Brand-new Chevy Cobalt..

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JTK

JTK

Joined
Aug 14, 2003
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15,780
Location
Buffalo, NY
After about 15yrs of owning nothing but trucks & SUV's for myself, I've finally smartened up and got back to the basics. Well... gasoline prices did all the deciding for me
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. The economics just don't pan out using a truck as a passenger vehicle. With that in mind, I traded my 2005 Trailblazer 4x4 in for a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. With the rebates, I got it for $12100+ tax. A super basic LS 4dr model. Roll-up windows, manual locks, no cruise, but they all come with A/C and and a nice CD player/head unit. I can't get over how fun it is to drive this thing! The 148hp Ecotec and 4T45E trans combo are a blast in comparison to what I'm used to. Cool sound to it & very snappy. It's sad, but the interior quality, fit/finish and comfort IMO, is better than the $25K trailblazer it replaced. I'm not much of a petite gal @ 6ft, 225lbs & I can roll the seat so far back on the Cobalt, I can hardly reach the pedals. We definitely need the van for the 3 kiddies & family jaunts, but you can't beat the Cobalt for work or a zip-around cruiser. This is my first drop-in oil filter style engine as well. Pretty cool setup. The filter base is cast into the engine block with a plastic/hex head screw on cap. The engine also has the smallest serp belt I've ever owned. I guess the 'electric' power steering helps that out. Awesome little car. We're loving it so far.


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Joel
 
On the models with the Ecotec engine that have conventional power steering, the power steering pump is directly driven by the camshaft, so they have a similarly small serpentine belt. It drives only the alternator and AC compressor.
 
I did a little reasearch and it looks to me like the water pump is actually driven by the timing chain, not the power steering pump. It looks like this applies to all Ecotecs.

As far as models with conventional power steering systems, it looks like they're driven by a seperate belt. See this photo:

eco2turbo.jpg
 
nice engine. there's a 2k rebate on cobalts right now until 5/31 in my area. I can pick one up for under $12k with auto trans.
 
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nice engine. there's a 2k rebate on cobalts right now until 5/31 in my area. I can pick one up for under $12k with auto trans.

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Unbeknownst to me, it was $2500 in rebates in the Western NY area. They gave me an additional $500 for owning a non-GM product (My Windstar). All I had to do was give them a copy of my Ford's registration. The Cobalt stickered for $14640 minus my trade of $13500, so I paid $99.75 in NYS sales tax.
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- $2500 in rebates + the ~$9700 I owed on the Trailblazer.
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When it was all set and done, I got the Cobalt for $8709. $260/mo for 36mo and that baby is mine! One other thing. I didn't even try wiggling on the MSRP because my trade needed body work, tires, etc. They did cut me a spare Passlock III key on their dime to the tune of $40 & sold me an OEM carpeted floor mat set for $30.
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No ABS on the Cobalt either. I personally prefer it that way.

Joel
 
I can't imagine why the SIDI engine isn't used in the Cobalt SS....too MUCH power? They could have de-tuned it for FWD duty and saved themselves the R&D of the supercharged unit.
 
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As far as models with conventional power steering systems, it looks like they're driven by a seperate belt.

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They're not, the power steering IS driven directly off the camshaft, at least in both the 2004 Malibu Classic and the 2006 Saab 93 2.0T. What you see on the rear of that engine could be a vacuum pump for the brake booster (that is a turbo engine) but then again on my Saab (with the turbo Ecotec) that vacuum pump is also driven directly off the camshaft.
 
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You can always add cruise control later, JTK.


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How do you add cruise control to a vehicle with electronic throttle control? I guess you'd have to add factory cruise control, which is nothing more than some buttons and some different firmware in the ECU...
 
Not sure about the specifics.
Auto cruise control is installed by auto glass companies, auto A/C installers, and some auto electonics dealers.
They would know.
Even the electonic throttle has a motor that opens the throttle plate, and add-on cruise does that too. Brackets are the key.
 
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Even the electonic throttle has a motor that opens the throttle plate, and add-on cruise does that too. Brackets are the key.

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It does, but, on my Saab 93, there's nothing external to pull on to open the throttle. The throttle body and motor are one integrated unit. The only way I've found to open the throttle manually (as when cleaning it) is to push on one side of the butterfly.

I tried pushing on it with the engine running and it simply didn't want to move. I avoided pushing harder since I didn't want to break anything. I suspect that moving the throttle butterfly with the engine running would make it throw an error code anyway.

