Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||||
| PIP-4651 | 06/01/2009 | 10032886 | Saturn/pontiac/chevrolet: soft shifts, erratic shifts, dtc p1811. vehicles with a hydramatic 4t45 transaxle may have soft shifts or shifts erratically. these conditions may appear intermittently or set a dtc p1811. during diagnosis, a l | 06/08/2010 | |
| TB-09-07-30-009 | 04/01/2009 | 10030112 | General motors: an automatic transmission concern of no movement, no reverse or slipping. these concerns may be due to an issue with the direct clutch. *pe | 08/03/2009 | |
| 08-07-30-034 | 07/01/2008 | 10026004 | Gmc: 4t45-3 automatic transmission (rpo mn5/me7) - no reverse, binds in reverse, no movement, dtc p0756 (perform appropriate repair as outlined in bulletin). on some hybrid and non-hybrid vehicles. *pe | 09/23/2008 | |
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | |||||
| 0707129001 | 02/01/2008 | 0707129001A | 10024261 | Ei07280 - key can not be removed from ignition with transaxle selector in park, shifter can not be moved from park position (diagnose using si). *nj | 03/31/2008 |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/01/2012 | 97000 | 1 | |
| I noticed a slight tapping/rattling noise coming from the front driver side. the noise only occurs between the speeds of 50-60 mph and only when letting off the gas completely. then i received in the mail an ignition cylinder recall. my car had problems with locking up and difficulties turning the key. so i took the car to the dealership told them about the noise i was hearing then waited a week with no call from the dealership so i called them. they told me my car would be finished by noon, i arrived at 4 pm. they then told me my car was not yet finished. the dealership had not even put in the new ignition cylinder even after a week. i was told the noise could not be replicated. i waited for the ignition to be put in (about 30 mins) then took one of the dealership mechanics on a test drive to hear the noise. noise was heard and took it back to the shop. checked under the car and nothing wrong could be found. the lead mechanic took it for a test drive but due to the heavy downpour of rain nothing was heard. i was asked to bring the car back on monday due to possible severity of the situation. dropped the car back off at the dealership monday. a test drive and a look under the car and they found the problem, noise coming from rack and pinion while hitting bumps rack worn and needs replacement steering column making noise as well recommend replacement with out replacement the car would eventually have no steering ability at all: cost $1524 no warranty. this car has had the power steering recall replacement (the steering wheel suddenly stopped working while in a parking lot due to broken pinion) in 2010 and a transmission issue (rpm rev when the car hit 40 when the gas was not being applied) that was a worn seal it was fixed and covered by warranty in 2011. this would be the twice now with no steering ability only its a different cause? i feel like i'm being cheated. *tr | |||
| 09/16/2011 | 47800 | ||
| Noticed a faint smell of gas while driving my cobalt on thursday september 15th, 2011. gas smell grew stronger later in the day and, on friday, was so strong that it was overpowering, even with the windows rolled down. upon taking my car to the mechanic, they found that a plastic supply port on the modular resovoir of my fuel pump had cracked and it was creating a severe fuel leak. i had to replace the fuel pump in order to fix this situation, but, three days later, my car still has an existing gas smell to it. on friday when the incident occurred, i felt like i had ingested gasoline all day, and it took a while for that feeling to go away. addtionally, i know that gas leaks are potentially very hazardous and can start fires. in conducting research, it seems that this problem is consistent with recall id # 09v419000 dated 10/29/2009 in which 2006 and 2007 year chevrolet cobalts were recalled for the same problem in some states including arizona, where my car was purchased and registered. service members at a chevrolet dealership have stated that this issue has become common with my year cobalts, so perhaps the 2008 cobalts should be recalled as well? this is a hazardous problem that has turned in to quite an expensive fix for me, and i believe that it needs to be taken care of immediately. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 04/10/2011 | 124000 | ||
