Brake Disc Caliper problems of the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt

19 problems related to brake disc caliper have been reported for the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt based on all problems reported for the 2009 Cobalt.

1 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 02/04/2019

I was driving the other day and noticed that one of my back brakes was sticking and so I took a look at it and fluid level was fine and there was no air in the brake line. I feel the cause of this is bad calipers and some others I have talked had the same issue.

2 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 11/25/2018

Fuel line rusts through causing fuel to leak out next to exhaust pipe. Happens to evap line as well. Poor design in the heat shielding traps moisture which rusts through the line. Fuel leaks out when the car is running, parked, moving or not. Rear brake caliper sticks out from using the parking brake and pad sticks to rotor causing excessive wear.

3 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 02/03/2014

Rear brake caliper piston dragging causing excessive inner pad wear. Rear brakes freeze up. Damaged rear rotors. Inadequate brake pedal operation.

4 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 10/28/2012

Shortly after buying this car, the parking brake stopped working completely. The rear calipers have locked up and do not do anything when the handle is pulled up. This is a terrible design which causes, at best an inconvenient, and at worst, possibly dangerous situation as, for a car equipped with a manual transmission, there is no park to put the car in so I have to block the wheels when parking until I can get this problem fixed. The gm dealer said this is a common problem but there is no permanent fix. How can so many people have this problem but nothing is being done about it? what if I had parked on a hill and my car rolled down into another vehicle or a pedestrian?.

5 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 10/04/2012

The rear brake caliper seized and caused me to lose all rear brakes. The rear brake pads will wear down to bare metal on the inside so no wear bar notifies the driver you have an issue till you no longer have rear brakes. This could cause an accident!.

6 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 07/24/2011

I have a 2009 chevy Cobalt ss and my rear brakes have failed- at 15000 I brought the car to the dealership and they said its still within factory spec- at 26000 my rear brakes are completely shot and worn down to the metal and I had to replace my calipers as they were sticking- currently in the shop to get fixed, will see if this happens again.

7 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 07/02/2011

The rear brakes failed on my vehicle. After taking it to a mechanic for inspection the rear brake calipers did not have lubrication on the sliding pins which resulted in the rotors failing and the brake pads being destroyed. My rear breaks no longer work. After researching online this is a defect on all 2008-2009 chevy Cobalt ss models.

8 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 01/01/2011

Full rear break replacement at 17k. Warranty only covered caliper replacement.

9 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 11/23/2010

I purchased my 2009 chevy Cobalt ss/tc in early June of 2010. It was a gm certified used car. When I inspected the car before purchasing I noticed that the brakes were heavily worn and I let the salesmen know about it. He told me that there was almost 70% left on the pads and everything checked out fine . So I did the dumbest thing I could do and took his word for it. After about 5 months and 4000 miles later my rear brakes start making a scraping noise while in reverse and while light braking around corners mostly out of the passenger side. . I took it in for maintenance expecting some kind of manufacturer defect but instead I'm accused of bad driving and letting my e-brake drag. The issue was that the rear calipers were sticking and not retracting properly and the pistons inside were bent causing uneven pad wear. Both sides moisture boots on the pistons looked like they were pinched and broken during the factory installation. So now here I am with a bill for almost $1000 dollars for rear pads, rotors and calipers and on a car that is just over 2 years old with almost 2 years on a factory bumper to bumper warranty. I'm sorry but the calipers to me are a mechanical defected part and should be covered under warranty.

10 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 08/25/2010

2009 Chevrolet Cobalt ss, rear brake disc heavy scored , grooved,cupped especially inside of discs. 13,000 miles on car and dealer said tough luck not covered under warranty and they haven't heard about it before. That's a flat out lie, I also have an official complaint logged with gm, they called me back with a reference number and said they would look into it but have not heard back in over a week now. There is a major safety issue going on here and they do know about it. Either the metal of disc is incorrect or pads are not compatible or defective calipers- hydraulic system.

11 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 08/09/2010

Bought my 09 Cobalt ss tc sedan with 3500 miles on it. Rear rotors already had grooves at that mileage. My car is at 8700 miles now with both rear brake calipers having to be replaced along with deeper grooves in rear rotors and squeaking from the rear brakes. The failing rear brakes caused my emergency brake to fail. The emergency brake failed while on a hill and I walk outside to find my car under my girlfriends truck! (e-brake engaged and in reverse) this was fixed with the calipers being replaced, I still need to have my rotors worked as they are already to this point. I was fortunate to be parked on a not so steep of a hill, couldn't imagine someone in the same situation living in a hilly region. (lawsuit waiting to happen).

