Sorry guys. Couldn't find anything on this so I thought I'd ask and hope someone knows.

Does anyone know ...

1. Auto headlights (a feature which I hate)

How to turn off the automatic headlight feature in an SS? The instruction manual says you turn the headlight switch to back to turn it off and back to off again to turn it back on. Unfortunately that only works during the day when the lights have not already been turned on by the system (or also when the system turns it on during the day and the wipers cause them to come on). At night this DOES NOT WORK. You CANNOT turn the headlights off if you start the car at night and the headlights come on due to low light...
Make no sense.

The reason I even know that it doesn't work is b/c I am thinking of putting in a set of PIAA driving lamps - and wanted to make sure I could turn off all other lamps other than the parking lamps...


2. Automatic locking doors

You get into the car. Doors lock after you start the car....fine I can live with that. Since I am not used to the locking feature (something my Z24 deosn't have) everytime I go to open my door (e.g. while the car is still running OR if I leave the keys in the ignition)...the doors are locked. So I have to either reach back to pull the know up or unlock it manually.

I wish I could just turn that stupid feature off. What ever happened to Fords idea of the locked door that unlocks when the door handle on the inside is pulled. I though that was clever!

Nevertheless, I wish (as with the automatic lamps) that more of the little stuff which I think makes driving what it is (CONTROL) should be left in the drivers hands.

I am not talking about safety stuff like getting rid of ABS and having us pump our brakes just before rear ending someone in the snow. However, let me be able to turn OFF THE ABS. Unbeknownst to many, ABS actually INCREASES the distance it takes to stop on a dry road. The fastest way to stop on dry road is locking all 4 wheels. Of course in snow ABS is great. So let me choose when I want it on or off.

Same goes for traction control which I can't turn off in my Z24 (btw, Thank g-d GM didn't put that g-d awful thing in the S/C). I hate traction control - so let me be able to turn it off. Also, what if I want to burn out?? I can't can i???

Even the fuel cap in our cars is secured with a piece of plastic. In the 17 years and over 1,000,000 kilometres I have driven did I ever forget the gas caps... So now when I fill gas I have the stupid cap dangling down onto the body of the car leaving a gas mark on the bady while picking up dirt which could end up in my tank. So of course I just remove the plastic so I can do when I always have done. Take the cap off. put it outside down do as not to get contaminate the inside or gewt gas on my car and then replace it when I am done.

I think it's a sad state of affairs when car makers forget that driving enthusiasts enjoy driving not only for the sheer delight of operating the car, but for the control, freedom and independence they have while in the car. Perhaps these features are good for minivans - but for g-ds sake, keep them OUT of our sport cars!!!


Rant end ~

3. Transmission fluid

Why in the owner/operators manual is the fluid type for manual transmissions for the 2.0L different than the 2.2/2.4L??? The 2.4/2.2L take Dextron while the fluid description for the 2.0L only lists a GM part/item number. Anyone know??

4. Offset

What is the offset of the wheels (18" on the S/C)?

5. Guages

Okay, GM skimped here so I am going to have to do them myself. A car like the S/C should have more then a fuel gauge and a boost guage. What ever happened to the oil pres and batt guages?????

Anyone put any autometer guages in? Where did you position them. Please post pics if you have them.

6. Power steering fluid

Where is the reservoir? Is it shared with the brake fluid???



Once again, thanks in advance for any help anyone can gives. I appreciate it!

 

Bitch, bitch bitch hahah, I only feel like answering one question. There is a small hook on the inside of the gas tank door that you can hang the gas cap from. It works wonderfully.

 

Sure does!

Secondly, the thing about the auto locks. There's a menu that can be operated thru the DIC. Thru that menu you can reset the oil life gauge, set whether the horn honks when you lock the car, and if I'm not mistaken, you can turn off the auto locks.

To access this menu, you have to hold the reset and scroll buttons at the same time, and when you let go after 3 seconds (if not, try 5 seconds), the menu should come up in the DIC. Go from there.

Hope that helps!

PS - I hate Ford's "open the door from the inside even while locked" thing. I could only imagine the number of people fiddling with the door handle while the car is moving, confident that nothing will happen cuz the door is locked.... WRONG! [/ANOTHER ONE OF MY FORD RANTS]

 

I just recently found that out myself. I had my 2.4ss for 6 months and never knew it. Only noticed when I got my 2.0ss and the dealer showed me.

