My old electrical gremlins are back....
left the gym and all the gauges starting going bonkers, all the lights were on, power steering was being displayed. Turn on to my street and notice the power steering was getting a little stiff. Park the car, turn it off, start it back up, and there is zero power steering. Now it wont start back up. I had three solids months of good driving with no problems.

 

I'd start looking for spliced wires.

Sounds like the owner before you messed with a harness or something.

 

I dont even know where to begin at this point. This thing has been such a headache.
The eps motor could have finally **** the bed. Or even the whole module itself. Ive been through this car a few times and I have yet to find anything that has been messed with by a previous owner.

 

Could be the BCM that **** the bed on you. Look up threads by riceburner.

He had a situation where is car wouldn't even start. I forget what it ended up being though.

 

I think his was pcm related. Ive always had a feeling that the bcm was kicking the bucket,Mostly because the ac will kick off, and even the volume on the radio will go down, its weird. I'll have to see if alldata has anything on how to check if its shorting out or whatever.

 

For the radio volume lowering, just verify you don't have speed compensation turned on in your radio settings. If it's set to high, you will notice a drastic drop in volume when you go from faster to slower speeds. I have mine set to low so when I have the windows down on the highway, I don't have to adjust the volume. The low settings transition is almost unnoticeable when varying speed, but adds just enough volume for higher speed driving.

 

Rick if you can get codes pulled from the power steering control module, i can probably pull you in the right direction. Theres a GM bulliten about having a power steering message and loss of power steering, but gives me a list of codes and fixes. Get me a code and i can help.

 

I'll plug my scanner in and see what I can get. Last time I was getting a bunch of communication codes from almost every module.

 

From the power steering module
U2107 (lost comms with body control system)
U2105 (lost comms with engine control module)
U2100 ( CAN Bus Comms)
The brake module also has a U2100
And there's a P0833 stored in the pcm (clutch pedal switch 2 circuit) which might explain why my cruise control stopped working.
Car started up fine, but went crazy when I plugged my scanner in.

 

Clutch pedal switch could be why it's not starting too. Mine went out in February on my lnf.

 

thanks, I'll change the switch and check the wiring going to it. They're pretty cheap.

 

Straight from SI

 

Thats what I was doing the last time this happened. I had an open in the Can bus system. I ended up cleaning every connector on every module that runs on the can bus line and it just went away.

heres a thread I started on another forum, a member over there was really helpful,
Cobalt SS/SC no start issue - Chevrolet Forum - Chevy Enthusiasts Forums
Just all of a sudden the ohms came back into spec and the car came back to life. its like one of the modules is going bad.

 

The only thing that I have found is pretty consistent is that the car only acts up when it gets hot inside the car. If I drive the car early in the morning or late at night I never have a problem. It's always in the afternoon when it's start getting warm outside.

 

Read through your posts on the other forum. Almost sounds to me like you have a pin with poor tension somewhere. Whats the last thing you plugged in last time before it started working? Sometimes if a female pin in a connector gets loose and doesnt fit the module pin tight enough, it will cause poor connections sometimes, and be fine others, especially if your concern seems to be temperature sensitive. They make pin tension testers where its just a pin you put into the connector and make sure it seems like a tight fit. I'd try doing that on the can lines on your ecm and bcm and see if any are loose.

 

The last thing i played with before it started up was the connection with the module behind the back seats. The VCIM i believe it is.

 

Car is absolutely dead. Getting ready to go to work and the car wouldn't start gauges are dead and the dash is lit up like a Christmas tree. Push started it and the car would run for 3 seconds or so and would die. Tried about five time with same results, ran for a few seconds then shuts off. Getting ready to leave the car so I locked the doors from the inside with button on the door (so the alarm sets) had to go back in the car unlocked the door with the key and the alarm goes off like usual. Car started on the second key turn. Drove it to work with no gauges. Just tried starting it on break and it's unresponsive. My mind is absolutely boggled right now.

 

99% positive I found the problem. When i wiggled the wires for the black connector on the vcim I could get the resistance for the can bus lines to jump all over the place. I have to take closer look and see if a wire for the connector is loose or if one of the pins for the module are loose. Could just be a dirty connection. The last time i had this problem I traced it back to that module. Ended up cleaning all three connections and the problem went away for 4 months.

 

Its been awhile since Ive been on. Cobalts in storage now. Currently collecting parts and planning everything out. Recently bought a tow rig so the car will be seeing some track time next year.
Hope you all enjoy your holidays!

 

Have a nice holiday Rick. I look forward to seeing what you do with your car in the future.

 

First drive of the year!





Unfortunately the salt trucks where out in full force today so she wont be back on the road until the salt washes away. Slight bog around 3k rpm but clears up in the higher rpm's. I'll check fuel pressure, and change filter when the weather clears up, doesnt feel like a ignition problem to me. Wouldnt hurt to change the plugs though.
Looking for an autoX event to sign up for soon, just need to find a trailer, might even just buy a tow dolly for now.

 

Changed the plugs today, old ones didnt look to bad, the gaps were at .039. Gapped the new plugs at .035







On a side note Full ZZP exhaust is ready to be installed. Maybe tomorrow or sunday if the weather agrees. Fingers crossed that the manifold nuts come out easily

 

Rick, do yourself a favor and purchase an OEM 3-bolt flange gasket. The gaskets ZZP provide do not last, and will end up leaking on you. For the 2-bolt flange pick up a Remflex gasket.