But it's so random. I feel like a bad ground would be a little more consistent. I'm gonna check the starter connections just for the hell of it.

 

Silly question have you thought about getting a key fob for it? Just a thought, it maybe as simple as that.

 

i was just asking this, because a bad or intermittent connection could cause all kinds of weird anomalies.

Dave

 

Bad grounds almost never have consistent symptoms unless it's just plain not connected.

 

It's on the to do list. That's something a dealer would have to do right?

 

Started the car after leaving the gym. Went to pull out of my parking spot, No power steering. Turned the wheel a few times and it came back.

 

Being able to read the IPC and BCM would do wonders here. If you feel comfortable driving the hour to get here, I'd be happy to do it.

 

That'd be awesome.

 

Let me know, I'm around most weekends

 

Sure sounds like a communication error to me.

Could be a rogue module knocking everything down.

Could be the bus wires rubbing on something killing the communications.

Obviously without seeing your car I cannot come to any solid conclusions.

A rogue device will certainly cause all the issues you're seeing.

The easiest way to troubleshoot this is to unplug devices one at a time and drive.

The last time I saw a device take down the whole can bus system it was because the owner was trying to fix something and they were back probing wires with 12v and fried stuff.

 

So had the car act up on me on my way home this morning. For ***** and giggles I decided to pull over and experiment. Here's the result as soon as I unplugged the power steering module the gauges would stop acting up. Although the security light would stay on. And then like a light switch as soon as I plugged it back in the I/P would go bonkers again. Is this enough evidence to blame the power steering motor or even the entire module?

 

There could be a short in the module or the wiring to the module.

 

You need to drive it a couple days with that unplugged if you can.

If the problems all stay away then yes, i'd say you're onto something.

 

I drove it around for two weeks with it unplugged and had zero problems. I plugged it back in last week because no power steering is a pain in the ass.
Tonight I went to start it up and I had a no crank situation (also no gauges/security light on). Tried starting it 3 times. Turned the key off unplugged the power steering module, started right up no problems.

 

A little bump/update car has been in storage since early November. Havent been able to start for almost two months, (even with the power steering unplugged, which always did the trick) ABS and traction control light are on. Went to go take a look at it, battery was putting out 11.6 volts. Tried jumping it with no luck, pulled the battery out and put it on the charger. Charged it up to about 13.5 ish volts, took it off the charger, and it lost almost 1 volt in an hour. Last I checked it was dipping into 12.3 volts. Hoping a weak battery has been the cause of my problems.

 

Any luck figuring out the issue?
I have the same EXACT problem. 2007 Chevy cobalt lt.

The problem is identical. My power steering stopped working, the AC blew lukewarm air, and my instrument cluster went bonkers.

I read a little into this thread and noticed your "unplug the power steering modul" solution, tried it and it worked. Being that I'm in California and it's summer time, I've decided that I'm willing to give up power steering for cold AC. (Given no other choice).

I've also noticed that this issue really only happens when it's really hot. (Just my luck, pulling the heavy wheel without AC in the hot summer isn't fun.)

Let me know if you have found a solution.