We have a 2006 cobalt ls, 45,000 miles. when going over bumps in the road and expecially down rocky drive it is makeing very loud clunking noises. Sounds like coming from both sides in front. Both tires are new and balanced, they were removed and everything is tight. Swaybar links have been replaced and seem tight. Any help?
THIS IS THE REAR CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS THE BANGING IS THE CONTROL ARM HITTING THE K FRAME
this may be....but... i have had them replaced...and a strut....and both sway bar links and yet, still a clunk!
I was told by the dealership that it was my steering colum. I have a 2007 Cobalt and I can't find that dam clunking.
I have 06 cobalt & I'm dealing with the same issue. Idk 4sure, but I believe the bolts are bad. They keep loosening up on me
Finally found the problem, it was the bushings on the control arms, the one's up in the body of the car in front.It took me 3 hrs on a ramp to change two out. the rubber bushings were only 39.00 dollars for two. Heat up the control arm's and tap out the old metal ring that was attached to the rubber bushing and then tap in the new bushing ; that is all that was causing the clunking in my 2007 COBALT.
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This is most likely one or both of these:
The intermediate steering shaft loses lubrication and develops a clunk - this is an engineering deficiency in many GM products dating back to the early 90s.
and/or
The electrically assisted steering column actually has plastic gears in it which wear down quickly, get sloppy and cause clunking through the steering wheel.
If your car is out of warranty, this will be expensive.
GM knows about both of these issues, and continues to engineer these problems into their products.
The problem is that the cobalt is built with cheap inexpensive parts. well they are expensive for the consumer, i have an 05, and for as long as i live i will never buy another chevy vehicle, i spend more keeping it on the road than i do paying for, get your control arm bushings checked out, ive had three sets on mine in 9 months, and then make sure they check your alignment, when mine where checked theyre was hardly a bushing left, and it knocked my alignment out , and ruined my tires, hope this helps thanks
There was a recall a year ago on some PLASTIC parts that were installed in the steering colum you may incuire at your dealership, this is covered under the recall and will not cost you anything.
I had the same problem turned out it was the bushings. I called chevy and they were the cheapest to repair it was 21.00 for parts and 1 hour labor it came out to 101.00. Since they replaced bushings there has been no more banging noise.
Me and my wife have a 2007 cobalt LT. Got the car in november of 2008 and I always noticed some noises on rough roads, and I do get annoyed about that stuff. The car got to around 60k miles and was due for some new rubber so took it to the local belle tire to get tires and the inspections and yada done.. I complained about the noises and the horrible way it drove on michigans shitty roads, they told me what I have learned from other places and good mechanics. Cobalts as we all should know are the predisary to the chevy cavalier, and as belle tire and a few others told me those cars also were desinged for small economic use and they didnt focus on putting much money into fool proofing the front end for damaging roads, meaning if you decide to own a cavailer or cobalt be prepared to replace front end items such as shocks, and other things more frequents than you should normally do because they are horrible for bad conditions. So after getting new tires and balances and allignment and shocks and struts and everythign else checks out good.. that damn CLUNKIN sounds still happen from up front, or well i say it is.. others try to say it comes from the rear.. is this possible? maybe it is and thats why we arent getting it fixed. Its annoying though and I must have the radio up enough to block it out or i get pissed im driving a newer car makin such horrible noise. All in all I DO NOT HATE our cobalt and I take good care of it and all our cars washing frequently (even during winter like 1-2 times a week) and maintaining it.. the car does well on gas and can be made to look good if your young and want to do things like head light conversions, taillight conversions.. lambo doors.. rims.. ect ect.. But back to the point I think it should be known if you intend to like cobalts or similar cars be prepared to keep maintenance on the front end, I suppose I should also include a defense on the cobalt and that is the 2.2liter it has in it. It might only be 150hp or so but it should last a long time if treated with care - I have read chevy teams taking this 2.2 liter and making it produce near 1,000 horses.. that insane for a 4cylinder... Well one last important thing I dont want to leave out : It's important for all 2.2Liter chevy owner cobalt/cavalier that the timing chain should be changed by a profesional before you hit 100k miles. I sugges around 85k You might say but its not broken, But I am saying this for your own good It helps maintain this engine for a long long time and you dont wanna ignore this and end up with problems. Mine has over 65k miles and I am acually getting ready to get mine done. I will say though I intend to investigate the "clunking" from the supposed front end and I intend to make sure i figure out whats doing it to let the public know.. its possible aftermarket parts might help. Thank you for reading this. Probably wasted like 10 mins of you time. LOL.. Please feel free to message me for more details. J
Check the bushings on the front control arm bushings on both sides. they are located up in the front part of the body of the car. that was where I stopped the clunking.
