Electrical system seems to be defective. When first bought car, the fan for the heater would not work. Finally, dealership took parts out of a brand new vehicle, since there were no parts made yet due to it being brand new, and replaced it. But, it still makes a whining when it is on #1 setting. The cd player would lock up all the time and simply say "locked". According to user manual, we are advised to take it to dealership and they will fix that problem. Upon taking car to dealership for that problem, they said there was nothing wrong with it because of course, it did not do it for them. So, we stopped trying to even use the cd player. The locked status occurs frequently for no apparent reason. Like, when going over a real bumpy part of the road. All of a sudden the lock button appeared on the dashboard. I was afraid the car was going to turn off on me. Sometimes the word "lock" comes on in the radio display and so the clock won't display. I have no idea what is wrong or why it is displayed. The real scary part, though, is when the dashboard displays the "lock" icon. Because I fear that the vehicle will just stop running since I read that it does have an anti-theft function that will stop the supply of gas to the car and I wonder if/when this will begin malfunctioning. Will I be on the highway traveling at 65 mps? I mean, more people need to let chevy know that this is happening so that it can be fixed. Lately, the vehicle will not start. It just will not start when we put the key in the ignition. All other lights and things turn on, but the engine won't turn over. Why, we don't know. Dealer claims we must have it towed to them and not get it jumped so they can take a look at it to see what is wrong. Has happened three times so far. Still no resolution to this problem. Feel that the problems are a result of the same defect-the electrical system. Guy that came to jump my car said the cobalts have had lots of problems.
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt electrical complaints
Page 12 of 12: complaints 311 to 323 of 323, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle was returned to the dealer five times due to intermittent power steering failure and electrical problems. The steering wheel locked suddenly twice while driving, at various speed. The wheel locked on numerous occasions while the vehicle was stopped. Each time the power steering light illuminated on the dash during the failure. The wheel unlocked after the engine was shut down and restarted four times. The following electrical problems occurred intermittently, all the gauges fluttered, the fuel gage showed an inaccurate reading, and the emergency brake light illuminated while driving. On one occasion the dealer replaced the power steering housing, but this did not remedy the problem. On all other occasions the dealer completed diagnostic testing, but was unable to determine the cause of the problems. The consumer stated the gas tank was full of gas, however the low fuel illuminated on the dash. The radio malfunctioned twice. Updated 04/06/06.
Dt*: the contact stated without warning the engine stalled while driving 45 MPH. The vehicle would not restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. The dealership determined there was a short in the ignition system causing the injection fuse to blow. The wiring was repaired. Updated 3/20/2006 -
The ignition holding the starter key is too lose. On three occasions simply brushing the key chain with my leg was enough to turn the car off causing loss of power to the car. The auto dealer said that there is nothing they can do to decrease this danger.
2005 cobalt has a defective ignition switch which creates hazardous driving conditions. *ts the vehicle was taken to the dealer. All they did was remove an extra key ring from the key chain and advised the owner to watch his knee position while driving. The dealer knows of the problem but doesn't know what to do to fix it. The driver's side power window stooped working due to a faulty window motor.
While driving my 2005 cobalt it stalls out with no warning. The radio flashes locked across the screen, just as the car is about to shut off. I have taken the car back to the dealership on three different occasions, and they keep telling me they can't find the problem. This has happened probably 15 times or more since I leased the car back in july. I'm really afraid that this might cause an accident. At this time, I am going through the process to have general motors by the car back.
Dt: the consumer stated that he heard a snapping noise in steering column and could feel it in the steering wheel. This happened all of the time and would occur with no warning. The steering column shaft was replaced. The ignition switch was replaced because of the flashing that held the tumbler and the s had collapsed. The manufacturer told the dealer not to replace the steering column shaft but the dealer made the repairs because they had already ordered the part. *ak (12/01/05) after the column was replaced, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer twice. The wheel cover did not have enough rings to hold the rims tight and would rattle when going over light bumps, the vehicle pulled to the right and the passenger side front pillar was loose.