So this presents two problems for add-on cruise control:

#1: There's nothing to attach it to. There's nothing external to the throttle body that moves.

#2: The cruise control and throttle body actuator could end up "fighting" each other. You take your foot off the gas pedal, that computer is going to bring the throttle body actuator back to the idle position. If you had a cruise control attached to it, the computer is going to see the gas pedal at the "zero" position and the throttle body actuator at 25%, assuming the cruise control "wins" the battle that's going to take place. (Doubtful, based on what I saw when I tried to move the butterfly with the engine running. Probably when I tried to move it, the computer simply had the motor push back on my finger to keep that throttle plate exactly where it was. There's a sensor that tells the computer exactly where the throttle plate is at any given moment. By the way, I suspect that motor is geared down quite a bit, which means that the throttle plate has a lot of torque behind it. I don't think I'd want my finger in it's way when the computer decided to close it!!!!!).

This is going to throw a check engine light.
 
I personally wouldn't install cruise if you didn't think you needed it in the first place. My 91 Corolla doesn't have it and I never really lament not having it, because I figure it would have stop working by now anyway. BTW, is the Cobalt auto or manual? I like the look of the Cobalts, as they remind me of the late 90s and early 2000s Civics, before they decided to screw the look of those up (as seems to be the trend in the automotive industry).
 
The Cobalt has the 4T40E transmission, a 4-speed automatic. As far as I can determine it's a reliable transmission, I know of someone who has one in a Malibu with 140K on it and I don't believe they've ever changed the fluid in it. (Many people are under the mistaken impression that this transmission is "sealed for life").

I don't know about the manual, it is available with one, isn't it made by Getrag?

By the way the cruise control on my 1988 Ford Mustang GT still works fine. The steering wheel switches were getting a little intermittent so I sprayed some Caig Labs Deoxit D5 into 'em. They work like new now. (This Deoxit D5 is to electronics what Auto-RX is to engines!)
 
Well, my slight trepidation towards cruise control is from past experience. My parents used to have a '90 Mazda MPV, bought new, that had the world's worst cruise control. On hills it would quite frequently fall behind, often 5-10 MPH below the set speed. Suddenly, it would wake up and downshift into 3rd gear, racing up past 4k RPM before settling down again. Most often we wouldn't bother with it. I also remember the cruise on my sister's now totaled 96 Camry was somewhat temperamental as well. Thus I am pleased that my Corolla doesn't have it, though my foot does cramp on long trips sometimes. On new cars, like my Dad's 07 Tacoma, the cruise control is excellent.
 
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Well, my slight trepidation towards cruise control is from past experience. My parents used to have a '90 Mazda MPV, bought new, that had the world's worst cruise control. On hills it would quite frequently fall behind, often 5-10 MPH below the set speed. Suddenly, it would wake up and downshift into 3rd gear, racing up past 4k RPM before settling down again. Most often we wouldn't bother with it. I also remember the cruise on my sister's now totaled 96 Camry was somewhat temperamental as well. Thus I am pleased that my Corolla doesn't have it, though my foot does cramp on long trips sometimes. On new cars, like my Dad's 07 Tacoma, the cruise control is excellent.

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Actually, that is not a horrible thing. If your cruise is adamant about maintaining a specific speed too strictly, it will cost you gas mileage. Allowing the car to slow a bit going up a hill gives it a chance to reach the apex before it kicks down in gear. If you make it to the top before it kicks down, you saved fuel. While not a big deal, if you were driving up and down a lot of hills, by not shifting down could save you 3 or 4 MPG on a trip.
 
badtlc, you're probably right, though I'm sure this was never measured. The car usually got around 25 MPG on trips, which was pretty good. It was a 2.6 Liter 4-banger pushing around a heavy minivan, so it often needed to downshift when going up hills. Anyway, I don't mean the change the subject from JTK's new wheels to cruise control.
 
Great purchase.

I just sold my gas guzzling SUV, and picked up a 03 Saturn Ion that is very similar to your cobalt. Mine has the getrag 5 speed manual trans, and no options besides air conditioning.

Less is more, less stuff to break, trust me...

Good look with your cobalt, they are everywhere around here now.
 
Within a short amount of time the cobalt drive by wire will be hacked and the parts list will become available to DIY factory cruise.

It could literally be as easy as adding the switch and possibly reprogramming the PCM.

One would need a cooperative dealer, as an uncooperative one would still want the $300 or whatever the option costs.
 
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