I have almost 35,000 kms on my 06 and it still does it.

Only time I notice it is when I shut the car off or am at a drive thru window.

 

Well, another thousand miles have gone by and it's still ticking away. At my last oil change the gentleman at the service counter said the ticking is "inevitible" with the way the exhaust is manufactured on the HHR. He even replacing the entire exhaust would not fix the ticking because of the way the heat shield is manufactured on this car. Does this make sense to anybody else?

 

Can you still hear the ticking while driving? If so, it IS NOT normal and you should go to another dealer to get it checked out.

If you only hear it while idling or after shutting the car off, it IS normal and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

From a cold start I turn the ignition and everything sounds lovely. After I drive for a few minutes the ticking begins. I can hear it if I'm idling at a traffic light and the window is open. The ticking will continue until after the car is shut off and last about five minutes. At the last service I was told this was due to the way the heat shield was manufacturered and there is nothing to be done about it. But doesn't that seem ridiculous? Shouldn't that mean that everyone driving an '06 LT should be hearing this same noise??

 

I have the same exact sound from my '06 HHR 2LT...

My fiance does NOT make any noise from her '06 HHR 2LT...

I have not asked the dealership about it but did ask a few other "auto experts" and my exhaust guy and they said it is related to the expanding and contracting heat shield on some vehicles. Typically newer vehicles and goes away with time but not a real "problem" but more of a natural sound from some metals exposed to heat.

Not that anoying to me since I tend to ignore it after all this time... My Magnaflow exhaust drowns it out when driving or idling and only hear it when I shut her off for about 2 - 3 minutes maximum then it goes away.

 

I can hear it if it's idling with the window down, but not if the car is moving. If that is the only time you hear it, yes it's normal. It's from the exhaust system expanding/contracting etc.

 

Well - thanks to you all for your comments. I just got it back from a second dealership and got the same information you all told me - that it is a normal sound and is to be expected. Unfortunately, it's driving me crazy and I don't want a car with 7k on it that ticks. My sweet '06 Victory Red Limited Edition will be hitting the classifieds this weekend. It was fun while it lasted...

 

Good luck with that. Practically all of the recent cars I've owned have done the ticking/clicking noise. You'll probably trade this one in for another that does it too.

 

Wow. Sort of extreme in my opinion. I think I would (a) turn up the stereo or (b) check out a custom exhaust installer and find out what help they could offer. I know the sound is driving you batty, but selling the vehicle seems a bit extreme.

 

I want to amend my prior post, since it was very general about this issue.

Here's the deal on this issue, some do it some don't. Some quit doing it after a while (my '07 tahoe after 12,000 mile for example) some don't ever quit.

We have replaced the cat on some customers and got lucky that the new one didn't do it. Others did it with the new one, maybe not as loud or maybe not as often or maybe more frequent or even louder then the original.

So it is hit or miss on getting rid of the noise.

I always thought it was the heat shields. At times I have thought it is the outer heat shield since we have bent, beat and relaligned them on different models trying to satisfy the customer. Sometimes the noise would stop other times it wouldn't.

I have researched this issue and spoke with GM field engineers, GM techs and some very experienced custom exhaust system techs. What I learned is everyone has a different opinion of what causes the noise and where it comes from. I believe the best therory is that the outer shell of the cat is made in layers and the noise "most likely" comes from one of those layers as heat is dissipated, not from the outer heat shields.

Someone with better engineering skills would have to tell us why all the above examples occur, until then there is no standard fix or answer.

But if I knew that a customer was so unhappy with the noise that they were willing to get rid of the vehicle, then I would put one on just to see if the customer could be saved.

Since the 2 dealers are not willing to attempt the replacement, then my suggestion is to call 800-222-1020 and ask if they will contact the local Chevrolet rep for your area and at least attempt to rid the vehicle of the noise by replacing the cat (with no guarantees that the noise will be gone), so as to save you as a customer.

Just my 2¢.