Problems with 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt STEERING

At 53,000 miles my 2005 chevrolet cobalt experienced a severe power steering loss. while driving 65 miles per hour, my steering froze to the point of very little control of my vehicle. i could barely get it pulled over to the side of the road. i turned off the ignition, sat for a few minutes, then re-started my car. no problem. i began driving again and after going less than a mile, the same incident happened. no steering! i immediately drove my car to my dealer. they had to replace the steering column and assist motor...to the tune of $848.13!! needless to say, this is something i could ill afford. after doing some research on this problem, i realized that numerous cobalt owners had the same problem! it was even mentioned in the 02/02/2010 issue of usa today. i believe that chevrolet should do the right thing and recall these vehicles now! why do they wait for someone to be killed or maimed because of their faulty workmanship?! no wonder american automakers are going to be a thing of history in the near future. at least toyota stepped up to the plate and is doing the right thing for their customers. *cn updated 06/05/14

Driving my 2005 cobalt is a dangerous option, you can drive it for day's and all of a sudden the steering quits and the transmission starts acting up also lights on the dash panel start flashing the car is still running but the steering does not work anymore, also the shifter will not disengage the steering lock you have to remove the plug out of the bottom of the steering wheel and stick your finger up in there push a small button like thing to get the key to unlock and turn all the way off other wise it will not lock the steering wheel. this has been happening for about 1/12 years i called the dealer ship and they told me the warranty for this kind of thing was up and that they did not have a fix for this, however they knew of the problem in other cars, i was told to replace the brain i did it didn't work i was told to put a larger capacity (amps) battery in, i did , it didn't work, this is a very serious problem that needs fixed. i'm going to put the last incident date in the box below. *tr

The power steering on my 2005 chevy cobalt went out while i was driving, luckily it didn't result in an accident. i could have just as easily been in an accident due to the fact i couldn't turn my wheel at all. i took the cobalt to a shop, and it turns out it was the motor. apparently this happens to a ton of chevy cobalts all the time. this is sooo dangerous! also, occasionally my driver side door won't open from the inside or outside. this could be a huge safety risk if i needed to get out of my vehicle in a hurry. *tr

Chev 2005 cobalt 63000 mile on the clock , i purchased the car in december 2008 . in jan 2010 i was driving on a highway at 50 miles an hour when a chime sounded and the console flashed power steering . i did not feel much difference in the car at that time . this next happened 2 days later. it seemed that turning the car off would rectify the problem. with in the month, the car was experiencing the problem on each drive i took with in the first 15 min. i had a problem while in the school car park that it failed and i lost all control i was able to stop the car with the brakes. almost hitting a small child and the car mounting the curb as i was unable to turn the wheels. i contacted gm in late february when the incident happened and was told the problem is not something they are aware of and that maybe a patch on ice caused the loss of control. it was the following day that while driving on the highway at 50 miles an hour the chime sounded and the console flashed power steering . the car lost all power. it did not stall or run out of gas it quick working . i was unable to get the car to restart. i was lucky that i was in the right hand lane of traffic and was able to pull over to the hard shoulder. the car would not start for over an hour . when the car started i returned home . i had a mechanic look over the vehicle while it was working and no problem other than the failure of the power steering could be found . the car has lost all power and shut down with in 5 mins of the car running . the car will not start . it will be days before the start. it now when it starts,the chime sounds and flash power steering flashes and the car shuts down . this is an unsafe car . the problem is serious and life threatening . to think i could have taken the life of a child if the car had not stopped when it did . the car is sat in the garage i am not able to drive .

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. the contact was driving approximately 25 mph when the steering wheel became uncontrollable. he had to shut the engine off so that the vehicle could reset itself. the manufacturer stated that the warranty was not valid and the repair cost was $2000. there were no related recalls. the failure mileage was 15,000.

