise with each rattle. The rattling slows down as the speed slows down. There have been times where I had to pull over because it felt like a flat tire, only to get out of the car and inspect the car and see that the tires were fine. The problem goes away after shutting the car off and restarting it. When braking while going at speeds 40 MPH or higher the brake gets soft and mushy feeling, and doesn't appear to slow the car down enough, and the shudder starts in the steering wheel again with the rat-a-tat sound for every shudder. I brought this car to dealer several times, and the mechanics could not get the car to do the same for them. The last time, one of the staff members mentioned that there may be a problem with the electronic steering/suspension system ,and that gm was trying to figure it out. Recently, I took the car in for a brake check at another shop - the mechanic said the brakes were fine, nothing' was wrong with them, but the car still did its shuddering. I' had two front end alignments, and rotation of wheels, still the same problem. I feel that one of these days the shuddering is going to cause a potentially fatal problem, when the brakes, steering or suspension go out. I also noticed on 6 different occasions that the brake light came on just for a second. It's never stayed on, and it didn't come on during the shuddering moments. The car stalled a couple times, but they were so far and few between. The back light on dashwas hard to read when headlights were automatically on during the day.
My 2005 chevy cobalt sedan randomly shuts off while driving. So far it has happened about 6 times. The first time was a few months ago. I was driving at a speed of about 30mph making a left turn crossing a very busy lane of oncoming traffic when the car just shut off. The radio was still on but if I pressed on the gas, nothing. I had to put the car in park, shut off the ignition and then restart it. It immediately started back up. I called the dealership right away and was told that because no warning lights came on they wouldn't be able to trace the problem and hopefully it was a one time thing. Well then about a month later it happened again. The dealership told me to wait about a week and call back, well within a week it happened again so I called and told them I was bringing it to them. When I brought the car in they installed a flight recorder and sent me on my way. About a week later the car shut off again so I pressed the button on the flight recorder and brought it back to the dealership. The mechanics informed me that the flight recorder did not work because they forgot to put something else on my car at the time of the installation in order to make the recorder work and wanted me to bring the car back to have the recorder re-installed. I refused and told them I would bring the car back but they needed to keep it until they figured out the problem. On my way back to the dealership the car shut off again while going 65mph on the highway. The dealership had the car for about a week and claimed it was fixed for sure. They said they found the problem and replaced the ignition switch and power train relay. Well I have now had my car back for two weeks and as of last night it happened again. I called the dealership and told them to have the car towed because I refuse to drive it. At this point I do not want the car and have no faith in them repairing it. The car should be recalled before there is a fatality.
My 2005 chevy cobalt has shut off 3 times while driving on the expressway. The car acts just like you turn off the ignition while you are in the driveway, except you are driving 70 MPH and there is traffic all around you. When we pull over and park the car, the car starts right back up and drives fine. There have been no obvious warning signs indicating that something is going to happen. The first failure was when my wife was driving the car for about 45 minutes. She told me that the cobalt turned off while she was driving and had to pull over and turn it back on. She was driving at 75 MPH and did not have cruise control on. The second time I was driving the cobalt with her as a passenger. We were driving at 75 MPH for about 40 minutes when the car turned off. We made an appointment with the dealership and told them about it. The dealership replaced the defroster switch and updated the computer. The third time I was driving with my wife. We were driving at 75 MPH with cruise on a really straight stretch of highway. I was not touching anything and was talking to my wife when the car turned off. I pulled over and immediately called the dealership. The dealership drove the car for 40-45 miles and checked the computer. They told us that they saw no codes and could not duplicate the problem. They gave us the gm customer service number and I them regarding this safety concern. Gm told me to take it to another dealership for them to look at it to see if they could duplicate the problem. This dealership only drove the car 8 miles and told us that they did not have time to spend driving the vehicle longer. I called gm again, the adm of the area passed on to us that, since the problem cannot be duplicated, the only things that we can do is to 1) attach a flight recorder to the vehicle and continue driving it in hopes that this problem continues and we can catch it with the flight recorder or 2) take a service man on a road trip to see if the problem duplicates.
Tl*- the contact stated that while driving the 2005 chevrolet cobalt at 25 MPH, the dashboard icons turned on, the vehicle began to jerk back and forth. While stopping at a red light the vehicle lost power, and had to be restarted. The vehicle lost power again while going up a steep hill, the vehicle had to be restarted. The vehicle has not been driven since. The vehicle was being assessed at the dealership. Stalling happened on 4 occasions. *ak the trac light and brake light illuminated. Various componets were replaced on the vehicle, however the problem continued. Updated 02/22/07.
#1 I brought it back because steering wheel always was to the left even though I was going straight. Dealer said it was fine, I complained to customer service and then dealer said they fixed it. When going straight the steering still looks left. #2 air conditioning not working, #3 liquid coming out of vents #4 cricket noises out of passenger side dash area. I was told air conditioning was fine, no cricket noises and it was normal for fluid to come out of vents. I brought the car back again said A/C is not fine I asked them if it could be some sort of filter (I am no mechanic) but it was. They had car all day, went to pick it up but they said dash was apart because they were fixing the problem with the fluid coming out of the dash (and I said I was told there was no problem) they had the car for the weekend. They tried to charge me for the filter and I said I would not pay for it because there was problems with that AC and defroster etc since day one. They took out the filter and put in an old dirty filter that did not come from my vehicle as the guy from the chevy dealership in malden said he found it in the trash, (has made my daughter sick). #5 while driving the car I was getting off of the highway into a rest area and the car just died, there was no power steering no brakes etc. The key was in the switch and it was not off. I started the car up again. #6 the electrical didnt work, they fixed that. I have contacted chevy customer service on several occasions and they say they will check into it etc and call me back, but they never do. I want them to fix the steering wheel, fix the car stalling out for no reason (we could have been killed) and put in a new filter not someone elses dirty filter. I don't trust the malden dealership. I have brought the car to the dealership on at least 7 occasions most of which they say nothing wrong.
