I think it is really crappy of Chevy as an auto maker to leave their radiators so vulnerable in the Cobalt's body design. If ANYTHING gets past the bumper you can kiss the radiator and A/C coils goodbye along with the cooling fan and shroud. I hit a dog (not a huge dog), off center at 40 MPH and the result was a bent A/C coil that bent the radiator that broke the fan shroud and knocked the fan itself completely out of the car. Crappy design. The really bad part is I didn't know there was damage or that the radiator was empty until the car said "Hey! I'm overheating." What ever happened to the low coolant light?
It's just annoying cause I'm used to driving a ford escort which would have chewed the dog up and spat it out and I never would have seen a problem from the radiator. The cobalt is a good car for its class but it definitely needs some second thoughts about that front end.
I think it is really crappy of Chevy as an auto maker to leave their radiators so vulnerable in the Cobalt's body design. If ANYTHING gets past the bumper you can kiss the radiator and A/C coils goodbye along with the cooling fan and shroud. I hit a dog (not a huge dog), off center at 40 MPH and the result was a bent A/C coil that bent the radiator that broke the fan shroud and knocked the fan itself completely out of the car. Crappy design. The really bad part is I didn't know there was damage or that the radiator was empty until the car said "Hey! I'm overheating." What ever happened to the low coolant light?
It's just annoying cause I'm used to driving a ford escort which would have chewed the dog up and spat it out and I never would have seen a problem from the radiator. The cobalt is a good car for its class but it definitely needs some second thoughts about that front end.
- frost9928, West Memphis, AR, US