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HOWEVER: You've got a problem but there's an easy answer--There is a jump location for jumper cables under the hood. Or you can use a jumper power box instead of another battery.
Apply the positive jumper cable to the correct location which looks like a battery terminal sticking up with a plastic cover (red) over it; it's next to the fuse box under the hood. Apply the ground cable to the marked ground location which is a bolt for the left front strut.
Then the systems should power up and the key, I hope, will come out of the ignition. AND the remote unlock for the trunk on the key fob or the left side of the instrument panel will open your trunk.
OR the dealer has your key codes where the car was bought. So a GM dealer can make a new key for you ($60? the transponder keys are expensive).
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've had the car in the shop and its cost me about 1500 so far and they still cant figure it out.
Anyone with any suggestions?? PLEAsE HELP!!
It could be anything from a sensor to a computer issue. Low traction is only supposed to go on if the drive wheels are spinning.
My 2008 Cobalt (basic) with 40K miles just started this electrical problem. The digital displays like the info center and the radio will intermittantly blank out when driving. Sometimes the displays will light up after a while. So far, they always return when I turn off the ignition, wait a few seconds, then restart the vehicle.
While the car is under warranty, I hate to take it to the dealer and try to explain an intermittant problem. I would much rather be able to tell the service manager what the problem is.
Any ideas on what can be causing this?
Thanks,
George Teachman
jacki.wacki902@gmail.com
I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with your vehicle. Can you please email me more information about your situation so I can look into it further? You can get my email by clicking on my name. Thank you,
Mariah GM Customer Service
Have you checked to see if your charger is bad? It is possible something could be loose and moving around causing it to work then move and not work. Does the cigarette lighter work ok? Thank you,
Mariah GM Customer Service
If that proves negative, then try another charger device in the same lighter/power supply and see if it blows again. It would be unlikely to have two chargers both defective.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When was the last time you used your car to jump another car's battery?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I apologize that you are experiencing a problem with your vehicle. Can you please email me more information about your situation so I can look into it further? You can get my email by clicking on my name. Thank you,
Mariah GM Customer Service
It is socialmedia@gm.com. Thank you,
Mariah GM Customer Service
FYI, this happened exactly one day after I picked my car up from the dealership regarding the power steering recall issue.
i have a 2007 cobalt LT with standard transmission for a while now all display lights in the car will randomly brighten/dim and the volume on the radio will spike and the go back to normal. i took it to the dealership and the said it was a feature to compensate for the noise of the engine, but i found later that that feature was turned off. it still does it but now also the speakers in my doors have stopped working. and yes i have checked the fade. and since now it's passed the warranty I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestions!?!
I had purchased my 2005 cobalt used in November of 2007. Seven months later it began!!! Nothing that wasn't a big deal, at first. My air conditioner was leaking on the passenger side and soaked my carpet almost to the backseat and my power locks would go up and down, up and down. I took it to the Chevy dealer because it was still under warranty and they fixed those problems, temporarily. Last year, I had to replace my battery 3 times and every other month I have to change my driver side turn signal bulb.When I have my air on, its barely cold and my vents sweat and there is some dripping onto the passenger side every once in a while. Now, here I am in the middle of almost being done paying it off, and I am afraid I am going to be car-less. I hit a hole in the rode and my tire fell off, it freaking just fell off! Got it fixed and insurance covered the majority of it. Now, it shakes, my whole car just shakes. There is a lot of rattling and banging around. I can barely hold my steering while driving, it sounds like and feels like the tires are going to fall off. It also seems like it is having problems with RPMs and it not getting the "up and go" when I try to accelerate. My car now also almost stalls every time I stop or go to slow down and the headlights will dim like its just going to die. When I made a trip New Jersey to Georgia, I was in sit and go traffic for like 20 minutes and it was doing the whole going to stall thing and it started bouncing, like someone was jumping on the back end of it. Not to mention my locks having a mind of their own again and jumping up and down. I recently had to take the fuse out for my horn because every time I opened my door to get in it, my alarm would go off. So now when I open my door my lights just blink. I had two different remotes and they both stopped working. My power lock buttons also don't work, the ones on the inside, both sides . Lets see also recently I couldn't get my trunk to pop open and had to replace the fuse as well as my radio fuse because that went out also. My car warnings will randomly come on all the time saying stuff like "POWER STEERING" "ENGINE" and "BATTERY POWER (something)" . I have had my alternator checked, tires balanced, I change my oil on time, I have bought so many tires,I think 2 of my rims are messed up, random dinging noise( the sound it makes when you run low on gas)even when I had gas and no messages showed up on the dash. I also had condensation in my front drivers headlight but I was following my friend going 10 miles an hour approaching a stop sign and i bumped into her bumper and my headlight plastic cover busted. I was thinking maybe my car was in an accident or a flood before or I just have bad luck. I have a 2 year old and my husband is deployed and I now can't drive my car. I can't afford all these repairs all at once. I just don't know what is going on. I called Chevy in my town for the recall on the power steering, I have an appointment next week. They are going to look at it and tell me what is wrong. So, I guess I will owe them another arm and leg, since I am already paying $17,000 for it. I hope no one else is having all the same problems as me, with their cars. Sorry this was long, but this crazy!
