2009 Chevy Cobalt LS Coupe XFE

[MadisonMPG]

Wow, that is a stupid ass design. Your steering should ALWAYS be free when it is in the on position. You should have one good "pump" left in your power brakes after shutting down the engine. My 1993 Geo has both of these features. If your brakes don't work without the engine I would go to your dealer and say, "I stalled my car on a hill and I couldn't use the brakes."

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

I would try EOC in an empty parking lot to make sure you have at least one good push on the brakes before they start to fade and the steering wheel should be able to be turned just without the power assist.

I would do this just to make sure your systems are working properly even if you don't intend to ever EOC again.

From running position turn key back one click, wait about 2 seconds and then click back to run (but do not turn to start position). You should have 1 or 2 good pushes on the brake and the steering wheel should turn, but just with more effort needed.

Here is a thread on how to smoothly bump start your engine.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...gine-1141.html


I would do that just to make sure your car is working properly then if it is drive however you feel most comfortable.

[cfg83]

MadisonMPG -

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

Wow, that is a stupid ass design. Your steering should ALWAYS be free when it is in the on position. You should have one good "pump" left in your power brakes after shutting down the engine. My 1993 Geo has both of these features. If your brakes don't work without the engine I would go to your dealer and say, "I stalled my car on a hill and I couldn't use the brakes."

Same with mine. I have one good pump left. My de-powered steering is very sluggish, but it is fine for lane changing, and I know I can downgrade it to manual if I want to. Fr3AkAzOiD has good advice, test in a safe place.

It may be that Jammer is experiencing the loss of an "exploit". What I mean is, as cars get more complex, they can get harder to spoof and/or mod. I have read here that the newer ECU/PCMs are harder to work with, probably because the programming is more complex. I like the 1996 to early 2000 cars because they have fuel-injection, OBD-II, and "simpler" drivetrains, if that's the right word. It's like a window where you get OBD-II for the Scangauge, but the car's are still "older tech", if you will.

CarloSW2

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

Wow, that is a stupid ass design. Your steering should ALWAYS be free when it is in the on position. You should have one good "pump" left in your power brakes after shutting down the engine. My 1993 Geo has both of these features. If your brakes don't work without the engine I would go to your dealer and say, "I stalled my car on a hill and I couldn't use the brakes."

What was "stupid ass" was me for turning my car off while driving down a mountain. [Insert "Larry The Cable-Guy Here:]"Now it just don't get no stupider than that". I wonder if a large 747 size airplanes have pilots that turn of their engines so they can glide like an eagle and save fuel? hmm It makes sense in theory.

Also I have talked to 2 other people just today with rather new cars about this idea to save gas, and their cars could not do it either, so it's not just MY car. In every case the power steering was impacted in a most negative way, it became impossible to move the steering wheel with the key in the ACC position, or any other one they tried. I had to find out because I dont like being the only person that has a car with a mind of it's own... it's creepy!

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Fr3AkAzOiD

I would try EOC in an empty parking lot to make sure you have at least one good push on the brakes before they start to fade and the steering wheel should be able to be turned just without the power assist.

I would do this just to make sure your systems are working properly even if you don't intend to ever EOC again.

From running position turn key back one click, wait about 2 seconds and then click back to run (but do not turn to start position). You should have 1 or 2 good pushes on the brake and the steering wheel should turn, but just with more effort needed.

Here is a thread on how to smoothly bump start your engine.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...gine-1141.html


I would do that just to make sure your car is working properly then if it is drive however you feel most comfortable.

Ok, if by bump starting you are speaking of starting a car/truck with a manual transmission by getting the car rolling in neutral (as in pushing the car, rolling down a hill)and then slipping the clutch into gear- I have been doing that since I was 14 years old on a motorcycle. And the thought did occur to me to try restarting that way, and it seems my car WILL start fine as long as the key is in right. (Sorry your link is not working on my browser)

My power steering was just impossible to move, [CORRECTION] maybe one inch tops*. Maybe a 2008 allows this option and the 2009 wont..? Could it be the "Theft Deterrent Device"- Which deals directly with car thefts that M.O. is to jam a screwdriver straight into the ignition key hole and break the steering neck?

Hey that could be it!! My Cobalt listed a feature called a "Theft Deterrent Device". When I asked what it was and how it worked I was told it was an invention that prevented car thieves from sticking anything other than the correct key into the ignition switch. Was this option listed on the members here that drive 2008 Chevy Cobalt XFEs??

If I ever do try this stunt again you can bet on me being in a safe place- LIKE MY DRIVEWAY!! I'll update if I feel stupid again and report back with my results.

