2007 CHEVROLET COBALT Owners Manual

Have you recently changed brands of fuel?
If so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel.
SeeGasoline Octane on page 283. Poor fuel
quality will cause your engine not to run as
efficiently as designed. You may notice this
as stalling after start-up, stalling when you put
the vehicle into gear, misring, hesitation on
acceleration, or stumbling on acceleration.
(These conditions may go away once the engine
is warmed up.) This will be detected by the
system and cause the light to turn on.
If you experience one or more of these conditions,
change the fuel brand you use. It will require at
least one full tank of the proper fuel to turn the
light off.
If none of the above steps have made the light
turn off, your dealer can check the vehicle.
Your dealer has the proper test equipment and
diagnostic tools to x any mechanical or electrical
problems that may have developed.Emissions Inspection and
Maintenance Programs
Some state/provincial and local governments have
or may begin programs to inspect the emission
control equipment on your vehicle. Failure to pass
this inspection could prevent you from getting a
vehicle registration.
Here are some things you need to know to help
your vehicle pass an inspection:
Your vehicle will not pass this inspection if the
check engine light is on or not working properly.
Your vehicle will not pass this inspection if the
OBD (on-board diagnostic) system determines that
critical emission control systems have not been
completely diagnosed by the system. The vehicle
would be considered not ready for inspection.
This can happen if you have recently replaced
your battery or if your battery has run down. The
diagnostic system is designed to evaluate critical
emission control systems during normal driving.
This may take several days of routine driving. If you
have done this and your vehicle still does not pass
the inspection for lack of OBD system readiness,
your dealer can prepare the vehicle for inspection.
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Oil Pressure Light
If you have a low
engine oil pressure
problem, this light
will stay on after you
start your engine,
or come on when
you are driving.
This indicates that your engine is not receiving
enough oil.
The engine could be low on oil, or could have
some other oil problem. Have it xed immediately.
The oil light could also come on in three other
situations:
When the ignition is on but the engine is not
running, the light will come on as a test to show
you it is working, but the light will go out when
you turn the ignition to START. If it does not
come on with the ignition on, you may have a
problem with the fuse or bulb. Have it xed
right away.
If you are idling at a stop sign, the light may
blink on and then off.
If you make a hard stop, the light may come
on for a moment. This is normal.
{CAUTION:
Do not keep driving if the oil pressure is
low. If you do, your engine can become
so hot that it catches re. You or others
could be burned. Check your oil as soon
as possible and have your vehicle
serviced.
Notice:Lack of proper engine oil maintenance
may damage the engine. The repairs would
not be covered by your warranty. Always follow
the maintenance schedule in this manual for
changing engine oil.
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Security Light
For information
regarding this light,
seeTheft-Deterrent
Systems on page 107.
Fog Lamp Light
Your vehicle may have
a fog lamps light. It will
come on when the
fog lamps are in use.
The light will go out when the fog lamps are
turned off. SeeFog Lamps on page 154for
more information.
Highbeam On Light
This light comes on
when the high-beam
headlamps are in use.
SeeHeadlamp High/Low-Beam Changer on
page 146for more information.
Fuel Gage
Your fuel gage tells
you about how much
fuel you have left.
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Here are four things that some owners ask about.
None of these show a problem with your fuel gage:
At the service station, the gas pump shuts off
before the gage reads full.
It takes a little more or less fuel to ll up than
the gage indicated. For example, the gage may
have indicated the tank was half full, but it
actually took a little more or less than half the
tank’s capacity to ll the tank.
The gage moves a little when you turn a corner
or speed up.
The gage doesn’t go back to empty when you
turn off the ignition.
For your fuel tank capacity, seeCapacities and
Specications on page 390.
Boost Gage
If equipped, this gage is located near the driver’s
side of the instrument panel cluster.
This gage indicates vacuum during light to
moderate throttle and boost under heavier throttle.
This gage displays the air pressure level in the
intake manifold before it enters the engine’s
combustion chamber.
This gage is automatically centered at zero every
time the ignition is turned to RUN. Actual vacuum or
boost is displayed from this zero point. Changes in
ambient pressure, such as driving in mountains and
changing weather, will slightly change the zero
reading.
United StatesCanada
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Driver Information Center (DIC)
Your vehicle has a Driver Information Center
(DIC). The DIC display gives you the status of
many of your vehicle’s systems. The DIC is also
used to display driver personalization menu modes
and warning/status messages. All messages will
appear in the DIC display, located at the bottom of
the instrument panel cluster.
The DIC buttons are
located on the left side
of the steering wheel.
q(Information):Press this button to scroll
through the vehicle information mode displays.
r(Reset):Press this button to reset some
vehicle information mode displays, select a
personalization menu mode setting, or
acknowledge a warning message.
