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.
Electronic steering shuts off unexpectedly. If it occurs in curve, steering wheel almost locks, causing temporary loss of control. This has occurred numerous times and "resets" when the car is turned off and back on. Time after reset before recurrence can vary from a few seconds to hours.
While driving a 2006 Chevy Cobalt on a highway, the power steering went out (and power steering light came on), make steering very difficult. When I turned the engine off and back on, the light stayed off for short time then came back on, and vehicle had no power steering. I took the Cobalt to dealer, and they discovered fault code C0475 electric steering motor circuit failure, lost communication with ECM. The dealer removed and replaced the steering motor at a cost of $497.85.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt most of the time I don't have power steering. When I do have power steering I will drive a block down the road and the power steering will go out and the information center will tell me that I no longer have power steering.
We own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. In Dec. 2009 the steering warning on the dash came on, but went off the next time my 19 yr old daughter started the car. A week later the power steering went out completely when the car was turned on. We had to replace the module immediately at a cost of almost $900. I have the work ticket to show what was done to repair the car. I now understand that this problem is being reported by other Cobalt owners.
Driving 2006 Cobalt power steering quits working and the car changed lanes. The ps light did come on in the dash but it was to late. Out of warranty but have scheduled to take it in to the dealer. Not very safe. Also pulled over turned car off waited a few minutes resumed but it occurred about 10 minutes later.
- Independence, MO, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
There was no sign of problems with my 2006 Chevy Cobalt before the failure. Suddenly, the power steering light came on as I was driving, and the power steering failed. The steering wheel was extremely difficult to turn. It felt as if it were locked. I pulled over gradually, turned the car off, and then turned it back on again. The car worked another 1/2 mile then the power steering failed again. Same consequences. Took car to Chevy dealership next day. They determined it was the power assist pump that needed to be replaced. Pump is being replaced today.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt ls I got it like a year ago and it has a really bad power steering problem when I got it from the dealer it was good for a couple of months. Then the power steering started to fail I was going to moreno valley through the curves and it just shut of on me so I had to pull over. So I turned of the car and waited. When I turned it back on it worked for like ten minutes then it shut of again. Now I just turn on my car and as soon as I press the gas the power steering turns off. It is really hard to park and to control it. I tried to take it back to the dealer but my warranty was expired. My Cobalt is not the only one with the problem I did some research and alot of people have the exact same complaint as me. I think this car should be recalled for the safety of the driver and the pedestrians.
In the warmer months, the power steering on my 06 Chevrolet Cobalt will suddenly quit while driving. If I restart the car, power steering will return but only for a matter of minutes. It becomes most dangerous when it goes out while I'm making a turn. Twice I have almost hit another vehicle while turning in to a driveway. I believe this failure to be a major safety hazard and I'm glad the NHTSA is finally looking into it.
I would like to complain about my power steering on my 2006 Chevy Cobalt. While driving my power steering would go out and the steering would become stiff. I have almost gotten into at least 7 accidents due to the lack of turning ability. Please let there be a recall on this. I know there are many others with this same problem. I have had this problem for about 6 months now.
2006 Chevy Cobalt with power steering malfunction. While I am driving the power steering goes out and the vehicle is very hard to steer and has almost caused me to have a wreck. It is now doing it every day and several times a day. I want to know why there has been no recall on this problem when there are thousands of complaints online about Chevy Cobalts doing this. Someone needs to do something before someone dies in a wreck due to this defect.
The contact owns 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. She noticed that when the cruise control was set the vehicle speed decelerated.the power steering light illuminated before and after the failure occurred and within seconds the power steering also failed. She was able to steer the vehicle manually but it required more effort. She took the vehicle to the garage to be diagnosed. The diagnostic located the failure at the emission control sensor and the steering column. The vehicle will be repaired. The failure mileage was 59,000 and the current mileage was 61, 500.
I have a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt and the power steering keeps going out/disabling/not functioning when being driven. This happens with no warning and very frequently and causes me to almost lose control of the car. I sincerely believe that something is wrong with the power steering pump or the steering column.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately between 20-30 mph on normal road conditions. A chime sensor sounded inside of the vehicle and the "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver pulled over to the side of the road which required greater effort to turn the steering wheel. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The electric power steering column was replaced. The failure mileage was 55,000.
