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Chevrolet Cobalt misfire problems

22 of the 7,681 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Cobalt describe misfire or rough idle, most of them for the 2006 model year.

owner complaints
22
worst model year
2006
typical mileage
70,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

By model year

What owners say

Filed Oct 22, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 140,000 miles · AR

Traction, engine and wheels sensor light on. Hard shifting. Car shakes when braking. Engine runs rough and skips when idling. I've had brakes replaced and spark plugs. Have had all recalls repaired.

Filed Mar 11, 2019 · Steering · VA

2006 cobalt has been showing the power steering display on the dash light and when it does the engine starts hesitating and rough idle I read a few minutes ago about a recall of maybe the same situation a few years back but didn't know that at the time and didn't think that my cobalt would have that problem

Filed May 10, 2017 · Airbags, Engine · 85,000 miles · CA

Overheat back in 2014 took in to dealer in richmond ca. Again car overheating told fine by dealer. Summer had to run heater for car to cool down when driving. Even after I put antifreeze in& fluids fine. Would not pass smog for 2016 tags, has 85,000 miles.p03000 random multiple cylinders misfired detected. Was then told need a new engine for 2009 car! Just about paid off! Replaced gear shift 2years ago! Car died while driving all fluids good and battery good! Also when driving car seat belt passenger light would lite up w/no one in the seat! Called chevy told my VIN does not match to any of the recalls on chevy vehicles deal with it!

Filed May 1, 2017 · Electrical · 55,699 miles · MI

Engine started jerking.malfuntion engine block light came on the dashboard.car was in motion on a city street going on a straight line.after dealer inspection diag-needs code p0300-#1 misfires-needs ignition coil and module.

Filed Nov 16, 2016 · Acceleration, Steering · 136,000 miles · MO

My problems are came about with the electronic power steering on this vehicle as I have searched and found the problem too be very common. Found that it has been widely recalled including my model year with numerous complaints too the federal safety agency. The first time it happened I was getting ready too go to a doctors appointment, the power steering message came on the dashboard, everything seemed too be working except the speedometer and it drove fine. On the way back home however the car would no shift past first gear. I took it too a mechanic that lives next too me. He said the wiring harness was bad, replaced it, got it back. Drove fine with no problems for three weeks, even the driver front blinker was working which had never worked since I got the car back in march of this year. Then after the three weeks the power steering message came back on and all the same symptoms are back, no speedometer, hard shifting if any, it even caused the engine light too come on this time which an auto parts store determined too be a random misfire. I changed the spark plugs and it went off. My theory is that the TCM is not grounded correctly too handle this and shorts out as I have found that others have grounded the TCM and it has fixed all the problems too their claim. I searched recalls on my car using the VIN and my car is not listed on it and since this has been recurring and I've had all the problems everyone else has noted I feel that is a great concern. The message and all the effects happen as soon as I start the car if it's going too happen (so far). It first happened on the date indicated and then again on 11/15/2016.

Filed Mar 2, 2016 · Driver assistance · 169,785 miles · CA

I was driving down the road and for no reason my chevy cobalt theft lock came on (ABS) light started flashing and tractions control light came on indicating that the traction control was off then in my dash board it said power steering failure then it was rough idling and fuel goes up and down then it gives rough gears this is the second time it has happened driving down the road this is not safe

Filed Feb 20, 2016 · Electrical · 97,000 miles · NJ

My car will not communicate with nj dot computers for inspection and it will shut down the power steering at times and the transmission bucks and the gauges act up also the car rough idles and wants to stall and has .the dealer refuses to fix under their special circumstances not a recall but they said that chevy cobalt have a issue with communicating with the dot computers for inspection and same problem every time I go for state inspection last time it took 6 times for them to get it right .now apparently it wasn't it just was temp. The dealer tried to tell me they didn't work on it and knew nothing about the problem .finally agreed they did and there's a reprogramming fix their supposed to do but want at least an hour of labor to check it .after checking online there are tons of cobalt with the same problem

Filed Feb 7, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 131,982 miles · KS

I had ignition switch recall work performed on my car. Following that, or perhaps due to increased mileage, I began having power problems with my cobalt. On 10/19/15 my car was parked, wouldn't start and check engine light was on. Then it started but didn't have enough power to move/run. I had to have it towed - mileage was 131,982 at the time. Battery was good. The shop said it had po300 codes - random misfires. They found cylinders 2 and 3 were not contributing power due to a bad ignition module. So the ignition module was replaced. I also had worn spark plugs replaced, as the shop recommended I do so. The car still had misfire codes and would hesitate when re-accelerating after stops, so I paid for a new fuel filter at the repair shop's recommendation. The hesitation continued but I couldn't afford further diagnostics/repairs. Within a couple of weeks of repair my car lost complete power while I was driving in traffic. Luckily, other drivers had time/space to react, but it could have caused a deadly accident. Due to finances, my brother checked the car for me and cleaned the throttle body - the only issue he could detect. It has run a bit better since then, but still exhibits hesitation after stops. I worry it may lose complete power again but I cant afford incurring further expense with trial and error repairs. Especially after reading online other cobalt owners are having the same experience, and have been unable to get resolution despite multiple expensive trips to mechanics. I feel chevrolet needs to investigate the electrical/power loss issues with cobalts and cover needed repairs under a recall so cobalt owners can drive with peace of mind. I'm submitting this complaint now because of a recent nbc news program where a young woman died when her cobalt lost power in traffic, and this also occurred following the ignition switch recall work being done.

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Engine · 148,000 miles · CA

The engine randomly cuts off while driving at low speeds (under 45 MPH). The electrical things like radio, lights, etc remain on. This problem began in 10/2012. The 1st diagnosis of cylinder misfire was repaired by removing & replacing coil pack. The 2nd diagnosis of malfunctioning catalytic converter was repaired by removing & replacing catalytic converter in summer of 2013. The 3rd diagnosis of faulty starter was repaired by removing & replacing starter in july 2014. The 4th diagnosis of bad starter was repaired by removing & replacing the starter october 2015. After every repair the engine would randomly cut off while driving as it had before the repairs. The recalled ignition was removed & replaced in 2015 be the dealer as well. No service department or repair shop had ever been able to definitely diagnose the cause or recreate the problem. Although the engine cuts off during low speeds, it is highly dangerous. The most recent occurrence happened less than 24hrs after the starter was replaced. The engine stopped while driving in the middle of the road & several vehicles narrowly missed the car barely avoiding collision.

Filed Jun 13, 2015 · Engine · 68,788 miles · PA

The service traction light comes on and then the engine light..... Shifts really hard and runs very rough and feels like it will stall. Very afraid.... Being told it is a cylinder misfire... I have read a lot about this on line and find numerous complaints related to this same issue in this same model.... Please help... I feel this is a safety matter.... Could stop in traffic or on expressway which I travel each day. Many thanks!

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the Chevrolet Cobalt misfire

Which Chevrolet Cobalt years have misfire or rough idle problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2006 (11 complaints), 2005 (6 complaints) and 2010 (2 complaints).

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