Tl*the contact owns 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving approximately 60 mph the power steering failed without warning. she was able to drive onto the emergency lane and turn the vehicle off. the power steering reset itself and the vehicle began driving normally. a local mechanic stated that they were unable to diagnose the failure and to take the vehicle to a dealer. the current and the failure mileages were 57,000. updated 3/12/10 *cn the power steering motor was replaced. updatd 05/14/10.*jb

Power steering on '05 colbalt shuts off during driving. system turns off sporadically. if i cannot pull over and shut the engine down, the steering wheel will turn but very hard to turn. if i turn the vehicle off and back on the system works fine till the next episode. *cn

Power steering failure in my 2005 chevy cobalt. no warnings, steering goes out at any speed. i receive a warning ring to read my computer board which reads "power steering" at this point there is no power steering. once the vehicle is shut off and restarted the power steering works again, until it goes out again, and again. this is very very dangerous, steering the vehicle without power steering is almost impossible. *tr

2005 chevy cobalt, power steering suddenly went out. very difficult to steer, almost caused accident with my two small children in the car. have found many others on line who have suffered same problem. *tr

Power steering failure in chevy cobalt. a little online research shows that lots of people are having this problem. *tw

While driving on the highway at 70 mph, i heard a ding and looked at the console. it said "power steering". because i was on a straight stretch of road, the power steering going out wasn't initially a big problem, so i got off the highway at the next exit and parked so i could turn the car off. after a couple minutes of talking to my dad, i turned the car on and it was fine so i continued on my trip. twenty minutes later it dinged again and the power steering was gone again. i drove about 15 minutes like that because i was getting close to my destination until i remembered the ramp i needed to take was a big curve and i didn't want to attempt it without the power steering. i pulled off to the side of the road, turned the car off, and then back on. i was able to pull back onto the highway and around the ramp but as soon as i was on the next highway, it went out again. i managed to make it a couple miles until i saw a gm dealer and got off the highway. i nearly collided with a stopped car trying to make a right turn but managed to make it to the dealer. the power steering motor had fried and needed to be replaced in order to find out if the module was bad too. the motor cost me $411 and if the module had gone too it would have cost $732. thankfully it was just the motor, but of course my warranty expired just a couple weeks ago. i maintained my car properly since i bought it in 2005 with 6 miles on it but i feel like i've been ripped off. *tr

Power steering goes out randomly while driving making it very difficult to steer the car. this started monday and did it 2 separate times then it happened again on wednesday. once you turn the engine off and back on it's ok for an indeterminable timeframe. *cn

I was driving down the highway heading home from work during rush hour traffic in chicago. when the powersteering on my 2005 chevy cobalt apparently began to give out ,my car began to stutter, lose power, and the steering tried to lock itself. lights on my dashboard began to dim in and out and then it displayed powersteering on the display. fortunately i was able to pull over without the powersteering completely locking itself on me. i shut off my car for a few minutes. turn it back on and proceeded to get off at the next exit and drove it the rest of the way home, which fortunately was not that far away, and it continued to stutter and tried to lock the steering wheel, dashboard lights dimming in and out and just losing power of the vehicle.. i am looking for the nearest chevy dealership, i can take it into for repairs. when i happened to have come across about the same complaints other chevy cobalt owners have with their powersteering as well. obviously this is something that needs to be looked into. fortunately for me i was able to pull over and get off the highway without incident in chicago rush hour traffic. i don't even want to think about what might have happened if i had been unable to pull over and get off the highway and had my 1 yr old daughter with me in the car. please look into it and help avoid in having this problem turn into a tragedy for any other chevy cobalt owners. thank you. *tr

I can be driving down the road at any rate of speed, and the power steering warning light will come on & chime, by the time the chime stops the power steering has gone out. i can stop the car, turn it off, turn it back on and it fixes the problem for about 2-5 minutes then the situation repeats itself. it happens constantly to the point the car is almost not drivable. it has progressively gotten worse over time. *tr

When are they going to recall the 2005 chevrolet cobalt due to the power steering. i think its disgusting that gm is not doing anything about it. i just bought this car and don't have the money to fix this. how many people have to die before something is done. the power steering goes out when driving. *tr

Electronic power steering keeps going out on my 2005 chevy cobalt. i will get maybe 1 to 5 minutes down the road and the power steering fails. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving approximately 65 mph on normal road conditions the "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and immediately, there was a loss of power steering. the driver pulled over to the side of the road which required a higher effort to turn the steering wheel. the engine was turned off and restarted. the vehicle was able to resume normal operation. the failure occurred intermittently and became progressively worse. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. the failure was contributed to the power steering motor. the vehicle has not been repaired at this time. the failure mileage was 50,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while the contact was driving 20 mph she noticed that the power steering warning light displayed on the dashboard. however, moments later there was a loss of power steering. the vehicle was taken to the dealership in which there was a replacement of the power steering motor. there were no prior warnings. the current and failure mileages were 46,000.