Dt: the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The ignition shuts off while driving. This occurred several times at various speeds. Also, it occurred a couple of times while trying to tilt the steering wheel or while just driving and not trying to adjust the steering wheel. The dealership was as stunned as the consumer that gm will not do anything to correct this problem. The manufacturer said that one could put a slot in the key hole to make it smaller to correct the problem. This procedure has not been correctly done to consumer's vehicle it was just in the works to see if this would be a possibility to fix. The consumer has been having this problem since march 2005, and the vehicle was purchased in february 2005.
Car purchased 2/21/05. Windshield fluid not in the car. Driving on highway mud was splash on window tried to wash it off, no fluid, mud smeared on window had to pull over on the highway to manually wipe off-2/05. Horn not working or was never put in, had to wait 3 days for replacement-3/05. Brake light coming on whether car is in motion or not. First reported 3/05 then again in 4/05. Told that the fuse may be going out. Still does this as of 9/05. Radio/cd player locks if you start the car an immediately adjust the volume have to restart car to unlock- 5/05. Back lighting for console does not come on all the time while in automatic mode. Unable to see speed if driving through a tunnel not well lit. Driver side tire making squeaky noises and grinding sound when parking in reverse. First reported 5/05 told may be brake dust still doing this as of 9/05. Appt pending. Headlight blew out 9/05. Back window passenger side not sealed properly you can hear and feel the wind coming in while on the highway its a pain. All of these thing were reported to dealer and general motors on survey.
Dt:bought a new 2005 chevrolet cobalt in march. Since then it has been in the repair shop 5 times. While driving 40 MPH dashboard panel lights came on and then suddenly the engine died. When this occurred the key was in the ignition in the start position. Dealer said it was designed for women so they may start the car easily. The ignition was designed to stop the engine if the key or ignition were touched while the vehicle was in motion. The dealer said chevrolet designed it this way. The second opinion from the dealer was simply there was nothing wrong. When the engine shut down there was a loss of brake power along with everything electrical. They did a diagnostic check which showed nothing. There was a recall service performed on the vehicle, but that was on the air conditioner. There was some sort of reprogramming work done. Consumer did not know what was wrong with vehicle.
Upon attempting to turn the headlights on manually, because the automatic headlights come on a little later than I would like, almost all of the electronics on the interior of the vehicle come on. I say almost because the instrument cluster lighting does not respond to a manual request for the lighting systems to activate. The background of the cluster in this car is black, and when it starts to get dark out it makes it rather difficult to see. One would expect that when you turn the head lights on, and all of the interior lighting comes on, the instrument clusters back lighting to also come on. The car has been back to bobby layman chevrolet in columbus oh, 2 times for this issue, and basically the response of the service department its the way it is.
2005 chevrolet cobalt experienced problems with total loss of the electrical system and the vehicle stalling.***no answer required***. *mr the dealership discovered the key ring had a slightly larger link from the key to the opener gadget. When the mechanics knee hit the bottom of the opener gadget it caused the ignition switch to shut off. Also below the ignition switch was a piece of rubber to the column. The piece caused the key ring not to move and the ignition switch instantly turned off. The consumer stated the ignition switch was poorly installed. Even with the slightest touch the vehicle will shut off while in motion.
We purchased our 2005 chevrolet cobalt in mid december. In the middle of january we noticed that the air conditioner was not blowing cold air. Dealership replaced the air conditioner compression valve. Approximately one week later the vehicle began to display the "check engine" light and read "power less reduced" then ,we began to have difficulty accelerating. The gas pedal became stiff. The dealearship replaced the air conditioner compression valve once again. Again the problem surfaced about a week later. The same part was replaced once again ,and an appointment was made for the following tuesday to drop the vehicle off for further investigation. Dealership discovered a faulty wiring harness causing the problem. We were then told that this was an engineering problem with the vehicle. Proceedings are underway to replace the vehicle with another car.
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