Elena
First of all, I have to say that I bought this car as a "rebuilt" and in the dealer, they said that it doesn't have warranty, even though it has only 50,xxx miles, only they could provide me the steering power recall. But getting in this recall was the start of the end, because one week after the recall was done by the dealer, the air conditioner was leaking gallons of water that flooded all the floor in the right side of the car and I had to pay to get fixed. Then the air conditioner just stops blowing whenever it wants, it doesn't matter if is sunny or raining, it just stops, and the only way to recover it, is turning off the car, opening the fuse box and get out and get in the A/C fuse. Also, sometimes my car didn't recognize the key and I have to wait 20 or 30 minutes to its recognizing the key and start... can you imagine this situation in the middle of nowhere or in a bad neighborhood... Now... oh my God, the doors lock and unlock like craziest and the alarm put itself when the doors are still opened. I close the car but then it unlocks the doors and my car remains open until I lock them again, but 10 minutes later they are open again... also the trunk is locked... I can't open it unless I use the key and the alarm goes on... what is happening to my car?... some people say that this is the beginning of the end and I am so worried, because I got this car in an auction because I don't have much money and I am so young that any insurance for a lease is impossible for me.
I though that I was the only one with this bad luck... but in this and other forums I can see that I am not the only one and GM is not doing anything to recall this issues. :mad:
I am so afraid... I read a girl that had to get out of her car by the window... I can't imagine me getting out by the window... for sure I will get trapped by the window too...
This is unbelievable... in our better times, my father has a Colorado and it has been the better car in the world for us... but now I hardly start my Cobalt and when I am driving it, is like entering in the twilight zone where my car is alive and hates human beings like me.
I'm curious if that was the access patch under the air intake that was actually leaking rain water into the car. Was it rainy the week you had the wet floor on the front?
Also the leaky cover leaks water into where the resistor group is for the heater speed control.
The windshield wipers have a cover over the tap that holds them on.
The air intake has push pins that you lift up to take of the cover over the intakes.
See this link from the HHR forum for info on the leaking cover. It can be sealed back down with silicon or butyl caulks. Myself I'd probably use PL polyurethane caulk that I use for flexible gluing--available at Lowes.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1d1639/7#MSG7
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I'm sure that was A/C water 'cause when I turned off the A/C, leaking stopped at all.
They told me that this is a problem that could get worse and if it happens again they had to remove the front panel to seal inside.
Thanks,
I haven't had issues with steering, but today the Cobalt gods struck me down.
This morning, I tried to start the car as usual. It wouldn't start. When I cranked it, my dash showed the "Security Light" (picture of a car and a lock), and the engine light. The car clicked and made a small whine.
At first, I couldn't get the key out. After giggling it, it came out. I thought that the steering wheel wasn't locked (that's what I thought the Security light was for before looking in the book.)
I have manual locks and I don't think I have an alarm system, so I don't think this is really a security issue. I looked at other sites and they all said to leave the key in on "On" (without cranking) for 10-30 minutes and the lock will "reset" and the car will start.
When I left the key in on "On," everything started flashing- my control panel, my radio, the temperature, my headlights, and some of the warning lights in the dash. Also, the car kept clicking. The clicking and flashing would go in 15-20 second intervals. Then the car would be still and quiet for a few seconds and the clicking/flashing would start again.
After a couple minutes with the key in the ignition, my "Battery Saver On" light came up. At that point, I took the key out because I didn't want the battery to die out on me, too.
Later on, I tried again. I got new warnings: Check Airbag System AND Check Charge System. I can't tell if it's electrical, the engine, the starter, the ignition switch, the alternator, or anything because EVERYTHING is going nuts. I loved my car until today.