 

HAHA - yeah, sorry about bitching so much.

All and all I LOVE LOVE LOVE my S/C!!!

By the way, I did leave out one other pet peeve related to my rant....The reverse gear lock. WTF????? Why do we need that??? Who ever put the car in Reverse by accident???? I don't even think that you can if you are moving forward fast enough unless you really jam it. Pulling that stupid lock up is so annoying!

Also, I read the manual and I don't thk the menu has an option to turn off the auto locks.

 

The option to turn off locks should be in the menu. I stumbled on it one day playing around. On the reverse lockout... we aren't the only car to have one. I would say most modern manuals have them now adays so I am just use to it. However, I agree that it is prettty useless.

 

I like the reverse lock!!!! It helps you locate fifth. Otherwise I would constantly miss fifth. Also, its a fun party favor around a bunch of gearheads. Ask one of your buddies to back your car out of the driveway and then have everyone point and laugh when he can't figure it out. Ridicule him until he pushes it out by hand.

 

Thanks!
I will check out the DIC first thing tomorrow morning...

1 down, 3 to go!!!






GIVE ME A 2.4L QUAD FOUR GM ENGINE (Z24). PUT ME IN THE DRIVERS SEAT....AND 30 MINUTES LATER I WILL FRY THE ECM. I SHOULD KNOW. I WENT THROUGH 5 OF THEM WHILE ON WARRANTY.

 

Cars w/o a reverse lock-out are just fine shifting into fifth... there's a sort of "gate" in them that won't let you go near R unless you're going less than 2 mph. My brother's '99 SS is like that. Hell, even my '92 Saturn can do it. Why not our SS/SC's?

 

You can turn that feature off. It's in the DIC menu.

ABS is not meant to help you stop faster. It's meant to give you control of the vehicle during a hard stop to avoid a collision. Good luck trying to steer out of the way of something with your brakes locked.

Why do you need these guages? If either system goes out of spec, the warning light pops on. Most vehicles I see have them removed as well.

No, the power steering reservoir is located next to the blinker fluid container. It takes GM electric fluid spec EF10964S. Chances of you ever needing some of this fluid are very, very slim to none.

 

You CAN turn the auto lights off at night. I did it just yesterday. All you have to do is pull the tip of the light switch down and a message should pop up on the DIC. Then, the only thing left on is your driving/parking lights.

EDIT: To help clearify, if you rotate the tip of the light/blinker stick up it will turn on your lights manually. However, if you do it this way, the autolights override the driving/parking lights if it's at night. So essentually, you arn't turning off the autolights, just turning your lights on manually during the day. To turn them off, rotate that same tip down when it's in the normal position. (Not on headlights or on parking lights) It's spring loaded, so once you click it down, it will return back to the normal position. Hope this helps!

 

I suppose you are right about the ABS. I mean it is supposed to allow you to steer while jaming the brakes. However, wouldn't it be funny if....

"Automaker to offer an amazing new feature that will allow cars to stop faster on dry pavement!! This feature will only be availible to experienced drivers who know how much pressure to apply to the brake so as not to LOCK them when they need to steer as they stop! For those drivers, should an emergency arise where they cannot steer there way out of the obstacle (90% of the time there is an emergency cars have nowhere to go otherwise there would be no emergency!) it allows them to stop in a shorter distance than they would otherwise.

this feature also comes with a button that allows the driver to turn on ABS in the winter!"


One other thing. The reason I want an oil pressure gauge is because dummy lights like the "oil low" light are ....well....****. In fact, I think if you ever get to the point where the oil light does coe on (due to a cracked gasket and oil seeping out)...forget adding oil..
that light comes on to tell you ...Time for a new engine or a new car!!

 

If you've ever taken a driving instruction course, they teach you how to avoid taking a head on collision which greatly increases your chance of survival. Lock your brakes with something coming at you and good luck not taking it head on. Being able to move two feet left or right can be the difference between life and death.

 

Perhaps you are right. I guess you don't know how much you need it until....well, until you need it!

Traction control, Reverse shift lock, etc I still could do without

 

I think it may have been only the Cavalier that didn't have an off switch for the traction control. My Grand Am had one.