The power steering light comes on and the steering wheel is very hard to operate. the key also gets stuck in the ignition. *tr

Tl*the contact has a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving approximately 5 mph out of a parking lot the contact suddently lost control of the steering and crashed into a vehicle. the contact was found at fault; although, he doesnt agree since the loss of power steering caused the crash to occur. the vehicle was destroyed. the mileage was unavailable.

My 2005 chevrolet cobalt experienced power steering failure. the power steering message came on and my wheel locked up. i was unable turn the wheel and had to drive off of the road to avoid a collision. after turning the car off the steering came back. however, this problem could cause major injury. this is a frequent problem with the 2005 chevrolet cobalt and no recall is in effect. this cannot be fixed without major expense on my part. *tr

18 year old son traveling 3 hour trip from school and lost steering in car. car became very uncontrollable but luckily he got the car to stop and got to side of road. after shutting her off for a while he restarted her and everything was fine. after having car checked out it seems that electric steering column maybe bad. wondering if there is a recall on it. car only has 63,000km on her. chevy cobalt 2005. it really is a serious and very dangerous problem. *tr

Power steering failed while driving almost resulting in an accident. steering works for about 5 minutes then goes out. comes back after restart but then goes immediately back out. this is a very unsafe condition because it is unpredictable. brought to dealer. very expensive fix. still not resolved*cw

My wife owns a 2005 chevy cobalt. she was turning into an intersection when her electric power steering failed without warning and she lost control of the vehicle. this caused her to be unable to complete the turn and was almost hit by the vehicle behind her. luckily the driver behind her was paying attention and was able to avoid a collision. the car had to be taken to the dealer where they had to replace the power steering module and we were advised that if it eventually failed again (which they stated may be only a temporary repair) that we would have to replace the entire steering column. *tr

The power steering warning light appeared & w/in minutes the power steering failed. restarting the car reset it, but now it will only work for a couple of minutes before going out again. i was told i needed to replace power steering column. this car has been a headache since the beginning w/ one defect after another. i have not been notified of any recalls since i purchased it new in jan 2005. the problem has not been fixed as it is not in our budget at $1200.00. *tr

I have a 2005 chevy cobalt. i have had my powersteering light come on, and i cant steer the car very well. i have also had many numerous electrical problems. i have taken it to the dealership 2-3 times & they always tell me there is nothing wrong. but, i am not imagining this, and it happens repeatedly. there has been times where i haven't been able to drive the car. also, when it happened while driving i almost lost control while turning. *tr

I was driving my 2005 chevy cobalt home and without notice or warning my power steering light came on and the power steering failed. i was unable to turn the corner immediately after this incident. i pulled over to the side of the road and turned the car off. i had my husband meet me and he assumed it was the power steering belt. upon inspecting the car, he determined it wasn't the belt and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. we drove the car home and it sat for approximately 1 week. i drove the car less than 10 miles and it the same thing happened. i again pulled over and turned the car off and restarted it. the power steering was fine and i continued to drive it home. i went approximately another 5 miles and the power steering went out again. each time the steering fails, i immediately turn the car off and re-start it. i also hear a "click" sound immediately prior to the power steering going out. i have not been able to have this car fixed due to the financial situation and i do not feel comfortable selling the car to someone else. the car has 112,000 miles on the odometer.*jb

My daughter experienced a power steering failure on her 2005 chevrolet cobalt. the power steering failed while she was driving home from school. there was no warning that the power steering would fail. a power steering warning message came up on the dashboard and then became very difficult to steer. the car will be taken to a chevrolet dealer for repairs. *tr

