CarComplaints.com Notes: The Cobalt was introduced to replace two of Chevy’s smaller cars, the Cavalier and Prizm. But the compact’s fresh start that Chevy was hoping for was riddled with issues, most notably widespread power steering failure.
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Chevrolet Cobalt 2005 power steering failure. Began failing sporadically then failed consistently daily in may of 2009.......had power steering column replaced.
I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt with 40,000 and the power steering intermittently doesn't work. I can turn the car off and back on and I have power steering for around 30 seconds before the dic displays "power steering" and I lose all power steering. I've taken the vehicle to the dealer and they say I need a new steering column to correct the issue at a total cost of over $900! this is ridiculous. The vehicle just went out of warranty and now I have a $900 bill. Steering is very difficult and dangerous to drive with sharp turns. I believe GM has a problem with the durability in their motor and not the steering assembly. After paying the bill at the dealership I took the old column and disassembled the electric motor. The springs for the brushes are blue/red in color signifying significant heat to them. The brushes themselves are almost non existent. There was hardly any contact onto the armature of the brushes, possibly from the springs losing strength from excessive heat. Inside the motor, it was full of dust from brushes. There's also a slight burn mark on the case of the motor on the inside where the wire from one of the brushes was close to. The dust could be conducting electricity going from the brush going straight to the case.
I own a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt that has in the past two weeks begun having problems with the power steering. My wife has been driving and the power steering immediately turns on and the wheel locks. She has had this problem in middles of turns and has had many problems. Normally, when she restarts the car, the power steering turns off only to come on either minutes or immediately. This is a major danger if she continues to drive with this. We have an appointment this Friday concerning this issue.
- Duncansville, PA, USA
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2005 Chevrolet Cobalt ls vehicle was very hard to steer in high traffic areas; which occurred on regular basis which led to the replacement of the electric power steering unit. Very expensive unit.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 35 mph the power steering light illuminated on the dashboard and the vehicle lost power steering function. The contact was still able to drive and control the steer wheel although it became difficult when she made left and right turns. The contact has not taken the vehicle to a dealer for diagnostic testing at this time. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 60,000.
Complaint on my 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt power steering. It went out at the 75K mileage mark and does not work. It will reset when the car is turned off but immediately displays "power steering". it had caused me a few near misses.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering failed on several occasions while driving 40 mph. There was a beeping noise and the power steering indicator illuminated indicating that the power steering was lost. The contact shut the engine off and restarted the vehicle. After restarting the vehicle, within a few miles, the power steering failed again. The contact has not taken the vehicle to a dealer for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 47,000.
I was driving my mother's 2005 Chevy Cobalt in phoenix, AZ on the 101 freeway. While driving at approximately 60 miles per hour the power steering discontinued to function. I am an experienced driver and was able to react to the failure. The following week the car went to kempton's Chevrolet dealership, the entire steering unit needed replacement. Luckily we have a relative who works for GM and was aware of the problem with the Cobalts. GM helped with the repair cost, however my mother still had to pay $500. My mother is retired and living on a fixed income.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 20 mph and making a left turn, the power steering light illuminated. The turned the vehicle off to reset the power steering; however, the failure recurred. The dealer has not diagnosed the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000 and the current mileage was 50,400.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving the power steering failed intermittently since March 2009. The contact had to shut the engine off and restart the vehicle to reset the power steering. The dealer stated that the steering column needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current mileage was 51,784. The failure mileage was approximately 42,500.
The contact owns 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 12 mph, the power steering light illuminated and the contact lost control of the steering wheel. He was able to drive to his residence. The manufacturer and the dealer will be notified. The failure and current mileages were 52,000. Updated 03/04/10.
Several incidents involving steering of 2005 Cobalt 2-door. Each incident occurred on the freeway while driving straight at 55 to 65 mph. Front end of vehicle "jumped" side to side and steering wheel responded only with considerable effort. Last occurrence was witnessed by highway patrol who escorted me from the freeway with lights flashing. Eventually, dealer did replace entire steering mechanism (2006) and problem has not recurred. Also have had to have braking system replaced as well as components related to the computer system.
Power steering: 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt ss supercharged (manual transmission). I would like to add my two cents to the complaints on the power steering system in my car, mentioned above. It has not caused me an accident but has caused a few close calls. I have noticed a few things about the failure: -there is an 'overall frequency' with which power steering outages occur, depending on a number of factors I have observed: -turning off and restarting the ignition (even going 80mph on the highway) will immediately fix the issue for a random period of time, based in part on the current 'overall frequency'. -tire wear (resulting in additional surface contact, presumably) increases the frequency of the failure. -warmer temperatures seem to make outages more frequent. -'spirited', high-RPM type driving (my car is the supercharged model) results in more frequent steering system outages...usually with the system failing just after reaching the peak RPM of a given gear, and regardless of whether the car is currently turning. -the system can go days and weeks without failing. It is usually possible to guess how soon the outage will return based on how hard the wheel is to turn once the system has failed. If the wheel is very hard to turn, based in part on the factors above, then restarting the car will only correct the issue for a very short period of time (sometimes as little as 15-20 seconds). If the wheel is easier to turn when the steering is out, the system stays active for considerably longer periods (perhaps 1 hour) before failing again.
Electric power steering pump went out when my daughter was coming home from school she could control car on 2/2/09 we called gmac to see if there had been a recall of this part they said it had not so we called the car lot from we purchased the car and had to pay out of pocket to get the car fixed. I hate to think what would have happened if she had not remained calm when this happened after getting car fixed she was afraid to drive it for a while. I cannot believe that no one in this big company had no idea there was a problem with the power steering from reading the blogs in 2/09 there were complains then the company need to reimburse me for the money fixed to take care of the problem.
Power steering failure. Steering at first started going out only during U-turns or other sharp turns. Then, steering would go out suddenly after driving for 30-60 minutes. Finally, steering would shut off about 15 seconds after starting my car. Had to replace the entire steering column.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering failed while driving approximately 45 mph and he lost control of the steering wheel. The failure occurred at least ten times. He turned the vehicle off and restarted it since occasionally it would correct itself. The power steering light also illuminated after the steering failed. He took the vehicle to the dealership and was informed that the issue was prevalent; yet, the dealer did not make any repairs. The manufacturer was not notified. The current mileage was approximately 55,000. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Petersburg, VA, USA