andyb

per Alldata, the labor time to replace the timing chain is 6.4 hours. the labor time to replace the cylinder head is 15.7 hours & the head costs $775. no - the engine does not come out for these repairs - so - why did the tech remove the engine???

M.Harper

Well after getting the car back from the timing chain/head issue there is more. Now it is overheating. A week or so after getting the car back my son went to get a burger. First time it was driven since the repair. While in the drive thru, the temp gauge pegged. He shut off the AC and it eventually dropped. He told me about it and I figured that the tech didn't fully fill the system after the repair. Later that week I was going to drive into the office (normally work from home), checked the overflow and it was dry. Filled it and drove off. I was on the hiway most of the trip but didn't notice any problems. A few days later my son drove it and it overheated again. At idle and AC on. Seems to be the fan speed. Being pissed off again, I avoided the car for the next few weeks. Had to go into the office one day a few weeks back and before I left checked the overflow. Dry again. Filled it and headed off. Coming home, got stuck in traffic and that temp gauge pegged again. Made it home with the windows down and heater blasting.

Took it back to Hewlett Chev again last week. On Friday I get a call that the problem is the fan controller but it is covered under warranty from the accident repair. I can come in Sat AM and pick it up. Show up Sat about 11:30 and it is not ready. 'On a test drive'. At 12:30 they tell me it is not the controller, that the problem still exists and they will need more time.
Yesterday afternoon I get the call that they 'think' it is the ECM and will need to be replace at $750. I 'think' they are just throwing parts at it. This started following the timing chain/head repair. When I got it back I assume they flash the computer as everything was 'zeroed out', like the tire pressure readouts were just bars. Could it be a bad program? Does the SS use a different fan assy than non-SS? The SA said they did a pressure test but where did 1.5 gal of coolant go? I found this thread with OP having exact same symptoms. Was a bad harness on the controller.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...e2/#post583070

M.Harper

A little update. It has been three weeks and it is still in the shop. I quit asking what the problem was a week or so back. I get a call every evening from the SA telling me it is done but they want to keep it another day for QA. Around the 15th I called the service VP at the dealership and the next day got a call from the SA that he was on the problem and had a lead tech on it. Got the call that night that they found the ground was not reconnect after re-installing the engine. They had already put a new ECM which didn't fix the problem. After fixing the ground problem they put the old ECM back and it failed, apparently from driving without the ground wire (the dealerships assumption). Fine with me, you break it, you bought it. So the next evening I get my daily call and I am told they still have a problem. The new ECM will not take the program. That was around the 16/17th and they still have the car. Every night same story, "we are about 95% done, just need another day to make sure it gets thru QA". Any guesses on what the real problem is? I am driving a nice, new, loaded Crewcab so I am not suffering but this taking three weeks to "install and program an ECM" is getting old, literally.

donbrew

Turned out the problem when the tech told me the SRS brain would not take the program was the tech didn't know what he was doing. After he spent an hour and a half on the phone with GM tech support, he got it done in short order. This sounds like the tech just does not want to put anymore time into his flat rate.

M.Harper

Picked it up on Monday. It was as expected, rushed to the cashier (with no charge to the customer) and shown the door. Not a word about the car being there for a month collecting dust. The alignment is still so screwed up it's a pain to drive. What was once 'My Baby' is now a pain in the ass. Hewlett Chevrolet service department is without a doubt the worst I have seen in my 44 years of vehicle ownership. I have purchased two vehicles from Hewlett and relied on them for servicing four but that relationship is long gone. I will be a vocal detractor of Hewlett Chevrolet, Georgetown Tx for the rest of my life.