| Transmission module failure leads to temporary power steering failure. while driving my 2008 chevy cobalt, the instrument cluster started malfunctioning. the speedometer, tachometer, and fuel gauge all started bouncing around erratically. the driver information center started flashing power steering. this all took place while i was driving the car on the freeway ay about 60 mph. as i was trying to pull to the breakdown lane the power steering failed. i thought the power steering pump went out. after getting the car to the side of the road and turning it off i called my mechanic. he told me he heard of this before and told me to restart the car. i did and everything was back to normal. i drove straight to his shop where he plugged in his diagnostic check computer. he told me the problem was with the transmission module and is a well know problem with the chevy cobalt. i have since googled it and found many cobalt owners are experiencing the same problem. i spoke to chevrolet customer service and was told that because my car has 125,000 miles it is out of warranty and not covered. i don't care so much about that as the potential safety hazard. if the power steering fails while on the road again it could lead to an accident. it has happened twice since and i have managed to pull over before the steering shut down. is this an issue you could look into on these cars? | |||
| 12/20/2009 | 95000 | 1 | |
| I was driving down the road about to get on the freeway and power steering showed up on my cars message center. if, while driving, i put the car in neutral, turn it off and back on, the power steering works again, but only for a few seconds, usually long enough to do a turn. there have been numerous times that i have almost hit another car because i lost my power steering right before a turn. *tr | |||
| 03/09/2009 | 37562 | 1 | |
| Problem started speed at 55 noise on right front then hard vibration when you apply brakes it is worse .now at 45 it does this not all the time about once a week and after 5 miles or more it will finally quit have had wheels rebalanced to make sure that not the problem and have changed tires still no difference.they did tell me seepage around struts but not bad.told me to take to dealer as still under warranty. took to chevy dealer it drove ok for them and they had me drive it to explain my prob they put on a lift and they see nothing seepage around struts no big deal unless dripping. they said unless it had vibration when they drove or i knew what the problem was couldn't help me nothing done to correct problem .dealer told me next time it happened to bring it in and there would be no charge. that was a joke. when it happens may not be close enough to a dealer unless i pay a tow person to take it there. this has been going on for abt 3 months. *tr | |||
| 05/16/2009 | 37585 | 1 | |
| A 2008 chevy cobalt was driven about 10 miles, parked, shut off, the key removed & locked with remote. a few hours later the car was unlocked with remote, the key was inserted in the ignition but it would not turn nor could the gear shifter be moved out of park. the car was started using the remote but shut off after the 10 minute time-out. tried to call on-star but noticed the green light was not illuminated and would not work. had to use home phone to contact them. car was towed to dealer the next day. dealer diagnosed that the ignition switch was defective and replaced it. dealer would not repair it w/o cost even though there appears to be a service bulletin for this problem. car had about 37,000 miles however problems with the ignition not turning on the first attempt were noticed on many occasions prior to failure. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2009 | 8325 | 1 | |
| Went to start 2008 chevy cobalt with just over 8000miles. when inserted key into ignition key got stuck and would not release/turn to start vehicle. car would not even shift out of park. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||
| 03/13/2009 | 15000 | 1 | |
| Purchased cobalt revolution with manual transmission in feb 2009. always got some minor grinding when shifting into 4th gear. waited during break-in period but only got worse. around 15,000 miles took to dealer, he couldn't duplicate the problem. the grinding got worse and extended to 3rd gear too. at approx 30,000 miles it was almost constant. dealer replaced the 3rd and 4th syncro gears. problem recurred almost immediately in 3rd only. shifter failed and had to be towed at approx. 50,000 miles. dealer again rebuilt transmission and replaced a shifter linkage pin. problem recurred almost immediately in 3rd only. shifter again failed and had to be towed to dealer. dealer waiting for backordered cable for shifter and then will try to fix grinding. dealer says cable is not part of power train warranty! *tr | |||
| 09/05/2008 | 450 | 1 | |
| I purchased a brand new 2008 cobalt sport and from the first few weeks that i got it , to this day, i found that sometimes when going into third or fourth gear w/clutch fully engaged there is a vibration and noticeable grinding while engaging into gear, it is also very difficult to get into 2nd gear in very cold weather. *tr | |||
| 02/08/2008 | 34 | 1 | 01/07/2008 |
| 4th gear synchro not fully functional(manual transmission)....average of 10% of the time when attempting to select 4th gear w/cluth fully engaged grinding noise & vibration occurs...does go into gear, but grinds...dealer told me that chevy told them that no damage will be caused by problem, and to continue to drive with defective part...new part for 08 in tranny vs 05-07 tranny. *tr | |||