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Change the sway bar end links. Moog makes a better quality replacement ( thicker and has grease fittings )
Why doesn't Chevy have a recall on this. I just had my car at the dealership and have to have the sway bar and bearings replaced. Wow...you buy a new car so you don't have to deal with these problems........$700 out of my pocket! Just not right!
OMG>..I just had the exact same done to mine in May of this year? It lasted for oh about a week and now it is back to the clunking noise? It is the most annoying thing..I see so many pple have the same issued so why isn't GM doing something about this? OH YAH....I also brought my car in again bc of being stopped numerous times on the road by pple saying that my tire is wobbling ?? NOt much luck with this car!!!!
mines doing it to and rusting out 2006
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I have a 2007 cobalt. Had clunking noise in front suspension. I changed the lower control arm bushing. Problem solved on that side. Now the other side is starting to do the same thing. Make sure you check it closely. Took a lot of looking to find the problem. Hopefully this will help you. $10.00 part at Oreilly auto parts.
Just change the sway bar bushings!!
Could be your control arms or shocks. Get those checked out
It's not only GM I have an 09' fird that has this issue. I have had both shocks replaced..not it! I am now going to tell them to make sure shocks are stiff enough for the weight; check clearence of my tires, tie rod, and steering knuckle. Oh yeah, and for the camber/toe alignment. It does get fustrating but now that it's been 6 mos. and nothing new I'm making the calls since I pay for the dang car and warranty. Very fustrating indeed...
I always had the same problem, and just had mine in for safety...they failed it because of the link kits in the front, and the bushings between frame and front suspension...hope this helps
Revisit the sway bar links.
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same story auto body shop sees nothing wrong with it
My problem is exactly the same. Loud clunking noise at the front end. The GM dealership replaced the sway bar links.
My question is: Could this be the reason my my tires wore down so fast with the same type/amount of driving?
Help!
I have the same problem also. I drive a 2007 and I thought it was just from driving over rough pavement in construction everyday. It makes the noise while going over bumps but also when I turn while hitting the breaks.
We have the same problem with our 2006 Cobalt and have had the sway bar links replaced also. That clunking noise is still there. Please help!
At 9,000 miles the bearings in the front end had to be replaced for the same problem described above. Now, at 27,000 miles, I am having the same problem again and luckily I have an extended warrenty to get them replaced, again. I have been looking for recalls on my car but as of yet there is no recall on the bearings.
I have the same problem. Everytime i would go over bumps it would make a clunking noise. Now it is constant and the garage said they thing its the control arm. Who knows hopefully this fixes it.
We have replaced the sway links, struts, and rear control arm bushings and still have this problem on our 05 cobalt. The rear bushings were wore out at 80,000 miles but that didn't solve the noise. We still have a clunking noise when the suspension is working on rough roads.
Loud clunking noise from the front end stronger sound on the right side,but clunking sounds on both sides,when ever I go over a slight bump. I have 44,000 and it's a 06 LS
already replaced bushungs tires shocks swaybar bushings
Strut bushings out,, or shock bushings
Check the upper and lower control arms, ball joints and steering rack although, if a mechanic replaced the items you mention I should think the entire front end might have been thoroughly inspected already.
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