2009 hhr Hi , 2 months ago my grandma found out she was terminal . She asked that I fix her hhr to give to my niece . De didn’t have much so it was important to her .I stayed by her while she went home and I had dropped it off at a local mechanic . 2 months later and 3 days after the funeral he offered to buy the car as it sat ready to put together in his driveway. I paid a tow truck to drag the car out of his driveway. Struts and wheels just dragging. Any ways that has nothing to do with it just venting. I put it al together and tried to install the last 3 bolts in the torque converter and flex wheel . The torque converter is spinning with the wheel . From what I read the converter isn’t properly set .Do u think I destroyed the transmission by bolting it to the engine. ? Do I have to take the transmission all the way out to put the clutch in right ? Or can I loosen the transmission and hopefully back it up with enough gap? It probably be best to pull it out and start over . But any info I would really appreciate

 

Sorry for your loss, very sad news.

you mention the torque converter and a clutch.
the torque has to have those 3 bolts connecting it to the flex plate which needs 6 bolts to fasten it to the crankshaft. A clutch for a manual transmission has the 6 bolts for the flywheel to be fastened to the crankshaft, then a clutch pressure plate bolted to that , with the clutch friction plate sandwiched in between

 

A bit confusing. A clutch system uses a flywheel while the auto uses a flex plate. You would not want to bolt a clutch to a flex plate.

 

Sorry for the rambling. I was a 6 pack into it and started typing. It’s a automatic. The torque converter was snug against the flex plate and the bolt holes weren’t aligned. I thought the converter was supposed to spin freely when the transmission is installed. I loosened up the transmission housing bolts and mounting bolts and moved the torque converter back about a half inch (took some work wiggling and spinning) lined up the bolt holes and bolted it all back together. I drove it around the block today . It seams fine . It shot off a engine code that the cam shaft is advanced, sensor on bank 1 , I replaced the cam sensor on The front top right side (facing engine compartment) I’m gonna try to find the other sensor tomorrow. Thanks for your time I appreciate it

 

Cam sensor most likely is doing its job, pull the valve cover and have a look for streched timing chain or damaged front guide.

 

What is the code number. The blah-blah doesn't mean anything. Most code descriptions don't mean what you think they do.