power locks freaking out.. dropped RPMS WTF

kjweston

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Hey guys, My name is chase I myself do not drive a cobalt.. I drive a jeep and am a part of multiple jeep forums.. The reason I joined this one is because my girlfriend owns a 2005 cobalt sedan and the other day we were leaving the movie theater, put the car in drive and all of the sudden the power locks started rapidly locking and unlocking and the dash was beeping.. POWER STEERING was coming up on the display as well.. We drove it home and it did it twice more at random times on the way. engine also dropped RPMS. But hasn't done it since that night. As college students we gotta watch our pennies and the stealership ofcourse wants our souls... Have any of you ever experienced this before? If so what did it turn out to be? Any simple fix? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Chase
 

kjweston

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sounds to me like a switch got stuck
did you check for codes

It was displaying "POWER STEERING" on the dash info thing. I know how to get CEL codes and all that on my jeep but I'm new to chevy cobalts. The dealer said it could be the computer modules communicating wrong. Another guy said we'd need to replace the steering column.. So idk. Just seeing if anyone on here has had the same problem and found a fix. Thanks man.
 

YelloEye

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The power steering problem is a recall, take it in for free. See if that fixes the other problems.
 

CJ n Shagy

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there is a recall for sure on the power steering
this wouldnt matter if it is out of warranty or not
 

kjweston

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Well we got a letter like 5 months ago saying it was recalled so we went in and they did it. But now there's problems and it's saying power steering again. The dealer is giving us sh*t cause we already had it done.
 

gearbolt

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That sounds like the same problem I am having except my power steering just completely shut off and it was hard to even turn the wheel while driving. The auto locks were going crazy and the auto shifter was making some weird clicking noise. I got the power steering recall done about a year ago so they told me it wasn't that. They said it was a lose battery cable and sent me on my way after a 200 dollar labor charge...I am still having the problem a day after the service though.
 

Tuner923

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That sounds like the same problem I am having except my power steering just completely shut off and it was hard to even turn the wheel while driving. The auto locks were going crazy and the auto shifter was making some weird clicking noise. I got the power steering recall done about a year ago so they told me it wasn't that. They said it was a lose battery cable and sent me on my way after a 200 dollar labor charge...I am still having the problem a day after the service though.

clicking in the shifter sounds like the park safety lock(brakes must be applied to remove from park). door locks, that park safety feature and pwr steering all controlled by modules. Either a transistor in the module is fired, a diode in the module is fried. possibly a leaking diode in the rectifier of the alternator; a/c pwr where D/C is needed will do funny things to modules too. Electronics diagnosis is a real pain so many things to go wrong and check. electrical diag labor rate can be high as $100/hr.
 

Red06SS

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2009 Cobalt LT

Hey everyone,

I'm a noob here, but definitely not new to car forums. I have an '06 SS, and my daughter has an '09 LT with a manual. She has suddenly started experiencing her door locks just arbitrarily locking themselves (NOT unlocking) when she is at idle and sets the e-brake (the display also flashes "PARKING BRAKE," too).

We've had it back to the dealership, but they are completely clueless as to why this is happening, or just didn't want to deal with it on a Saturday. Needless to say, I don't trust them as far as I can throw the Cobalts.

We won't even go into the fact that I just had to spend 300.00 on lower control arms for my '06. That's another day.

Any feedback or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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