![]() In December 2005, GM reports it decided “the service bulletin and field service campaign was the appropriate response to the reported incidents, given that the car’s steering and braking systems remained operational even after a loss of engine power, and the car’s engine could be restarted by shifting the car into either neutral or park.” ![]() This will result in the keys not hanging as low as in the past.” … In addition, the previous key ring has been replaced with a smaller 13 mm design. As a result, the key ring cannot move up and down in the slot any longer-it can only rotate on the hole. The bulletin also informed dealers, “Engineering has come up with an insert for the key ring so that it goes from a ‘slot’ design to a ‘hole’ design. That proposal was initially approved but later canceled.”Īt the time, GM issued a service bulletin to dealers, informing them that “there is a potential for the driver to inadvertently turn off the ignition due to low ignition key cylinder torque/effort … The concern is more likely to occur if the driver is short and has a large or heavy key chain and … the customer should be advised of this potential and should take steps to prevent it-such as removing unessential items from their key chain.” “During the course of a PRTS opened in May 2005, an engineer proposed that GM redesign the key head from a ‘slotted’ to a ‘hole’ configuration. “Further PRTS’s were opened to re-asses this issue,” according to GM. In 2005, GM employees received new field reports of Cobalts losing engine power, “including instances in which the key moved out of the ‘run’ position when a driver inadvertently contacted the key or steering column.” After consideration of the lead time required, cost and effectiveness of each of these solutions, the PRTS was closed with no action.” Engineers believed that low key cylinder torque effort was an issue and considered a number of potential solutions. An engineering inquiry, known within GM as a Problem Resolution Tracking System inquiry (PRTS) was opened to investigate the issue. GM employees were able to replicate this phenomenon during test drives. In an attachment to the NHTSA letter, Chevy reports, “Around the time of the launch of the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, GM learned of at least one incident in which a Cobalt lost engine power because the key moved out of the ‘run’ position when the driver inadvertently contacted the key or steering column. GM says dealers will replace the ignition switch. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring,” Benavides adds. “Until the recall repairs have been performed, it is very important that customers remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the vehicle key. Carmen Benavides, director of product investigations and safety regulations for General Motors, writes in a letter to NHTSA. “This risk may be increased if the key ring is carrying added weight or the vehicle goes off road or experiences some other jarring event,” M. “If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.” “In the affected vehicles, the weight on the key ring and/or road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine,” according to the NHSTA recall alert. ” The company has issued a recall for the Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 over the ignition switch issue, which has been linked six crashes, “that resulted in eight fatalities,” according to the automaker.Ĭhevy is recalling certain model year 2005-2007 Cobalts and 2007 Pontiac G5 vehicles. General Motors officials told the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) they knew of a Chevrolet Cobalt ignition switch problem in 2004, which could shut off the engine leading to the possibility of a crash, but closed the investigation into the situation “after consideration of the lead time required, cost and effectiveness of each of these solutions.
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