boostaddict

few little weird problems:

1. headlights will flicker sometimes while driving and sometimes radio will turn off and right back on. Headlights will also flicker sometimes when hitting the brakes.

2. When alarming the car, sometimes one button push will lock the doors and sound the alarm horn rather than the normal two. Also, sometimes the headlights will remain on even when the lock button is pushed.

3. Has happened three times...when starting the car, the car won't crank. Turn key back to off, then back to crank and it starts. When it starts, the needles go back...like towards the bottom of the gauge instead of up. After a few seconds they will correct.

4. When turning the car off, with the clutch to the floor, the engine will stumble and almost feel like a half stall, if that makes sense at all. Kind of hard to explain. After it is off, the needles will twitch for a few seconds and then die

5. Sometimes, the car won't respond to the keyless entry but after a few tries it works

Mods are in my sig. Bear in mind, these issues have started since it got cold. I'm thinking the battery is dying. Any other thoughts?

Thanks

Wolf117

I have noticed my needles twitch a little but it only happens rarely.

boostaddict

bumppppp

Black SS/SC 06

iTrader: (6)

could be the grounding on the battery maybe

boostaddict

I was thinking that too...I'm hoping it's something simple, such as the battery. I mean it's not doing anything to the extreme but I'd like to try and solve whatever issue it may be before it gets worse

Black SS/SC 06

iTrader: (6)

Could be the alternator is going bad too

Chad92

My gauge needles twitch too. When I shut the car off, they reset to 0, but then 30 seconds (or so later) they drop below 0 and twitch a little, and then settle below 0 about 1 cm. Nothing concerning there - the gauge looses power and the gauges need power to stay at 0.

boostaddict

yeah but they keep moving, like it's getting power

beamer1341

my 08 twitch and read 10 everynow and then havent had the time to bring it to the dealer im sure its nothing seroius though; but every now and then my car after starting the idle will dip down like a vaccum problem havent brought it in yet

Halfcent

Flickering anything (lights or needles) is not a condition of a weak battery. Its a bad connection, causing voltages to switch quickly between 12 and zero. You have a bad cable somewhere.

boostaddict

right now I'm guessing alternator. Car wouldn't crank when I was leaving work tonight. Held it for about 15 seconds and eventually it started. Now I have a CEL

Thoughts?

08G5GT2.4L

I dunno man, maybe a bad ground on the PCM or BCM. The gauge needles flickering are just them loosing power, its normal. Get the code scanned and see what it is.

IGotABalt

happend to me w few weeks after i got my car... i had installed a sub and amp inthe trunk and the power cable to the battery was just the TINY bit loose and that was the problem. Just loook at the battery make sure all connections are perfect.

PRND3L

id say the ignition switch is going bad, explains the no start, the flickering lights, thinks the key is being turned.

Halfcent

Having the CEL is helpful. It can tell you where to look. Get it scanned.

boostaddict

Right now I'm sitting at the mechanics. After scanning everything, I threw two codes, a 335 and 340, both of which are crankshaft position codes. After digging some more, we came up with a readout indicating that the ignition is (most likely) the cause. We're waiting on the new one now so we'll see what happens

Halfcent

P0340 is the intake cam position sensor circuit. If both your crank and cam position sensors are throwing codes together, it's just another indication like your headlights flickering on and off. They are intermittently having their power interrupted.

If you mech thinks its the ignition tumbler, go with that for now. It's certainly a possibility. But again, it's more then likely just a bad wire or connection somewhere (always go with the simplest explanation first).

Billig ss/sc

iTrader: (5)

Any update Justin?

And the flickering needle thing happens on just about every Cobalt, so that's not a big deal. Everyone I've ever asked about it says that theirs does it for a few seconds after the car turns off for whatever bizarre GM-induced reason.

boostaddict

the ignition switch was a fail. We tested the starter and it had ZERO power. We also noticed that the security light was blinking on the dash. We manually bypassed the starter and the car cranked, so now we're thinking the car de-learned the key or something. We're trying a case relearn and we'll see where we go from there