Power steering failure 2005 chevy cobalt. i was idling in a parking lot, heard a ding ding ding, noticed a message on my dash "power steering." i tried to maneuver into a parking space and could barely turn the car into the space. it was extremely hard to turn the wheel. i turned the car off, then turned it back on and the power steering was ok. the same thing happened several times while i was driving over the next few days. the power steering would operate for a few minutes and then go out at random intervals. when the power steering would malfunction, an alarm would sound and a message pop up of the dash. turning off the car seemed to reset the problem temporarily. i took the car to my dealer and they replaced the motor in the power steering. the part was expensive, but available. it is working fine again. they denied any known problem with this issue in other cars. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving approximately 40 mph on normal road conditions 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 higher effort to turn the steering wheel. the engine was turned off and restarted. the vehicle was able to resume normal operation. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle has not been repaired for the malfunction at this time. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 35,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving 45 mph vehicle made a beeping sound and then steering wheel locked. the contact shut the vehicle off, restarted it and the failure continued to occur. the contact stated that the power steering failed while driving 15 mph out of a parking lot. the vin was unavailable. the current and failure mileages were 71000.

My son was driving his 2005 chevy cobalt (less than 25000 miles) at 55 mph when the power steering warning light alerted him of the power system failure. he was able to safely stop the vehicle. the day after the event, the vehicle was taken to keddie chevrolet for evaluation. a day later they replaced the power steering motor to the tune of $302.10. guess who ended up paying the bill? us. *tr

Out of the blue my boyfriend and i were on our way home in my 2005 chevy cobalt and we heard a ding and the power steering light came on in the car and we totally lost power steering. there was absolutely no warning what so ever. the car has been running great until this. once i shut off the car and let it sit for awhile i will get the power steering back but within a day or 2 it happens again. this is very dangerous to be driving and lose the power steering with absolutely no warning. i haven't fixed the car yet so i'm not sure how much it is going to cost but i was told by the garage that they have to replace the entire steering column to fix it. i love my cobalt but i am very unhappy with the way this just failed and it happened 3,000 miles after my extended warranty expired. i've been reading that the same exact problem is happening to a lot of people who own cobalts. *tr

My vehicle has had multiple issues gas tank replaced sensors replaced, cd player is always locking up, cds get stuck, vehicle vibration issues never fixed and a rotating noise along with road noise never fixed. current would be the power steering which works for about five seconds giving me enough time to get out of my parking spot, then a power steering warning lights up and the steering wheel gets stiff and is really hard to turn. i have contacted gm and a dealer both have denied to fix the problem. it is very hard to park reversing into a parking is impossible. *tr

I own a 2005 chevy cobalt. the power steering frequently goes out while driving. the car needs to be turned off before the power returns. very dangerous. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. whenever the contact drives the vehicle at any speed she notices a beeping sound coming from the dashboard followed by the loss of power steering in the vehicle. the vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealership and there were no prior warnings. the current and failure mileages were 51000.

While driving my car my steering wheel jerked to the left as a tried to make a right turn. immediately after the jerking of the wheel a power steering message flashed on the dashboard. this is the 2nd time i have an issue with the steering. about 2 years ago my steering wheel completly locked up as i was driving. i was able to quickly move to the side of the road away from traffic where i restarted my vehicle and proceeded to drive with no more issues. *tr

2005 chevy cobalt power steering failure. power steering motor failure. car went to manual steering. very hard to turn at lower speeds. took in to chevy dealer on feb 1 and they replaced the power steering motor. *tr

My steering rack in my cobalt makes a clunking noise when turning left and right. it also wanders and will not drive strait at highway speeds. it has been doing this for quite some time but has recently been getting worse. *tr

No event driving home. *tr

There's a defect with the power steering motor on 2005 & 2006 chevrolet cobalt. i bought the 2005 chevrolet cobalt ls brand new in spring of 2005 and the power steering went out this week (jan 2010). as one would expect, when it went out while driving approximately 45 mph on a straight city street it became extremely difficult to steer. making it a very dangerous safety hazard if one has to turn quickly to avoid a collision with another car, a person, or a child. i thought that it may have just been out of steering fluid, but this model has electric power steering, requiring the car to be brought in for service. after encountering the problem, i contacted the dealer and they stated that they have seen this problem very frequently and noted that it indeed was an issue with the power steering motor. after finding out how common this issue was, i researched online to see if perhaps gm/chevrolet had issued a safety recall and to my surprise i found over 700 complaints (on one site) from cobalt owners with the same issue dating as far back as 2007 (site: http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/chevrolet-cobalt/t8fmsuqb7v2dth5jh) , but no safety recall. this issue is well known to gm/chevrolet and yet and still no recall. these particular models (chevy cobalt ls and others) are marketed as great cars for teens and young adults, making the power steering defect all the more dangerous when combined with young drivers. there are numerous complaints listed online and there is even a petition in place to require gm/chevrolet to issue a safety recall. on behalf of owners of the effected models, please look into this. i myself will be keeping records of the complaints posted online and i encourage others having the same issue to do the same. i will also be contacting gm/chevrolet about the issue. please don't overlook this. all 2005 cobalt ls owners are at risk. gm/chevrolet needs to take responsibility before a consumer gets injured or worse as a result of their indolence. *tr

