Chevrolet Cobalt battery drain problems

Filed Apr 9, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · WA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH up hill, the vehicle stalled and the power steering ceased. The ABS and battery light illuminated. The contact stated the vehicle was jump started and the driven to the residence. The contact stated an independent mechanic used a kill switch to drain the battery. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer nor was the manufacturer notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Nov 15, 2019 · Electrical, Lights · 50,000 miles · MD

The automatic headlights on the car do shut off intermittently. They also turn on by themselves sometimes when the car is parked and off. We have been stranded with a dead battery when this happens. This seems to be a common problem with the 2007 and newer cobalts. Typically cars had a physical relay to control the headlights. In these cars the relay circuit is built in the underside of the engine compartment fuse box. The box is not seal properly and moisture gets into the box, causing a failure on the circuit board. This car first started doing this back in 2009 when my daughter had it. I recently took the car back and it was still behaving in this manner. The work around that seemed to work for a long time was to manually turn the auto lights off using the multifunction lever on the steering wheel. Today, the lights started coming on by themselves when the car was parked. Also, turning the auto lights off manually has stopped being effective. We are now fearful, will the lights shut off while we are driving, and off course will we be stranded with a dead battery when parking the car. The solution seems to be to replace the fuse box in the engine compartment a $200 part plus a few labor hours. Then you have to rig up a solution to make the defective box seal, such as adding weatherstripping. I feel this should be a safety recall for gm to fix at no cost to customer. [xxx] *pm information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Aug 8, 2018 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 85,000 miles · MA

Battery keeps dying and key is stuck in ignition. Have to keep replacing battery every 8 months which are brand new 5 year battery. Fuel line was replaced but still strong odor of gas and rotting fuel line again. Safety hazard! This has been reported by a large number of people. Why is there not a recall on this?? Vehicle was stationary at the time. This happens all the time so I can only put one date in here. Something is also wrong with my electrical system and the check engine light comes on all the time after diagnosing with my mechanic and having it turned off. Why isn't gm doing anything to help us?

Filed Jan 26, 2016 · Electrical, Steering · 174,000 miles · PA

The lights all over the car intermittently work and not work, the battery drains and have replace the battery 4 times.this has been going on since I got the car withe the lights. The steering thing just started, when you make a turn the steering binds up as if the power steering is going out. Also acts as if the car is going to stall. This only happens when you are in drive position. In park it doesn't do this. The power steering fluid levels are perfect. Also, when this issue starts, the speedometer needle bounces up to 40 MPH even though you are at a stop. The radio will suddenly turn full blast sound for about 2 seconds and turn back down. Scares me half to death. There is a major electrical problem in this car for lights to work one time and then next time not. I go through light bulbs like crazy, every couple of months I am changing a different bulb. And the steering issue is unsafe, the car could stall while trying to turn across traffic. Still after having all recalls completed, the car is still not safe.

Filed Dec 27, 2014 · Electrical, Seat belts · 75,550 miles · TX

On the 2007 chevy cobalt, the key gets stuck in the accessory position and cannot be removed. You must either jump the car or push the switch under the steering column to remove the key. With the key in the accessory position, the battery drains and renders the radio inactive. This adds to an additional safety concern because the seatbelt chime and blinker sound go through the radio and cannot be heard when the radio is inactive. Chevy stated that you must bring in the car to have the radio reprogrammed for $130 each time the battery goes dead.

Filed Oct 24, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 80,000 miles · VA

First the battery died in the car. After that the car fell apart. The keys became lodged in the ignition and would not come out. The stereo lost all and complete power. Fuses were checked for the radio none were blown. As a result of the keys being stuck in the ignition, it drained power from the battery and I had to turn the interior overhead light to on and the car would then regain power and start. All except the radio. The recall for the ignition cylinder was announced and I had the car serviced at a gm dealer. After the repair of the ignition cylinder the keys still were lodged in the ignition switch. I was told the switch lever needed to be replaced. How could a dead battery cause all of this at once. The radio and electrical issues happened directly after the battery died and never returned back to normal even after purchasing a brand new battery.

Filed Oct 15, 2014 · 198,000 miles · SC

The vehicle will move to the accessory position constantly and drain the battery. It was taken to rick hendrick chevy on savvanah hwy in charleston by a young woman. They repaired it and allowed her to drive off with the vehicle knowing it had the same problem. They put her life in jeopardy.

Filed Sep 8, 2014 · Electrical · CA

The electrical system drains the battery causing the keys to get stuck in the ignition I need to get a jump to start it and this is a new battery six months old.

Filed Aug 18, 2014 · Electrical · 95,000 miles · IL

This evening when I pulled into the garage, I put the car in park and proceeded to turn off and remove the key from the ignition. After several attempts to turn key forward and then back, I could not get the key out. I tried putting the car in gear and then putting it in park again. The key still would not come free. I didn't want to burn the 1/2 tank of fuel so I removed the fuel pump fuse, which stopped the car and then had to disconnect the battery so as not to drain the battery as the key is stuck in the "on' position. Different than other stories I have read about the key being stuck on, is that I am still able to turn it forward a bit. Hopefully, I can put the fuse back in, connect the battery and start it so that I can drive it to a dealership in the morning.

Filed Jun 7, 2014 · Electrical · OH

On 03jun14 I had the ignition switch replaced and the ignition lock cylinder and ignition key replaced due to the open recalls on the vehicle. Since that time on 2 separate occasions when I attempted to start the vehicle it "stuttered" this is the best word I can use to describe the issue. I did not have this problem prior to having the above mentioned replaced. When this occurs I have to turn the ignition key to the off position and attempt to start the vehicle again and it starts. The "stuttering" does not sound like a dead battery or alternator issue as I have heard those sounds before. I do not believe the replacement of the above parts have resolved any recall issue and believe that injury or death will result in continued driving of this vehicle. Thank you for your time.