 

the reverse lock is great for making fun of people. my uncle got in the car and was trying to back and and was like WTF I told him he broke my car and he was like nooo i didnt im sorry you have a warranty on it right??????As far as the rest of the stuff, there is two simple words,OWNERS MANUAL, first thing everyone should do when they get there new car is read it you know its in the glove box it says "06 chevy cobalt" i found out all that information by looking at the table of contents

 

The 2.4 and 2.2 use the Getrag transmissions. The 2.0 uses a FGP F35 transmission which was used in the turbo Saab models, which is why it uses a different fluid. It has been said that you can use the transmission oil from the 2.0 in the getrag 5 speed, although I would do research ont hat if planning on it.

They are 18 inch x 7 inch P215/45ZR18. I hope that is what you were looking for.

The clutch fluid shares with the brake fluid. There is no power steering fluid because the cobalt models have electric steering not hydraulic.

 

No, the power steering reservoir is located next to the blinker fluid container. It takes GM electric fluid spec EF10964S. Chances of you ever needing some of this fluid are very, very slim to none. [/QUOTE]

That's awsome dude! Did this guy researh his car before he paid for it? Dude, we have electric powered steering! Hense there is no hydralic pump that will need fluid. The only fluids you have to worry about is engine oil, brake/clutch fluid, trans and whatever the hell it is your drinking!

 

What can I say. Things have changed so much in the past 5 years.

First the transmission dip stick was awol and GM said checking it was not necessary because you shouldn't need to add fluid unless there was a leak.

Now they are building cars that don't need p/steering fluid. I always knew that electronic assissted steering was in pretty much most pass. cars with rack and pinion steering but why it wouldn't need fluid....no clue. I thought perhaps it shared the fluid or had sealed system. But no fluid??? Moving parts usually equals some kind of lubricant (sealed or otherwise).

As for the dude who wonders whether I did research on the car - I missed the power steering part - true. But then I didn't audit GMs schematics either. I just assumed like with every other of the 10 plus cars I have owned that it had pwr steering. I have had the car 3 days now so I learned soon enough. Either way knowing it didn't have a reservior wouldn't change my decision to buy. What I did look at was all the numbers: Price; Horsepower; 0-60; 1/4 mile. Stuff that affects y desecion to buy or not. The rest I knew I'd learn later - service manual is on its way! And I am here. Reading - learning.

One other thing. The '07 Mustang Shelby I hope to land. I have not done any research on the power steering system... Do you think I should check it out first? Maybe Ford forgot to put one in and should wait a few years till they fix it!!

 

As for turning off the automatic door locking system through the DIC - you can't. As I knew from reading the manual all you can do is choose whether the door locks unlock or not when you turn off the car. No option to keep the system from locking it once you start it.

As for the auto lights...must be a Canadian thing. I can turn off the auto lights with the hand brake up at night. Once I put down the hand brake the lights come on. Stupid Canadian rules - must have something to do with the daytime running lights....

 

I belive the auto door locks are a new security/saftey feature. Alot of after market alarms do that now as soon as you start the car they lock the doors and as soon as you turn the car off they unlock. reason being if someone wants to jump out the car or if someone wants to try and get in the car while you are at a dead stop they cant because the locks are well locked. I had this happen to me in my eclipse in atlanta thankfully my car had auto locks and they couldnt even get the door open.

 

I figured it is a safety feature.

Pain!

 

Doesnt anyone else think 1st is HARD to get into when over 20 mph? I know you def should not too but at first I tried a few times and IM like wait thats too low of a gear anyways!

 

Most newer cars (my Z24 was the same) will not allow you to put the car into first when over 15 or 20 MPH. I guess if you kick or punch the shifter hard enough it will go in, but why woudl you want it to? If you are lucky you won't destroy the tranny don't that...

 

Yeah it must be a Canadian thing, I do the switch thing at night and the headlights go off, the daytimes go on still but then I put the hand brake down the headlights turn on, I just dont like it because if its like 9pm at night its still pretty much broad daylight and I dont want my headlights on when theres still that much light, pointless. But whatever, this guy I know with an SRT4 said that his was just a fuse, I havent looked into it yet, maybe this weekend.