Hi all. I'm hoping I can find some advice on my2005 Cobalt. Though I don't have an SS I have the sedan model (bleh) this is one of the best Cobalt forums so I figured I might be able to get some advice here. To start out, I bought my car with some real cheapo tires on it. General Tire I do believe. It's time for some new one's. I have had problems with the tires since day 1. The handling is terrible and they've went through a few nail incidents in one of the back tires. A few months back I went to get a oil change and got a rotation. I soon started hearing a weird noise that seemed to be coming from the front of the car. The car shakes a bit when slowing down and the noise it makes sounds similar to a noise when the tires do not have enough air. Yet they do. I never heard this noise before.
The other day I went in for my next oil change. I asked them to check out the noise for me since they are the one's that last rotated the tires. They told me "The output shaft bearings on trans are loose on both sides and right cv axle is leaking."
He told me it should be covered under warranty. My car has 63,000 miles and according to Chevy my warranty is up. And they would need to replace the transmission.
It strikes me a bit odd that my transmission would already be bad.
It is also a bit odd that the noise didn't appear till after a rotation. So my question is, is there any other signs to look for as far as what they are saying it is. If the transmission was going out wouldn't there be other signs as to how the car drives? My car drives fine, no weird problems while driving other than the noise when I slow down.
I just don't want to pay to get somethin fixed that may not even be the problem. Could bad tires be the issue? Help!

 

is the wobble and noise during braking?

 

alignment. sounds like an alignment problem

 

Well it just shakes when braking and the wheel shakes around pretty bad. The noise is not really loud, and I can usually hear it when I'm driving as well as braking but more so when braking. It's almost like a thumping type of noise. Sounds like it's coming from the front end. And the tire that had a nail and got patched is the one in the front drivers side now after they rotated. I was thinking alignment also but according to Goodyear where I got my oil changed it doesn't need alignment. If the trans was going out what other types of noises or signs could I look for? Cause 63,000 sounds kinda soon for the transmission to go out.

 

on a off topic note, is that really you in your gallery? lol if so i am sure I speak for everyone when I say, MOAR PICS!!! lol

 

Sounds like it might be an unbalaced wheel to me.

 

try an alignment, balancing, road force balancing or what I had. I had vibrationg when braking because my rotors warped because my brake lines had collapsed and the calipers held constant pressure.

Try the balancing and alignment first, then replace the rotors and pads, then have someone check the brake lines.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I don't believe it could be the transmission personally. It does sound like an alignment or unbalanced wheel. I think I may go to a few other places through out this week and just ask around and get some more opinions. If all else fails I may head up to the Chevy dealership and get a diagnostic test ran. Hopefully it's something not as serious. Because there is a bit of uneven wear as well on one of my tires...so maybe it's something else. I'm hoping.
And yes...it really is me in my pictures. I got a link to my myspace on my profile I do believe. Fun times.

 

so your not at our meets ever why again? next ones this week you should come out and hang with us.

 

My dealership saw my car 6 times and never saw the collapsed line. they told me i was out of balance and out of alignment, told me i warped my rotors, told me my wheels were out of round. I changed EVERYTHING. finally i went someplace else and they found the brake line problem. I spent 2k fixing a $200 problem

 

I may have to do so one of these days. Where are the meets at?

That is ridiculous! Just makes u wonder about the dealerships! I am def. trying to avoid that type of situation! Hopefully I can get down to the REAL problem and just get it fixed!

 

If your having uneven wear on your tires then it is a alignment problem/ balance problem. when you drive down the road. let go of the wheel what does the car do? does the car float to one side, or does it stay straight. I'm pretty sure that if it was your trans (which i doubt) you would notice a lot more problems.

 

[QUOTE=crunkqueen;3320375]I may have to do so one of these days. Where are the meets at?



just click on forums and scrool down to the mideast forum and click on louisville whatever its long and drawn out name is. and there will be plenty of info on the last pages. usually we have them at roosters on preston but thursday possibly having a meet to get pictures of everyone.

 

Sounds like what I had, warped rotors. Wait never mind, mine was ONLY when braking

 

[QUOTE=bwalker0510;3320400]Sounds good. I'll check it out!

 

the noise is abnormal tire wear, they are chopped, if you rotate them back the noise will go away, tires cause 80% of all steering related complaints

Permanant fix: New tires.

 

me thinks they didnt torque the wheels down properly during the first rotation.

 

And yes...it does pull a bit to one side. Seems like the right side. I make sure to keep my tires at the right psi so I am sure it's not a low air problem. I am gonna try and go around for some more opinions and probably ask them to check if it could be any of the above ya'll mentioned. The warped rotors, the unbalanced tire, alignment, brakes. And see what I get. Hopefully I can find a clear answer.

 

or you could just get one of us otherc obalt peoples to check it for you so you dont have to pay people for something stupid.

 

Feel if the rotors are warped. When you brake does the brake pedal pulsate?

 

Step one would be to rotate the tires back to the original position, just do it yourself, pull a tire and stick the spare on, find where that tire used to be and put it on, then the tire you just pulled find his original home, so on and so on, then put spare away and drive..... if it still feels screwy when braking its in the rotors, also an easy fix, rotors are cheap for OE replacement. PS we love all cobalts, so much we double pluraled it (it's not for super sport, just a lot of cobalts ie 3 balts = cobalts, cobaltss = 33536)

Ball joints (CV) click when you turn if they are bad (its the bearing popping in and out of the worn socket), and transmissions slip and you would be lurching all over the place. Rotors when warped push the brake caliper in the direcion of the warp, and seeing as it is attached to the spindle, which is attached to the tie rod which connects to the steering rack which connects to the steering shaft that connects to the wheel that connects to you hands........

 

id go with the rotars

 

its allignment forsure, i used to have a bad wobble when i was slowing at high speeds, got them realligned and didnt have any problems til i hit another curb

 

You are getting a lot advice here, let me try to organize it for you.

You are right, it is most likely not the trans. But we can work up to that. First, you said the steering wheel shakes when you brake. That is simple. Thats warped brake rotors. You need a front brake job.

Then the wheels. Do you need new tires yet? If so, replace them now. If not, have them rebalanced as suggested. If they are properly balanced, it shouldn't matter where you mount them.

Now the tech comment about the torn CV boot concerns me. That is something you can have confirmed very easy. Just have another tech look at that for you. If he can confirm you have a torn boot, have that fixed. It might already be too late, and you might need a new CV axle. Look into that quickly.

And I'm in Nashville, so Louisville is pretty close. Stay in touch for summer car meets.

 

HAHA, all these guys in here trying to be all helpful...let the e-humping begin! Those are some pretty serious high heel shoes in one of your pics.