The 2006 added it’s own special flare with gas leaks due to cracks in the “return portion of the modular reservoir assembly.” A recall of 2006 Cobalts was issued to fix the problem, but only to vehicles sold in or current registered in Arizona and Nevada, leaving other owners to pay for repairs themselves.
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.
Power steering system failure while driving. Restarting engine will restore power steering for a short time. The car alerts with warning chime sound and a dashboard message "power steering". this problem can happen every few minutes or, rarely, it may not happen at all during a short trip. This problem first happened in late 2009 on a very low mileage vehicle ( less than 9,300 miles to date).
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt which was purchased used with 10,000 miles. She stated that in temperatures over 50 degrees, the power steering would fail approximately every 30 to 40 seconds while driving at various speeds as low as 5 mph and up. When it failed, she had to maneuver the vehicle onto the emergency lane, shut off the engine momentarily and allow the power steering to reset itself. The manufacturer was contacted and advised taking the vehicle to a dealer for a diagnostic test; however, the closest dealer was over 100 miles away. She did not feel safe driving that distance since the failure began to occur frequently. The manufacturer advised the contact that they were closing her case until she took the vehicle into a dealer. No repairs were made to the vehicle. There were no recalls for the failure; however, there was an open investigation ( NHTSA action number PE10005; component :steering:electric power assist system). The failure mileage was 24,000 and the current mileage was 27,000.
I hadn't had any problems with my car and then one day I was turning in a parking lot and the power steering went out. I got it into a parking stall and shut the car off, then proceeded to wait 10-15 minutes and started the car again, there were no problems until I started to dive again, it happened about 3 more times that day. It happened as I was driving the freeway coming into a curve in the road, in the parking lot as mentioned and pulling into my driveway. If I hadn't driven a car in the past with no power steering I would not have know or been able to steer the car safely. It could have been bad if I hadn't been able to control the car on the freeway. This has happened several more times since this first occurrence and every time it does happen it's not just once, it's several times that day then it will be weeks or longer without any problems. It is completely random and unsafe, you never know when it's going to happen and there is no warning. The "power steering" indicator comes up as it's going out.
2006 Chevy Cobalt ls power steering seizing, not working. Only 40K miles on car, brought to GM dealer & was told that there was no warranty on power steering, had to have replacement steering column & motor at a cost of over 1000 dollars.
- Deerfield Beach, FL, USA
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2006 Chevy Cobalt power steering assist comes on every day after 5 min od driving U stop and shut the car off and start it up it comes back on 5min later...seems to happen at low and high speeds.
When driving the 06 Chevy Cobalt, the power steering fails while driving at moderate speeds. This happens nearly ever time the car is in use now and happens several times during the course of a 15 mile trip. The only recourse is to turn the key off and back on to get the steering to respond again.
I own a 2006 Cobalt. The power steering went out when my 29 year old son was turning onto a traffic circle in fort worth, Texas. The car hit the curb causing damage to the right tire and wheel. My insurance company (usaa) paid $4269.69 for repairs, $420 for car rental; I paid $500 deductible. Classic Chevrolet fixed the power steering without charge; however, if there had been a timely recall the accident would never have happened.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. Whenever the contact drives the vehicle at any speed she noticed that the power steering will suddenly stop functioning. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the power steering mechanism needed to be replaced. There were no prior warnings.the current and failure mileages were 54000.
Steering wheel is very hard to turn. This happens frequently. If the engine is turned off the problem goes away for a while, but soon returns. So far this problem has not caused an accident, but I am almost afraid to drive the car for fear of one.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 15 mph on normal road conditions. A chime sounded inside of the vehicle. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver pulled over to the side of the road with caution. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. Whenever the vehicle was in operation the failure occurred intermittent. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle has not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was 61,000. Updated 07/12/10
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 30 mph on normal road conditions. A chime sounded inside of the vehicle. The "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver exerted extreme difficulty turning the steering wheel. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. Currently, the vehicle is at an authorized dealer for inspection. The failure mileage was 122,000. The VIN was unavailable.
There were no events leading up to the failure. I have a 2006, Chevy Cobalt, and am one of the people that have had to have a motor replaced in my power steering. It just stopped working while I has driving down the road. No power steering!!!! I did talk to Chevy, because I thought it odd, having less the 50,000 on my car. I was a few miles from home, and was blessed enough to be near a church parking lot, to pull over. I am also young enough, and strong enough that I did get it back home, so my husband could check it. I did check with Chevy, to see if there was a recall, or if they were aware of a problem. They did not have a recall, and were not aware of a problem. This is what they said. Again, because I thought it odd. I had to take it to my local Chevy dealership, and it cost $418. I would have hated to have been in traffic, or in the middle of a turn, or a bad curve. If it had of happened in any of those 3, I may not have been able to control the car. I do believe it is a great safety problem. People that do not have a lot of arm strength, would have no control..as stayed above I had to have it fixed.
Power steering goes out after about two minutes of driving or less. It is very hard to turn the wheel and control the vehicle when driving. It goes away when the car is shut off but then the power steering goes back out. Very annoying and dangerous because you never know when it will feel like going out on you like going around a sharp turn which could cause an accident. It progressively gets worse. Needs to be addressed!
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt lt and my power steering keeps cutting off when I go down the road the forces the steering wheel to lock up. I am terrified that I may have a wreck at any moment and I have a 3 yr old and 7 months pregnant! please please get this recalled asap!
Have 2006 Chevy Cobalt, have a power steering problem have heard that this is a major problem and others have had this. It locks the steering wheel while your driving, has failed on me and has almost caused me too lose control, have not had an accident yet, but would not like to experience this, or something worst. Thank you - a concerned consumer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Huntland, TN, USA