12 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 03/20/2010

Purchased car brand new, have approx 10k miles on it. Rear brake calipers seem to not release fully- can be heard grinding when reversing and screeching when gently braking while moving forward. Rear brake pads are wearing unevenly so that the outside pad is scoring the rotor and wearing much faster than the inside. Possible that the slider pins on the caliper are not lubricated? I've had my local chevy dealership where I purchased the vehicle look at it, they wrote it off as brakes being a "wear&tear" item. Rear brakes only account for 20% or less of the full braking of the vehicle. Why is it that my front brakes are fine and my rears almost need to be replaced already?.

13 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 02/18/2010

I bought a new 2009 Cobalt ss turbo on April 15th 2009, about 8 months later my rear brakes had grooves in the rotors and my left rear caliper was sticking. This caused very poor braking performance. I took the car into the dealer and they had to replace the left rear caliper, new rear pads and they machined the rotors. I have have since had to take the vehicle back into my dealer due to a ring of rust building up on the left rear rotor. I have reason to believe that the rear brakes on these cars have defective parts from the factory. There are a large number of other 2008-2010 Cobalt ss owners having these issues.

14 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 09/30/2009

This is my second complaint on the same problem, see #10278491. Excessive scoring of rear brake rotors. The dealer turned the rotors at 4600 miles, at my cost. Subsequently, Chevrolet action center sent me a letter for $100 credit on service. Now at 7500 miles, they look pretty bad again. The dealer agreed this time to warranty pads & rotors, one time only. This is a manufacturing defect causing a safety problem. There have been a number of reports that the caliper pins were not lubricated at the factory, causing binding of the pads on the rotors. Others believe there is a pad/rotor incompatibility issue.

15 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 09/08/2009

I just bought my car in April of 2009. I own a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt ss and I am seeing a fairly quick brake wear rating on the back brakes. Upon closer examination, I notice the brakes have some pretty deep groves which I have never seen before on brakes discs on a car. I researched these grooves online and apparently its called "scorching". Its what's responsible for wearing the brakes as quickly as they are. It seems too be caused by fragments of metal not filed down on the rear calipers etching out the rear rotors. Its also been brought to my attention that the calipers compress the rear rotors harder on the inside of the rotor than the outside. This might be another reason to the scorching.

16 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 09/01/2009

While driving down the highway, doing approximately 60 mph, my 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt ss shed it's inner left rear brake pad, causing the brake pedal to sink to the floor, when pressed, to no avail. Luckily, no accident resulted. Upon inspection, the left inner pad was completely gone, while the left outer, and both right rear pads were well within normal limits. The gm dealership refused to fix this problem, stating that it was "normal wear and tear". A mechanic at the dealer whispered to me that it was a failure that was likely caused by the caliper not retracting properly, and, while it should be covered under warranty, there was nothing he could do. This failure occurred at about 12,000 miles, while the vehicle was only 4 months old. The rear brake pads, as well as, the left rear rotor had to be replaced.

17 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 08/15/2009

2009 chevy Cobalt super sport rear brakes wearing down too quickly. Only lasted 10,000 miles to which I was told had to be replaced at the cost of 470 dollars. Remaining front brakes had more than 60 percent of life. Rear brakes were completely gone. Rear brake caliper failure is reason, but Chevrolet refuses to admit fault.

18 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 08/05/2009

I have a 2009 Cobalt ss, and am having a problem with the rear brakes grinding, and making noise. I have had them checked at 6,000 miles and the rotors and pads were already real bad. Now at 11,000 miles had it checked out again and the inside pad is completely metal to metal and the out side pad is still like new. I think there are stuck calipers and making only the one pad do all the work. It is starting to have decreased braking ability and gm still wont warranty it.

19 Brake Disc Caliper problem

Failure Date: 07/31/2009

Rear brakes have extreme gouging after only 7,000 miles and are starting to squeal and you can tell they are sticking to the rotors and not fully releasing which can turn into a big liability issue. Gm needs to replace the rear rotors with a quality product that can withstand the rear pads used. . . . Or really needs to change to brembo rotor/caliper like the front.



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