kevrm

I have a 2011 hhr lt 2.2 with 55,000 miles on it. Three weeks ago i hit a tire from a semi that had blown in front of me on the interstate. The tire went under my car an exited under drivers side fender, popping the fender and rocker panel off. I took the car to have the body work done and when I picked up the car they told me the engine light was now on.

I had driven it a week after the accident with no light on. The engine was sputtering an when stopped would sometimes die or miss badly. I took it an had the code read it was a P0016.

The car starts fine an doesnt miss until you go some where shut it off an restart it , i let it run for an hour today in the drive ran perfect shut it off turned it back on missing badly the rpm gauge is jumping an the car misses badly.

I took it to a garage and they said it was the cam shaft solenoid an replaced it. They came back an told me that didnt fix it , so then they said i needed an engine flush they ran cleaner thru and refilled with oil. Still the same thing they said you just need to drive it an eventually it should work out.

After being out over $300 already i dont want this to damage my car if its something serious. Could this be a cam shaft position sensor or crankshaft position sensor? Are they different than the solenoid.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I asked them to check for maybe a lose wire they said everything was fine. But I never had a problem until the body shop repaired the car. Its been 5 days now an still runs fine from cold start but once shut off misses upon restarting.

whopper

With it being a 2011, and with 55,000 miles is it not still covered by GM's powertrain warranty? (being in Canada, our warranty is slightly different than yours, so I am not sure what the mileage specs are there off the top of my head - 100,000 miles?)

Yup, the solenoid that was replaced had NOTHING to do with the p0016 code. And the engine flush and fill would no nothing either for a p0016 code. The mechanic was off-base on the diagnosis totally.

Here is a good explanation on the p0016 error code: P0016 Crankshaft Camshaft Position Correlation DTC

It may not be the sensors at all - here is a quote from Donbrew that kinda sums it up: "It does not indicate bad sensors, just that the sensors don't agree with each other. This is where the mileage comes into play, you may be lucky and only need a tensioner most likely you need a new timing chain and guides.".

Will you damage it if you keep driving?? - well if it is the timing chain components, yeah probably, as it gets worse. If it is one of the sensors or the chain, it likely will fail to start before long. Quote from the above link:
•The engine may run but with reduced performance
•The engine may crank but not start
•The engine may exhibit a rattle near the harmonic balancer indicating the tone ring is damaged
•The engine may start and run, but poorly

firemangeorge

As a second guess. I would put the car up on a lift and check closely for any other damage. Wiring harness, oil pan, trans. pan and especially around the crankshaft pulley where the sensor is.
If that blown tire had enough energy to rip loose body panels, it could have done some other damage as well.

Oldblue

This could be from the tire damage incident or from the mechanic testing wiring while the ECM was energized, may I suggest as you already know the code"P0016" so disconnect the negative cable to the battery then check the ground wire connections wait 30 minutes and reset the computer , this may clear the MIL for awhile, the timing chain and guides could need to be replaced or just the timing chain tensioner

kevrm

Thanks for the info. Is there a reason it is fine when starting from a cold engine until its shut off and restarted warm? Thats the part the confuses me is why it works when the engine is cold and then until you turn it off an restart warm.

donbrew

Here is a completely wild guess: Somebody disconnected a wire and bent a pin when they reconnected it. I don't have enough experience to know why the warm start is the problem. It only makes any sense if the crank sensor got disturbed in an odd way (that happens in accidents).

I hate it when I get quoted!

Go back to the mechanic that can't read and get your money back! Both VVT solenoid valves only cost the shop about $80, the rest was profit.

Go back to the body shop and tell them to complete the repairs to your car; assuming this is an insurance claim it is the insurance adjuster's problem not yours.

kevrm

I argued with the body shop for 3 days the insurance company (state farm did as well ). State Farm told me to take it to have a diagnostic ran if it came back accident related they would pay for it if not out of my pocket. The mechanic said no way it was related to the accident so my next step is to take it to another shop. I still think it has something to do with the accident. This was a big semi tire I hit and my car did get hung up on it for a few seconds. I had also told the mechanic I thought it was the crank sensor from what i had read online here an he said if it was my car wouldnt start. But I know that is not true.

donbrew

Investigate your GM drive train warranty.

kevrm

I purchased this 2 years ago with 20000 miles as a rebuilt vehicle so there is no warranty thru GM .

donbrew

I would still call the local service dept. to be positive . I'm talking drive train not bumper to bumper.