[lusth]

I had a much different experience in my G5, which is mechanically identical to the Cobalt. I was able to steer around a 90 degree corner (rolling through a stop sign when nobody was around). After the turn is a steep hill ending with another stop sign. I had no problems stopping (did not notice any difference than with the car on). I did it twice, once with the key in position 1 (no dash info) and in position 2 (dash info on, bump start possible). The only time the steering will lock is if the key is in position 0 (completely off, key can be removed). I thought I had power steering with the key in position 2, but I may be wrong.

[cfg83]

lusth and Jammer -

Weird stuff. Two opposite steering behaviors for the same drivetrain. Me perplexed. We need more data points.

CarloSW2

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by lusth

I had a much different experience in my G5, which is mechanically identical to the Cobalt. I was able to steer around a 90 degree corner (rolling through a stop sign when nobody was around). After the turn is a steep hill ending with another stop sign. I had no problems stopping (did not notice any difference than with the car on). I did it twice, once with the key in position 1 (no dash info) and in position 2 (dash info on, bump start possible). The only time the steering will lock is if the key is in position 0 (completely off, key can be removed). I thought I had power steering with the key in position 2, but I may be wrong.

I come from a GM family and I will admit that they still have many cars//trucks that sell under various names and are MOSTLY the same mechanical product with different names on them. However there are small differences or they really would have a hard time passing the cars off- and that is in my opinion, part of the reason GM has had such a tough time making a profit despite selling a ton of cars and trucks. And I know for a FACT that GM makes on the fly decisions that can impact their cars and pickups at any point during a year in a major way, or make changes on the next production year. For example, my car is a 2009. IF your car was a 2008 we could easily assume it COULD of been a change made by GM.

For example, I have owned two Pontiacs and they have the reputation of having a little more power than say the Chevy car. There really ARE differences, but I admit at least 90 to 95% of most of these types of cars are the same in every way because they are often built in the same plant. In the case of OUR cars, the Cobalt and the G5 they are built in LordsTown Ohio.

However I have no other evidence that the steering mechanism in our cars works the same way or not. But I will ask my father who worked for Chevy for 30 years and I will ask my uncle who also worked for GM for 30 years. They both still have friends that currently work for GM and know these cars inside and out. All I can tell you for now is that when I turn off my car while driving is that the steering becomes almost impossible to move. It does NOT technically "lock up" and I take blame for using that term. I got the steering to move about 1 inch in either direction, but that was all the strength I had in me and I live in the foothills of the big mountains of eastern Kentucky- The curves here are serious. It is important that I correct myself and make it clear the steering wheel did not lock up totally but with all of my strength the steering could of been moved about 1 inch at the most in either direction. I did not mean it locked up as in when you remove the key and park the car, I meant it was just waaaay too hard to steer to drive.

Maybe I'll try it again some day in a safe location. But it might be a little while.

Anti-Theft Deterrent:

It is VERY important for me to learn if others have the Anti-Theft Deterrent OPTION or not. It should of been clearly listed on the sticker when the car was NEW. (Also, what YEAR are the cars were speaking of here? Are they both 2009 like mine?) Anyway, the Anti-Theft Deterrent technology deals DIRECTLY with the ignition key to prevent car-jackers from using anything other than the correct key to turn the ignition switch. After a certain number of failed attempts using a key it is suppose to disable the car. It would seem logical to me this technology could be the reason why my car's steering wont work in the way it does others. I do not believe our cars are 100% "identical" for whatever reason we may learn latter.

[MadisonMPG]

Jammer I didn't read your most recent posts, so if you've said this already, sorry.



Are you sure that you didn't put it in the off position causing the steering to lock? The way powered brakes work, you should be able to do it. I mean, what if your engine throws a rod on the highway?

[Jammer]

Yeah, I am sure. I tried it a couple times and after turning the key to off (you do have to switch it to OFF for a moment, don't you? How else can one turn off the car?) I turned it back to two other spots, of which neither gave me the results as reported here. In fact I got a small flashlight and took a long look at the ignition switch so I thought I knew where to place the key after turning it off. Maybe my ideal of "steering" and others is not the same. I do stand corrected as I could move the steering wheel about 1 inch either direction, but to do that took all of my strength, so I had to re-start. It was a steep incline but my car was moving pretty slow at first and got faster as I started downward, thats when it seemed my brakes were useless. Could it of been the SPEED I was moving? Because I don't think I was going very fast at all when I tried it, but as I was nearing a curve as my speed increased and I got a little spooked and restarted the car so I could steer. The second time I tried it was at a very low speed on a small hill that did not have a curve.... and I had the same results.

I think I will have to try this again. I just have to find a safer place to do it. I will report in this thread if I find a way of doing it right.