I have owned this car 2 months now and I have probably have 10 solid days of driving. Im sick of taking it to the dealer i bought it from, they dont know whats wrong with it.


Help me out guys. I love this car when it actually works right. Supposedly the dealer changed the BCM, the ignition switch (twice), and every fuse. What grounds should I be checking?

 

Update:
Theres a six wire (IIRC) connector going into the power steering control module. Went with a hunch I had and disconnected it. Sure enough two weeks later and I have not had a single issue. Granted, I dont have power steering, but at least im on to something. Im looking at either a faulty power steering motor, or the whole module is faulty. Any ideas/comments/suggestions?

 

Have they offered to buy it back? Is it a certified pre owned?

 

Was not CPO. Tried getting a refund and it was a no go.

 

Was it the connector under the dash?

Seems like a BCM/PCM issue, more like BCM. Do you have any codes in either module?

How long has that security light been on?

 

BCM was replaced. The security light only came on when the car would start acting up. Generally the light would come on and a few seconds later the I/P would go crazy. And ultimately it would lead to a no crank situation. I've never had a check engine light so I've never hooked up my scanner to check codes. I'm not sure if my scanner can pull codes from the bcm or not.

 

I would try to find a way to get the codes from your BCM or theft module and even the ps module at that point. If you think you could make the journey an hour east of you I can do it.

It's kind of weird with unplugging the ps and it's been ok. I can't see the the electronic steering module causing a stalling and no crank condition.

How do you eventually get it to start again?

 

Just keeping turning the key until it decides to turn on. if you let it sit for a few hours the security light will go off, and it will run fine until it decides to act up again. Im gonna take a look at my scanner, if it cant pull codes from the bcm whats a reasonable priced scanner that will?

 

I bought my shops old OTC evo scanner that does literally everything. They retail between 1.5k-3k. I'm really not sure what of the smaller aftermarket ones will read anything other than PCM/abs/airbag.

Has it still been ok with the ps unhooked? Seems like a security/Passlock issue to me

 

My scanner does not read anything besides generic codes. But ever since I unplugged the power steering I havent had a single problem. Not sure if it makes a difference or not. But I dont have a keyless entry remote (key fob) so I have to unlock the door with the key. I also cant lock the car from the inside using the buttons on the door. If I do I guess it arms the security system, and when i unlock the door with the key the alarm will go off. So i have to lock the doors by just pushing the plungers down. I doubt theres any relation

 

^This it does seem like a security pass lock issue.

I had an issue randomly, no start, power steering light, low coolant and alls I did was cycle the key and it worked. Long story short it did happen again and when I did some research it turns out the block ground goes bad...Sure as **** it was corroded and very poorly mounted.

Maybe this could be your issue and it will cost nothing if you have sand paper and little time.

On that note if this is your issue I recommend grabbing a washer and using that after the first nut for a better contact for the second connector.

Hope this helps and keep us posted.

 

Where exactly is that ground? Thanks for the tip.

 

Get under the car and its kinda above the front tranny mount, Also you have to kinda reach over and around the tranny towards the block..

It was a sunny day and I still needed a flashlight to see it, It think it is a 13mm and there is 2 connections and 2 nuts, So you know.

I can't post the site since it is another cobalt forum, But do a Google search of cobalt engine ground location and there is a pic of a guy pointing to it.
Hope this helps, keep us posted

 

There's a theftlock coding between the BCM and P/S module, something to do with the ignition. If one was replaced and wasn't re-programmed properly, that's why it's going into theft mode and not starting. Does it have a brand new key?

It's very possible your P/S module is bad, they do fail on these cars, but I'd bet a dealer doing a PATS re-learn with a Tech-2 could fix this without replacing parts. The dealer you got it from is a chevy dealer?

 

Found it. Cleaned it up. One of the connections was pretty corroded. Got it cleaned up as best as possible. Powersteering is plugged back in. We will see what we get.

 

Was not bought from a chevy dealership, just from a used car dealer. I know they changed (or told me they did) the ignition switch twice.

 

If there was theft coding, I feel like unplugging the module would cause a permanent no crank.

Keep us posted now with the clean grounds

 

You didn't try it after you plugged it in?

 

is this an N/A or supercharged? just wondering cause the video says 06 ss and the speedo only goes to 120.

 

Supercharged, dealer I bought it from swapped out the I/P thinking it was faulty. That was last time I brought it back. Really pissed me off. Drove it to work so far so good.

 

good to hear. hope you got it. there's alot of grounds on these cars to.

 

Started it up tonight before heading to work and my good old friend the security light popped on. Drove it to work fine, I/P didn't act up. And once I got to work I turned the car off and started it up with no problems, although the security light stayed on.
update:
Started car when leaving work this morning. No security light, drove about 30 miles or so. No problems.

 

Good to hear, The security light sounds fishy to me and still sounds like a connection issue somewhere, Maybe someone will chime in with more experience with that could help you on where all the connections or wiring is and things like that for the security system/anti-theft lock.

Speaking of grounds
I didn't know if you noticed or if yours is as bad as mine was but take a look at your starter and its connector,stud,nut and exposed wiring mine was corroded to ****, I wire wheeled the connector,stud,nut and exposed wire and then cover the exposed wiring and connection with die electric grease.

I also forgot to mention that in my previous post, If you don't have die electric grease I recommend to go and get some and use it on all exposed connections that I/we have discussed. It will cover/seal them up from any further corrosion issues.

Hope this helps, Keep us posted.

 

She's acting up again. Just took about an hour and a half drive and 50 miles or so into the trip the gauges reset twice followed by the security light. Gauges reset about 50+ time for the rest of the trip. Another symptom. The ac starts blowing warmer while the gauges go crazy. Once it calms down the ac gets colder again

 

bad ground?