My power steering tends to go out while driving. Traction control light comes on. The shifter clicks. My speedometer and rmps go nuts. My ABS and brake light flash. The car stalls when I stop in traffic or at lights. They reprogrammed the computer chip three times and replaced the part once. I now am having the problem again and they said its not their problem.
In June 2006 I bought a 2006 Chevy Cobalt sd. On June 2008 I was left stranded. The car would not start. The car was towed to a nearby Chevy dealer. They checked the car and found the following: Battery failed midtronics (battery one replaced), checked engine light on (injector fuel cleaned), induction system dirty (they flushed it) and air filter full of dirt (raf replaced air filter). This problem cost me $208.82. On Jan 2009 the horn was replaced (it had stopped working 2 months prior). This cost me $58.85. The major problem is the power steering. The light came on around Aug or Sept of 2009. The steering wheel gets hard and it's very hard to maneuver, specially when you're going to turn into a parking space. I had the car checked by two different mechanic shops and they both said it needs the power steering module replaced. This piece cost around $470. Plus labor. The first mechanic checked it on Jan 23, 2010 and bought the power steering motor ($175)from the Chevy dealer and replaced it. The problem still existed and he kept the car for two days to check if maybe it was something else. He concluded it was the steering column that needed to be replaced. He returned the motor and now was told that they (Chevy) did not sell the motor by itself, that he needed to buy the whole module, which is $470. The first 2 months I would turn off the car and it would not happen again, but since the beginning of Dec 2009, even when I turn off the car and then turn it on again, the steering wheel locks up and it stays that way the whole time you are driving. It happens every day, everytime I turn on the car. This is a pain because it's hard to maneuver the car, but it is also very dangerous, because if I had to make a quick turn, I couldn't do so, and that would probably end up in an accident.
I purchased a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt in February of 2009. Around 65,000 miles, the power steering began going out. At first, it would only go out if it was hot outside, and if you turned the car off and then back on it would go away. It became more and more frequent to where it is out nearly all the time now. I have been told my only option is to have the steering column replaced at a cost of approx. $700.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and for the past month the power steering has been turning off while I've been driving. At first it only happened once every few days, then it started happening daily, now it happens every time I get in the car, about 15 seconds after I start to drive it turns off. This is not the first issue I've had with this car but I am out of warranty so the dealership wants me to pay thousands of dollars to replace something that should not be breaking in the first place.
I read that you are investigating the lost of power steering in Chevy Cobalts, and we had an incident this last weekend. My son was practicing parallel parking in front of our condo, and the vehicle lost the power steering. It only occurred when the vehicle was idling very slow, since he was not moving fast to do the parking, but if you pulled back out into the road, and accelerated, the power assist to the steering came back. When the assist was off, it was extremely difficult to move the steering wheel. I have owned the car almost 4 years and this is the first time I have noticed the loss of power assist steering. So it may have something to do with turning the steering to extremes as you do when parking, or maybe with steering at a very slow rate of speed while doing the work of parking. Just thought I would report this to help in your investigation.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt which was bought brand new. It now has 67,000 miles on it. At approx. 45,000 the power steering light and theft deterrent light began blinking. The car doesn't even have a security system. We took it to the GM dealer who "fixed" the problem by tearing into the steering column and cleaning all of the plugs. It works fine for a few months, then it did it again. They then did the same thing and cleaned the plugs. The third time we took it back they replaced the steering column and it was good for about a year. It began acting up again and we took it back and they cleaned the plugs again. After years of frustration and complaining, we finally figured out what controls it. When you operate the tilt wheel it will either fix or hinder the problem worse or better than what it is at the time. I saw that NHTSA is looking into this and I wanted to file a complaint as well as everyone else to let them know I am not happy with the electronic assist steering. There was a point where you could be going down highway and going around a turn and the power steering wouldn't' be working, and it would kick in and out jerking the wheel. Making it difficult for the drive to keep the vehicle in its own lane. In addition to being hard to park, this is a horrid system. I will never buy a Cobalt again due to this safety issue, it almost forced me to wreck going down the highway.
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt ls. I have had problems steering my vehicle when parking, backing out of parking spaces and when traveling at low speeds and trying to turn. I have mentioned this problem to my Chevy dealership service center and they have stated that this is just something that happens with the Cobalts over time. Recently my ignition locked up twice, and right before it locked I felt the steering column tighten up. Not sure if that's related but it might be. The service center replaced the shifter in the vehicle and it hasn't locked up again but the steering wheel is still tightening.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- North Little Rock, AR, USA