I purchased my 2005 chevy cobalt in march of 2005. I have had repairs done in june of 2005 on recall for air conditioning unit. No real problems until last month 12/2006. The car, while driving at 65 MPH just shut off (no warning). I had no steering, no brakes and thankfully was able to coast to the side. About 5 minutes later I was able to start the car to try to get it to the next exit. The car was driving ok so I tried to get to my destination (slowly under 50 MPH) the car then began to lose power and shutter. As soon as it started it stopped. Took car to dealer and computer was fixed. No problems until 1 week later. Car at a red light just stopped working and now has no power to accelerate. Taking car back to dealer but very frustrated over brand new car not working properly.
My cobalt has been in repair the center at 2 different dealerships for a total of 17 visits. The air conditioner leaks excessively into the passenger floorboard. My headlight indicator comes on repeatedly, my temperature controls do not always work, my emergency brake light comes when the brake is not on, most recently my gauges have been quitting as I am driving and my left blinker has stopped working. My car has been in a shop for a total of over 60 days since I bought it in sept. 2005. I have contacted gm/chevrolet in an attempt to settle these problems and they will not assist me. My warranty will expire in less than 8000 miles. Gm/chevrolet - manufacturer and dealerships- will not assist me. I am very unsatisfied with my purchase, gm delivered a defective car and they will not stand by their reputation.
I was driving at about 20 MPH after stopping at a red light when my car shut off, my dashboard lights went blank. I was able to restart my car and it has happened since. Today while driving at 65 MPH on the interstate, my car started to shake badly and I almost lost control. I tried to brake but it made the shaking worse. The car felt like it had lost power. I was able to pull over. I thought at first maybe a flat tire but no. As quickly as it happened it went away. I am very unhappy about this and had problems with gm cars before. You would think I would have learned my lesson and went with a honda or toyota.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 30 MPH on normal road conditions, the engine stalled, all dash board indicators blacked out and there was no power braking. No warning signals alerted the contact prior the incident. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The problem recurred on two other occasions. The manufacturer opened a case and referred the contact to the dealership. The vehicle was taken to the dealership who reset the electronic module, however the defect persisted. *ak the windows would go down slow, the intermediate steering shaft was replaced. Updated 11/30/06.
Car stalls while driving at all speeds with no warning. Dealership unable to duplicate problem.
First it was the engine stall due to faulty fuse box which they fixed. Then there was the sun roof cap which fell of twice and they attempted to fix four (4) times. Both which are under the cobalts tsbs I think. Now it's the ses light with a p0171 dtc code or the air fuel mixture is off. I took it in three (3) times and on the final one they said they have no solution and they cant do anything about it. It is currently under investigation by gm not only in the 2005-2006 chevy cobalt, the 2005-2006 pontiac pursuit, and the 2005-2006 saturn ion. All which have the 2.2l ecotec l61 engine. It troubles me that they say they cant do anything about it and to just keep bringing it in when light comes on. That is truly a pathetic answer to this problem. They are costing me time and money and this is no way to run a business. This is clearly an issue they cant solve and that is affecting 3 different cars. There was nothing done to fix the defect except turn off the check engine light, no other repairs have developed for this defect in gm's vehicles.
My 2005 chevy cobalt was towed in for the 3rd time in 3 months. It is not even a year old yet. All three times have been exactly the same - I go out to start the car in the morning & the car's electrical system goes haywire and the car will not start. This first 2 times, the dealer said it was an electrical problem & they replaced everything. This last time they said it's just a dead battery. If that is the case, wouldn't they have figured that out the first 2 times? Something clearly is awry in the electrical system and it is draining the battery. I don't want this car - I can't trust it to start & the dealer clearly doesn't know what's wrong. I intend to take legal action.
Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle the key would not turn in the ignition nor could it be removed. Also the gear shifter would not move out of park. The dealer replaced the ignition switch and the steering column in january, however the problem has reoccurred.
My daughter was driving her 2005 cobalt on a us route with a speed limit of 55. This road is very hilly and curvy. She was going up a hill and was approaching a curve, so she took her foot of the gas. Suddenly, the car shut down. She lost power, power steering, everything. She managed to steer the car to the brim of the road. The key was still on. She turned the key off, then back on. The only thing she noticed different on her gauges, was the coolant read 223, it normally runs 184-196. She had no cell phone service, so she started the car and drove to her grandmother's. Every time the car shifted gears (an automatic), it jerked and lurched. She was scared to death. I contacted the gm dealer where we purchased it and took it right over, driving very slow. They were unable to reproduce this, and nothing showed up on the computer. I contacted gm who feel that if they can't find anything, they can't fix it. I am scared to drive this car myself, let alone let my daughter drive it. I began researching on this site, and have found twelve other cases, listed under electrical system-ignition, ignition switch ,electrical system defects, and even under engine & engine cooling. They all did not show any thing on the computer diagnostics, the cars just shut off on them at various speeds. So far no one appears to have been injured, but what if you're going 65 MPH on an expressway with a semi next to you and this happens?
Dt*: the contact stated the ignition switch would not turn, the airbag light illuminated and the turn signal failed. The dealership repaired the problems but they reoccurred. The manufacturer was alerted.
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