09 Cobalt-Front-end...

as a cobalt owner and a gm tech i can tell you that the steering intermediate shaft is a common source of noise on these. not a safety issue however. whenever you make a part that is meant to flex in different directions frequently it will develop some play after time and that could be what your hearing. i dont know your driving habits or the condition of the roads in your area but its also quite possible that your control arm busgings may be worn. that would give you a clunk/pop or random vibrating noise over small bumps. seeing as how the car is fairly new thats most likely not a sefety issue but if it was allowwed to get worse it could be later on down the line. hope that helps.

Thanks for the info. I took it into the dealer and found out the "road noise" was from the tires.. I confirmed this by having them put a set of tires from another cobalt on the lot and the noise went away... As for the popping sound, they inspected the entire front suspension and could not see any issues... I took the technician for a drive to recreate the noise, but no such luck... On the plus side, the dealer informed me that even after the bumper-to-bumper warranty was up, they would fix any problems in the front suspension since I had the concern before the warranty expired. Very nice to see them do this... So, once again thanks for info!

I have the same popping noise. I have had them look at my vehicle for over a year now. I've contacted GM. They have replaced my steering column twice and looked over everything. Still I have the same issue. It pops when I backup and turn at the same time and when I pull into parking spots or have to turn slowly. My car is still under warranty and I am still making payment. I've never had so many issues with a vehicle.

I had the same prob with noise when turning out of a drive way, I took my 2009 cobalt to dealer and it was a recall on the steering column, they replaced part, noise went away, but now I have a new noise when hit a bump, sounds like it is coming from steering column again.

Ive seen a few cases where it was a bad upper strut mount and went thru a few techs before the problem was found. if that is the case, i wouldnt really call it a problem. you have to realize with all the moving parts in a vehicle some noise is acceptable.

I have a 2007 Cobalt. It has had the front end noise since I bought it and they have replaced the control arms, brakes, struts, alignment, tires and on and on!! They have said they hear the nioise and dont want to take any more of my money because they dont know what it is!!! I have had no help from anyone. I have paid out of pocket in the thousands..They really should do a recall on this car! They have had several of them but nothing that has helped my problem.

I too have a 2007 Cobalt and the noises coming from the front end seem the same as described above. Chevy dealer cannot find anything, and I took it to two local garages. Everyone says they have fixed it but the noise is still there. The control arms, struts, brakes, rear shocks, have been replaced. Why cant anyone fix this car?

Could it be the front fenders, bumber panels or headlamp housing and body panels grinding together when flexing? They are so close and tight that it could be a metal on metal or plastic pinching or binding when turning. Could that make a sound like this?

if not the control arms,brakes,rear shocks or what ever. why don't you try to check the sway bar links maybe it worn out because it happen to my 2000 Malibu and I change rear shocks even the pads and still there until I check the sway bar and the bushings are already gone so I replace it and the noise was gone. hope that helps

I've had same issue 2008 cobalt anti sway bar end links

I have a 2007 Cobalt LT Coupe and honestly it's the biggest POS I've ever owned! I swear by GM but cobalt are a huge problem just as cavaliers were. I have all kinds of noise in the front end and I've replaced the stabilizer links, struts, upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, all bushings, every part of the braking system, control arms etc and the noises and vibrations went away for all of 2 days! I went and bought 4 new tires and that took alot of the issues away as I didn't realize my front tires had good tread but the structure of them was bad and that caused a ton of vibration driving. I'm leaning towards replacing the intermediate shaft since I have loud popping when I move the wheel back and forth rapidly. I'll write my results when I get that done. Happy New Year everybody and hope your Cobalt issues pan out!

I have a 2007 Cobalt, same thing everyone else is experiencing. I am up to about $800, noise still there. I took it to Chevy, 2 private repair shops and even a body shop. I agree, the noise is so bad, why can't the experts find it??

I have a 2008 Cobalt and I loud grinding and vibration issues. It does it when I'm accelerating and when I'm braking?? I've changed my front brakes several times, got my roaders changed etc. I still cant figure out why my car makes this loud grinding sound and has LOTS of vibration in the wheel and pedal.

I had this grinding noise problem and fixed it by replacing both front hub assemlis, problem solved

I have a 2008!cobalt and I recently started hearing a popping/clicking sound in the steering wheel when I turn it. I just want to know if this is dangerous and needs to be looked at? Recall?

I have been researching this as best I can. Folks have tried many repairs w/o a solution. The seemingly most viable option was lubrication of a plastic gear in steering box. I found this via YouTube comments. The title of accompanying video is "steering noise on 2006 cobalt" His comment: Jose Garcia 1 year ago "i just took mine off and opened it (steering box, plastic gear, methinks) up just like this one in the video were the plastic gear is with the bearings i put more of that type of grease it has already , i put a good amount on the part thats missing some then i spun the shaft and it takes the grease in , then i put more grease then spun agin, i did it 3-4 times. then i spun/rotated the shaft to hear for the rattle noise which it dampened the noise . so i put it back together and on the car n went for a test drive an it was all perfect and quiet over all the bumpy roads for once, it was terrible rattling noise before i added the extra grease on the plastic gear" Maybe that video will be of help. I'm looking specifically for not while braking vibes nor bumpy-road driving whereas this seems to address only during braking and bumpy-road condition.... Check video for yourself; I haven't... yet.

Bought the car at 22,000 kilometers had it for four yrs and never had an issue with it like now ! Since a few months rattling noise from front suspension and when cold it feels like a chariot made of wood ! -10 and lower I'D swear by the noise my tires are squares too !! Had everything in front replace since last summer put about 5,000.00 repair on it and that include the last 2 weeks 2,000 changing sway bars bushings sway bars link it worked nice for 2 days then again the noises came back . I guess I'M gonna have to live with it since the beast have only 71,000 kilometers now ! Thinking of getting rid of it by next September though and would never buy american product again !! For longevity a person have to go elsewhere like Japanese or Corean !! Sorry I can't help U guys ! Just buy better built cars I guess .

Hello. I had the same issue. Everytime I backed out of drive way turning my wheels it popped several times. As soon as I changed out my strut mounts that went away.

i have same problem with a 2007 cobalt,can not change an arm control lose,had to cut the car a part,never buy an american car again,they do very sloppy job

i have same problem with a 2007 cobalt,can not change an arm control lose,had to cut the car a part,never buy an american car again,they do very sloppy job,they know about this problem for years,never try to fix it,such a shame for GM