I can't miss work another day, so I am going to call the dealer and have them tow me to their shop if things don't change.
Right away first thing with the car i had was when i pressed my ***** sun roof button the damn button pressed all the way up into the car and the holder fell off leaving a hole in my roof i took it to get repaired and after 2 days and replacements i get car back try to open the sun roof again and the buttons holder falls off again and the button is dangling.......take it to the shop again....when i get it back it happend AGAIN. Get the car back press button it works but when i goto close the sun roof one corner wont close down......so im left with the sun roof half open........take it back to shop replace everything AGAIN.....i have not tried to open the sun roof anymore......the buttons holder falls off all the time and the button is still lose and kinda dangling but im not bothering with it anymore.
NEXT, the damn key wont come out of the ignition.....the key gets stuck when u try to turn car off and it wont come out......only way to get it out is pressing the button underneath the stearing wheel to manually release it.........so i take it to shop get the whole steering column and shifter replaced......a few months later it happens again.......had to get it replaced 2nd time.
3rd. Drivers side window doesnt work. Had to take to shop they replaced all electrical on driver side.
4th, CD Player dies and gets error. Take it to shop the cd players isnt covered by warranty they say will take over 500 bucks to fix and its completely broken i say screw that. A few weeks later i accidently press the cd button and the cd players starts working........
5th... Rear headlights wont turn off even when car is off......just the rear headlights stay on ran the battery down 3 times when i didnt notice.....replaced battery took car to shop replaced more electricals.....
6th....Just happend today car running fine i drive to store get back in car and turn the ignition and it just clicks a bunch of times and shows Check Charging System error on the dash.....no idea......battery seems fine lights come on, Radio works and plays, everything is fine but turn the ignition and CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK.
Fed up with this cheaply made ******* car.
Either a dying battery or bad cell. Your battery is 5 years old. 3 years is an average life according to the mechanic on the call in radio show I listened to Saturday.
Possibly a poor connection at the ends of the positive cable from the battery in the trunk to the connection in the engine compartment.
If you have someone with a jumper cable to another battery, connect that at the ground and the positive connection under the hood. I would try that first. I suspect all those strange symptoms will be gone with the higher voltage from the other battery.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I apologize for your frustrations. I would like to look into this for you. Can you please e-mail me with your Edmunds user name, complete contact information including a good telephone number to contact you, VIN, current mileage, and involved dealer. I look forward to your response.
Christina
GM Customer Service
gotta love a car that fixes itself..
but all kidding aside, from what i have been reading, the earlier Cobalts had a ton of wiring and electrical issues. Hope you were able to get some of the stuff sorted out.
I would wish you luck to get ALL the stuff sorted, but that almost seems like too much to hope for.
The car almost killed me several times, completely dying on the major highway in
Pennsylvania. Dealer kept saying car was fixed etc.making me look like I was an hysterical woman.
Lost so much money on this car, still got rid of it, hated driving it thinking it would kill me.
Good luck to you.
One thing i have learned is to not keep going back to the same incompetent dlr. They are not all the same. Even a dlr whom u didn't buy from, will often help u out way better, and they know that you will keep them in mind for your next purchase if you stay with brands they sell.
What yr was yours?
My neighbour recently bought a (likely 2010) Cobalt. He was very happy, proclaiming all the bells and whistles it had for such a low price (which wasn't low at all considering they are clearing out a replaced car (with the Cruze).
I was shocked he traded in their Vibe on it! The Vibe/Matrix even though was a few years old, I suspect was a better sorted car than what he replaced it with. I didn't rain on his parade, but i suspect others already had, cuz he kept saying that at least he has new with full wty etc etc.
To myself, I stood there thinking/hoping he wouldn't need it but I think the new Cobalts had a lot of the issues sorted out that the 05 etc had. I would have bought their Vibe (for my nephew) had I known they were getting rid of it. The car was fine. Never had a problem with it. Gas and oil changes and tire rotations.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0e875e/144#MSG144
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Good luck
Can you please email me with your contact information including mailing address and a good number to reach you, VIN, current mileage, involved dealer, and Edmunds user name? I would like to look into this for you. I look forward to your response.
Christina
GM Customer Service
On a good note, great gas miliage and i love how it handles. I just hope my next GM vehicle doesn't have so many cosmetic issues and better service. Oh, My power locks do not work anymore and my chevy symbol fell off of my trunk. I feel like i drive a 5 year old beater. :lemon: