ok so i just bought my first cobalt ss, its an 08 turbo and its chipped and tuned, i ran out/low on coolant today and tried limping it home, after a while it stopped making boost and lost alot of power, i dont think there were any weird noises but idk i was panicking a little. Is that some sort of safety mode or did i **** up my turbo or engine?

Ok so its the day after i made this post and ive been looking around for that leak and found this? Could it be my leak and what is it, if its not a coolant leak, what could be leaking out of that What is this and whats leaking from it

 

Was the car over heating

 

how do you run out of coolant? Did you hit something and crack a radiator?

If not I hope you bought the car recently and Canada has anti lemon laws and hopefully you can prove the dealer knew there was a serious issue

 

yikes. Ran out of coolant? no leaks? If not is it possible he has porous block issue? Also the Lack of boost and power was probably the car going into reduced power mode to save it self. Any Check engine lights? Read the codes and post them it will help diagnose the car more effectively.

 

The porous block issue is a thought, I agree the car is likely going into power reduced mode, or there are more serious issues.

 

i didnt get any check engine lights or anything, im pretty sure im leaking coolant somewhere, hopefully not the block, is there a place where these cobalts tend to leak coolant from more? Its quite hard to see where it could be leaking from cause everything is so tight together and covered in plastic

 

Well theres no temp gauge so its hard to tell how hot it was but the temp light came on in the dash, it was also -20c outside but it could have gotten quite hot

 

unfortunately the common place is the block.

Dexcool should leave a residue if it evaporates somewhere, if its going through a serious amount of coolant add some and idle it over some cardboard to determine the approximate area the leak is coming from.

 

Hit the info button on the steering wheel, you have to cycle through a few things

 

the car has 160000kms on it so i wouldnt be surprised its the block, but i didnt buy it from a dealer so it it is the porous block im fucked, that must be extremely expensive to repair

 

new LDK long block so the exchange rate is going to get you. Unless you can find one at a junkyard and you do the swap

 

but i feel like at 160000kms the problem would have popped up already, like way earlier on it the engines life, how did a bad block make it 160000 kms before finally deciding to crack? Most of the other people ive read about that have had this problem had it at lower mileages like 9000kms, highest ive seen is 54000 miles?

 

No, there is no given timeline as to when it happens. They're micro cracks that develop over time, if the previous owners didn't change the dexcool (lifetime fill my ass) it can become slightly corrosive to aluminum increasing the problem.

To address the pictures you added to the first post (side note, just post them in a new comment otherwise they may get overlooked). It looks like the gasket between the waterpump and timing area is shot and that looks like oil. Oil and coolant are significantly different, a quick touch would of been able to determine it on the spot.

 

I've seen guys upward of 90k miles get porous block

 

1. You cannot "chip" a Cobalt SS. Tune - yes, chip - no.
2. If the Temp light came on then you definitely let the car get way too hot. How long was the temp light on for? You should have shut the car off immediately as soon as the light came on.
3. The car will go into "Limp Mode" in certain situations to prevent engine damage. I don't know if it does this for high coolant temperatures or not but it wouldn't surprise me if it does. When the car goes into "Limp Mode" it should have "Engine Power Reduced" displayed on the DIC.

I would have to guess that most likely you have the porous block issue, that is probably why the person you bought it from was getting rid of it.

You definitely have an oil leak. I can't tell from the pictures where the oil leak is coming from for sure. I would clean all the oil off then look for where it is coming from the next time you drive.