Press and hold the information and reset buttons
at the same time for one second, then release
the buttons to enter the personalization menu.
SeeDIC Vehicle Personalization on page 186for
more information.
DIC Operation and Displays
The DIC comes on when the ignition is on. The
DIC has different modes which can be accessed
by pressing the DIC buttons. The button functions
are detailed in the following.
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Information Modes
q
(Information):Press this button to scroll
through the following vehicle information modes:
Outside Air Temperature and Odometer
Press the information button until the outside
air temperature and the odometer are displayed.
This mode shows the temperature outside of
the vehicle in either degrees Fahrenheit (°F)
or degrees Celsius (°C) and the total distance the
vehicle has been driven in either miles (mi) or
kilometers (km). The outside air temperature will
appear on the left side of the DIC display and
the odometer will appear on the right side of the
display.
To change the DIC display to English or
metric units, see “UNITS” underDIC Vehicle
Personalization on page 186.
TRIP A or TRIP B
Press the information button until TRIP A or
TRIP B is displayed. These modes show the
current distance traveled since the last reset
for each trip odometer in either miles (mi)
or kilometers (km). Both odometers can be
used at the same time.
Each trip odometer can be reset to zero separately
by pressing and holding the reset button for a
few seconds while the desired trip odometer
is displayed.
FUEL RANGE
Press the information button until FUEL RANGE is
displayed. This mode shows the remaining distance
you can drive without refueling in either miles (mi)
or kilometers (km). It is based on fuel economy and
the fuel remaining in the tank.
When the fuel level is low, FUEL RANGE LOW
will display.
The fuel economy data used to determine fuel
range is an average of recent driving conditions.
As your driving conditions change, this data is
gradually updated. The FUEL RANGE mode
cannot be reset.
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ECON (Economy)
Press the information button until ECON is
displayed. This mode shows how many miles
per gallon (mpg) or liters per 100 kilometers
(L/100 km) your vehicle is getting based on
current and past driving conditions.
Press and hold the reset button while ECON is
displayed to reset the average fuel economy.
Average fuel economy will then be calculated
starting from that point. If the average fuel
economy is not reset, it will be continually
updated each time you drive.
AV (Average) SPEED
Press the information button until AV SPEED is
displayed. This mode shows the vehicle’s average
speed in miles per hour (mph) or kilometers per
hour (km/h).
Press and hold the reset button while AV SPEED
is displayed to reset the average vehicle speed.
OIL LIFE
Press the information button until OIL LIFE is
displayed. The engine oil life system shows
an estimate of the oil’s remaining useful life. It will
show 100% when the system is reset after an
oil change. It will alert you to change your oil on a
schedule consistent with your driving conditions.
In addition to the engine oil life system monitoring
the oil life, additional maintenance is recommended
in the Maintenance Schedule in this manual.
SeeEngine Oil on page 293andScheduled
Maintenance on page 396.
Always reset the engine oil life system after an oil
change. See “How to Reset the Engine Oil Life
System” underEngine Oil Life System on
page 298.
COOLANT
Press the information button until COOLANT is
displayed. This mode shows the temperature
of the engine coolant in either degrees
Fahrenheit (°F) or degrees Celsius (°C).
183

DIC Warnings and Messages
These messages appear if there is a problem
detected in one of your vehicle’s systems.
A message will clear when the vehicle’s condition
is no longer present. To acknowledge a message
and clear it from the display, press and hold
any of the DIC buttons. If the condition is still
present, the warning message will come back on
the next time the vehicle is turned off and back
on. With most messages, a warning chime sounds
when the message displays. Your vehicle may
have other warning messages.
AUTO (Automatic) LIGHTS OFF
This message displays if the automatic headlamp
system is disabled with the headlamp switch.
AUTO (Automatic) LIGHTS ON
This message displays if the automatic headlamp
system is enabled with the headlamp switch.
BRAKE FLUID
This message displays to inform the driver that the
brake uid level is low while the ignition is on.
The brake system warning light on the instrument
panel cluster also comes on. SeeBrake System
Warning Light on page 171for more information.
Have the brake system serviced by your dealer
as soon as possible.
CHANGE OIL SOON
This message displays when the life of the engine
oil has expired and it should be changed.
When you acknowledge the CHANGE OIL SOON
message by clearing it from the display, you
still must reset the engine oil life system
separately. SeeEngine Oil Life System on
page 298andScheduled Maintenance on
page 396for more information.
CHECK GAS CAP
This message displays if the fuel cap has not
been fully tightened. Recheck the fuel cap to
make sure that it is on properly. A few driving
trips with the cap properly installed should turn
the message off.
184