I test drove a yellow 08' Cobalt SS at a dealership today. Based on what I wanted in a car, it already had two strikes against it (no sunroof and it was cop magnet yellow), but milage was in the lower four digits plus it was cheap enough to cover the cost of a custom paint job (celestial blue mica like what's on the Mazda3) and still be less than a new one.

Anyway, I took it for a spin and put it through its paces. Did fair enough until I tried shifting into 5th... brick wall. Tried again... nothin. Eventually I was able to get it to do 5th, but seven out of ten times I tried, it wouldn't. Even when parked it would give trouble going into 5th.

Swapped seats with the dealer and had him drive, same thing for him at first, but then he tried shifting with the stick like a milimeter to the left, and it shifted with a bit more consistently. Basically he tried to feed me a line saying that the shift guides were a bit more sensitive for such a high performance car and that you're not supposed to shift it with the stick all the way to the right. I told him that was BS, and that'd be totally unacceptable for a car built for racing because that'd be prone to misshifts galore.

I also noticed that when shifting into 3rd the stick would give a very slight grind feel when I let go of the clutch. I chalked that up as normal initially, until I started running into the 5th gear problem. Now I'm wondering if it's a sign of major tranny issues with this one.

Opinions? The dealer said it still had the GM 100,000 mile warranty. Is the car worth pursuing?

 

Yea, i know some 08's you have to use the lift thing to get into 5th. as its installed wrong or something Its just something that happened at the factory. Friends 09 was the same and its under warrenty. works fine now.

 

I think you should forget about that one and go with another car bro

 

Stick with it bro you can always fix the prob

 

sounds fine, a millimeter dude?

and the grinding in all gears?

 

Same exact thing happened to me when i test drove a black 08 ss , brick wall at 5th gear. I finally got it in after 5 or 6 tries but something was off about it . The stealership said the same thing about the close shift point's and how it needed to be 'broke in" . It was 'broke " to begin with.

 

you mean "broken"

 

Just out of curiosity, did you test drive at a GM dealer? The '08 I found was at a non-GM (but still a major brand) dealer.

 

My 08 started out being tough to get into 5th but has since alleviated itself. When it wouldn't go in I tried lifting the reverse lockout and this did nothing, I think the transmission was just stiff since this hasn't happened since *knock on wood* about 3000km (~2000 miles) but I still keep a close eye on it every time I go into 5th when merging on the freeway.

 

I have had difficulty shifting into reverse on every 09 SS/TC in the lot, including my factory ordered Cobalt.

 

If you guys are seriously hitting the brick wall going into fifth, I'd be interested in seeing a video of how you shift. I know the exact thing you're talking about, but quite frankly unless I turn the shift into a 3 part move* I'll never hit it.

*Up-Right-Up as opposed to Up-to-the-right

 

Since most of us don't drive fast enough to warrant WOT 4-5 upshifts, I take it very easy. Up, Right, Up.

 

I think part of my problem was (and sometimes still is) due to seat placement, design and the shape of my body. I posted a thread sometime ago about placement and I still have days where I struggle since I'm between clicks for distance and seatback angle. I have noticed since I'm sitting closer and higher that it's become a non-issue and I could have been hitting that point in between where I wasn't straight enough on 5th to fully engage it. This also happend regardless of WOT or normal driving but that's a good point.

Metroplex, I have seen your thread on issues getting into reverse but the ONLY way I have a problem is when the car is moving, beyond that mine goes in every time short of the occasional wall which is expected from time to time. The way you described it however mine is not doing it ('08) unless I'm rolling backwards when I try...but even then I get more of a bounding stick than a grind from the gears .

 

Typical Cobalt

 

It sounds like one of the shifter linkages maybe be out of it's bracket. It's not uncommon had it happen in my car twice. Easy fix too

 

I had a hard time getting my new 09 into Reverse and 5th. It broke in nicely.

 

Once my reverse was easy to engage, it started grinding and I lost my backup lights (no resistance from the detent on the backup light switch).

This F35 is pretty sloppy, especially with the cables running all over the place. Why couldn't they use rods or linkages?

 

1) Grab stick. Place in neutral.
2) Move stick as far to the right as it will go.
3) Push up.
4) Shout expletives.

For the dealer it worked better if he used Up-to-the-right'ish.

Huh. I remember dealing with that on my Saturn SC2. One linkage fell off and suddenly I didn't have 1st and 2nd.

If it''s an easy fix on the Cobalt, can you describe or take a snapshot or two?

 

I was using a play on the salesmen's own word's......

Yep it was at a chevy dealer

I've been shifting that same F35 transmission in my SS for the last 3 year's without issue. And been shifting cars for 20 years ... think what you want..... but something was off.

 

Okay but as has been said - this is normal for the F35. You are one of a small group of people who have issue with it, I'm not sure where you got the chip on your shoulder.

Get in your current SS, put it in neutral, slam the shifter all the way to the right, and try to push up. It won't work.

Also: Do this in my Focus, it's the same thing there, fwiw.

Edit: For clarity's sake, the Focus is my second car. I do own an '08 Turbo.

 

The way I've always shifted in any stick shift car I've owned is to throw the stick to the right, then go up. I'm surprised to hear problem is "normal" for the F35 tranny though. Is there any sort of simple mod (new shifter, add a shim, etc) that can be done so that it'd shift the way I expect it to?

 

I thought the same thing with my 09, but its just not clear over there on the rt, its just a hair over from third. When i test drove it i was trying to go way over there but i like it and have got used to it being jsut rightish instead of clear to the right. Idk just putting in my 2cents. might be the same thing or might be a problem. But if its not griding and its hitting the shift in the same spot every time i wouldn't think twice about it

 

You take out the cup holder in front of the shifter and If you look down in there you should see 2 black linkages and a white bracket. Jiggle the two linkages to see if they are lose at all, if so or if not not push them down into the bracket until you here a snap or just push them down just make sure they are secure. Pop back in the cup holder and thats it.

 

The chip on my shoulder is from someone telling me that it must be how I shift to 5th .......

 

Getting into 5th and Reverse has become much easier on my car as it got broken in. With 12,500km (7,800mi) it's now much smoother. Even so, 5th is a pretty deliberate shift. You can't easily bang the gear by just pushing up on the shifter like on the 2-3. As far as I'm concerned this is no issue, because the number of drivers who would ever legally need to NLS the 4-5 is VERY small.