Well, it happened. I come home, park in my driveway, go to turn the car off, and the key won't turn. So I'm sitting in my driveway, with the engine idling at $4.00 a gallon premium fuel. The car is a 2010 Cobalt SS with 18,000 miles....so I thought, "well, let's try On-Star".

I call On-Star from my car, and explain the situation, and the lady said, "oh, that's a common problem". So, she set up an appointment to have my car towed to MK Smith Chevrolet in Chino, CA. Anyone had any experience with MK Smith?

So after I hung up, I opened my trunk and disconnected the battery.

Is there a way to get my key out, or should I just leave it to the higher-educated, super trained techs at the dealership? (insert sarcasm here)

Also, for the first time last week, I started my Cobalt and the engine made this hellish, metal-on-metal thrashing noise for about 2-3 seconds, and then it went away. WTF was that? Never did that before. I mean, it sounded BAD. I use Mobil-1 10-30 and I change the oil every 4000 miles.

Well, any ideas? I know this has happened to others but I can't find the thread.

Wow, brand new car......never thought I would have these types of problems.

1) Electric power steering went out one month after I bought the car with less than 250 miles on the clock. (fixed myself with motor from junk yard)

2) Water in headlight (fixed myself with hair dryer)

3) Sunroof sounds like sh*t when you try to close it, like something caught in the gears. (not fixed yet)

4) Engine start-up sounds like rocks in an empty coffee can. (happened once, not fixed)

5) Key frozen in ignition. (just happened)

Old Veteran (today is MY day) Car Dude

 

sorry to hear this man. just an fyi, the power steering is a open recall for all cobalts and the dealership would have fixed that for free. Heard of the key stuck in the ignition as well to a few other people on here but couldn't tell you how they fixed it.

Hopefully someone can chime in and tell you how if its an easy fix, if not best bet is waiting for someone that knows what they're doing to fix it. GL!

 

could have pulled the fuse also for the fuel pump

 

why doesn't anyone think of stalling the car in 3rd gear instead of the battery rigamarole. despite what peole think i doub t it would hurt anything doing it.. peole stall their car all the time and the transmission doesn't explode..

ignition dealer will fix for free..crappy tumbler design.. they just install an updated design in it's place. they will also fix sunroof and power steering problem for free.

grinding noise would have to be reproduced for mechanics to take a look.

 

happen to me car was still running dealer was still open just drove it to dealer dropped it off on service drive and walked home lol

 

Actually, I did pull the fuel pump fuze. That was the first thing I did. The engine stopped, but my dash lights and ignition were still on, so then I disconnected the battery to kill everything.

The key is stuck in the "run" position, so you have to kill the entire electrical system.

Is there any way to remove the key by dropping the lower panel from under the steering column? Is there some sort of release button on the cylinder itself?

Thanks, Old Veteran Car Dude

 

just have it towed to the dealership and fixed under warranty. don't know of any release.

 

i used to have this problem in another car of mine i used to have to turn the steering wheel and play around with it and id be able to turn my key to off and pull it out you could try that

you can also try to wiggle the key up and down and see if that works also

 

Luckily, the previous owner fixed all of the recalls before I bought the car (Boneride on the forum). I got lucky.

Just take it into the stealership. Hope it goes well for you. Thanks for serving, too.

 

Every thing you list OP happened to my 08 Sport, but when it was still under warrenty except the stuck key and power steering thing which were under the recall

 

Waiting on a tow truck. I will insist on a free rental. This is ridiculous to have these sorts of problems with a new car.

Old Veteran Car Dude

 

yup. Key in the ignition problem... happens every time

 

Well, On Star sent the wrong tow truck to the wrong address. Waited 2 hours for the tow truck to arrive, and when the truck finally arrived, it was not a flat-bed. So I called and cancelled the tow, reconnected my battery and drove to MK Smith Chevrolet in Chino, Ca.

Service writer wrote up the vehicle, said it would only take 1 1/2 hours to fix. My car sat in the service drive for 45 minutes before it was finally driven to a technician.

The technician is at lunch, so I am staring at my car with nothing being done, been over 2 hours now and the tech must be on a 2 hour lunch.....

Service at its best......thank you MK Smith and GM

 

Can't beat it!!!

 

Got the car back 3 hours later. New ignition/ cylinder lock installed. New track ordered for the sunroof.

Everything seems to be in good order. So far I'm happy that the car was not damaged while it was in the service department. The problem with MK Smith Chevrolet is that the service department is really, really old. All the bays are "open", meaning no doors. So when the wind blows and it rains, everything, including the techs, get wet. No heaters outside either. The most modern shops have a fully enclosed service bay with only two large doors....one going in and one going out.

Apparently open bay dealerships were all the rage from the 70's up to the 80's.

Well, hopefully the Cobalt will stay together and not have any other problems.

Hey, question: How do you guys feel about using 0-30 synthetic over the 10-30 that is recommended?

Thanks, Old Veteran Car Dude

 

I would stick with the oil GM say's so if down the road you have any motor problems they won't try and **** you around by saying you used the wrong oil.