My power steering has failed while driving my 2005 cobalt with 50,000 miles on it. *tr

Tl*- the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. the contact stated while pulling out of the driveway at 20 mph the power steering failed without warning. the vehicle was taken an authorized dealer on two separate occasions for the identical failure and a diagnostic test was performed. the repair parts were at a cost of $300.00. the vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. the failure and current mileages were 98,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. the driver stated that after driving a long distance at approximately 45 mph the vehicle made a clanking noise and the steering wheel failed to operate normally. the dealer has not diagnosed the failure. the failure mileage was 75,000.

Power steering will suddenly stop working - still able to steer manually - steers like a truck though. *tr

I have a 2005 chevy cobalt with power steering problems. i can be driving down the interstate at 70 mph and hear a snapping noise in the fuse box and then instantaneously the word power steering is displayed on the dash board monitor. when that happens, there is no power steering. i pull over to the side of the road, turn off the car and restart the car and the power steering resumes. on 1/12/2010 i drove this car to topeka, kansas and had no problems going there which was 80 miles. on the way back home, the power steering quit working 7 times in a 60 mile. towards the end of the 60 mile drive, the power steering would go out within 5 seconds of restarting the car and driving less than 100 feet. i limped the car to work with no power steering and let it sit for several hours. after work, i didn't have any problems driving the remaining 20 miles to my home. the power steering is problem is very intermittent, it can be problematic several times in one day and then not have any problems for a couple of weeks. the temperature the day i had so many problems was cold (20 degrees), however this has been going on for 6 months now and started when it was very hot, over 100 degrees. unfortunately the problem seems to be getting more frequent. i went to a chevy dealer and they want to charge me $100 to hook it up to a computer to determine if there is a problem. with this many complaints, there should be no charge to hook the car up to a computer to determine what is wrong. out of frustration, i parked the car and started using an older car for work. the cobalt has 70,000 miles on it and it is starting to have all kinds of issues with the electronics. there needs to be a recall on the power steering before it turns into a toyota problem and someone gets killed.

My chevy cobalt was losing power steering while parking, the mechanic could not find anything wrong. while driving on the highway during rush hour the power steering failed and i could barely turn the wheel. i was able to get it off the road. the power steering motor was replaced for almost $600 but i am still having steering problems. along with the motor being replaced i had previously replaced almost every part relating to the steering system in this car. this problem is going to kill someone if it hasn't already. please, please make gm recall this car it is unsafe to drive. i am afraid every time i drive it.*cw

2005 chevy cobalt power steering quits constantly while driving and becomes very hard to steer off road. first power steering lights comes on and immediately you loose power steering must pull off road shut down wait several minutes then restart and power steering comes back only for several miles then continues to do the same. *tr

Electric power steering pump and modular in a 2005 chevy cobalt. the power steering has started locking up at times and then comes back. took it to the dealer and they said that the electric pump and modular needs to be replaced this has happened to a large number of these cars. it is very unsafe and can cause a serious accident or the result of someone getting seriously hurt or killed. we purchased this car for our daughter thinking that this was a safe car for her to drive to school and work. but this is very unsafe because the steering can lock up and leave her with no steering. we think gm should be made to recall this problem because they know how many cars this has happened to and it is very unsafe. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. the contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the power steering failed. there were no warning lights prior to the failure. she was able to re-start the vehicle and the power steering would function for about 30 seconds before it would fail again. the dealer and the manufacturer have not been notified. the vehicle has not been repaired. the current and failure mileages were 76,703.