tortdad
Junior Member
Hi guys. I'm a new guy to your site from Houston TX and was wondering if someone can help me with a few questions.
I bought my 16 year old daughter a used 2007 cobalt LS as her first car. I got a good deal on it $3850 with 88,000 miles and dumped about $1200 worth of parts in it. I'm pretty good with tools so I did all the work myself. I replaced the front brakes/rotors, all fluids and filters, plugs....ect ect making sure it was good to go for my daughter.
So here we are... Cars runs like a champ, she's practicing for her drivers test which is scheduled for this Friday and the steering goes out. I knew these cars had issues with the power assist motor so I bought one from my local dealer. I know I paid over twice its value but couldn't wait for shipping since my daughter needs this car for her test. It is still doing the exact same thing. Low speeds, turn the wheel to the stop to parrall park and it goes out.
I saw on the TSB that it says "exssive stop to stop" turning will heat up the thermo coupling and cause the motor to temporarily shut down but this is not exssive stop to stop turning. It's turn the wheel to the stops in one direction, then to the stops in the other direction and it quits. You should be able to Parrall park or do a 3 point turn without it shutting off. So here are my questions.
Is there a way for me to figure the codes out in the module without having to take it to the dealer for them to read it?
I'm pretty sure the steering column needs to be replaced but would that cause the motor to shut down like mine is?
The turn signal didn't work when I got it. The left side didn't auto cancel, then it got to where you had to hold it down to even work. I took it apart and reversed the spring but it did no good so I bought a new one and this one doesn't auto cancel in either direction. In fact it dosent even make the click, click, click sound when it's flashing. It works and the signals come on but it's silent and won't auto correct in either direction. Can the steerin column cause this issue too?
My column seems a little loose, has play in it (you can hold it at the 12 o'clock position and pull the wheel towards you chest and it moves in and out a little) plus when you take it to the stops it clicks and makes noises.
When I bouht it was noisy when you hit a bump so I replaced the intermediate shaft and the noise went away.
So I've replace the shaft and now the assist motor. I'm ready to order the column but what about the module? Should i do that too? Anyone got any links to cheap parts?
I've done tons of searches and can't find anything that tells me if the column will fix my issues and found nothing at all about replacing the control module. I'm looking for some advice on what to do next from someone who's had this problem before.
I just don't want to do the column and have the stupid steering quit 10 mins later.
Thanks,
Frustrated dad!
---------- Post added at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:59 PM ----------
Also how to I subscribe to this thread to make sure I get emails when someone replays
---------- Post added at 05:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 PM ----------
I had the dealer run the vin and all recalls have been done. One of which was the power assist motor
---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:33 PM ----------
How do I know if I need to buy just the steering column or if I should pony up the additional $250 for the part labeled the "jacket"
I bought my 16 year old daughter a used 2007 cobalt LS as her first car. I got a good deal on it $3850 with 88,000 miles and dumped about $1200 worth of parts in it. I'm pretty good with tools so I did all the work myself. I replaced the front brakes/rotors, all fluids and filters, plugs....ect ect making sure it was good to go for my daughter.
So here we are... Cars runs like a champ, she's practicing for her drivers test which is scheduled for this Friday and the steering goes out. I knew these cars had issues with the power assist motor so I bought one from my local dealer. I know I paid over twice its value but couldn't wait for shipping since my daughter needs this car for her test. It is still doing the exact same thing. Low speeds, turn the wheel to the stop to parrall park and it goes out.
I saw on the TSB that it says "exssive stop to stop" turning will heat up the thermo coupling and cause the motor to temporarily shut down but this is not exssive stop to stop turning. It's turn the wheel to the stops in one direction, then to the stops in the other direction and it quits. You should be able to Parrall park or do a 3 point turn without it shutting off. So here are my questions.
Is there a way for me to figure the codes out in the module without having to take it to the dealer for them to read it?
I'm pretty sure the steering column needs to be replaced but would that cause the motor to shut down like mine is?
The turn signal didn't work when I got it. The left side didn't auto cancel, then it got to where you had to hold it down to even work. I took it apart and reversed the spring but it did no good so I bought a new one and this one doesn't auto cancel in either direction. In fact it dosent even make the click, click, click sound when it's flashing. It works and the signals come on but it's silent and won't auto correct in either direction. Can the steerin column cause this issue too?
My column seems a little loose, has play in it (you can hold it at the 12 o'clock position and pull the wheel towards you chest and it moves in and out a little) plus when you take it to the stops it clicks and makes noises.
When I bouht it was noisy when you hit a bump so I replaced the intermediate shaft and the noise went away.
So I've replace the shaft and now the assist motor. I'm ready to order the column but what about the module? Should i do that too? Anyone got any links to cheap parts?
I've done tons of searches and can't find anything that tells me if the column will fix my issues and found nothing at all about replacing the control module. I'm looking for some advice on what to do next from someone who's had this problem before.
I just don't want to do the column and have the stupid steering quit 10 mins later.
Thanks,
Frustrated dad!
---------- Post added at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:59 PM ----------
Also how to I subscribe to this thread to make sure I get emails when someone replays
---------- Post added at 05:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 PM ----------
I had the dealer run the vin and all recalls have been done. One of which was the power assist motor
---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:33 PM ----------
How do I know if I need to buy just the steering column or if I should pony up the additional $250 for the part labeled the "jacket"