Eventually I'd like to do a write-up, my method will actually work for any year hhr that didn't have the option in the information center. I'm not ready to write it all out but I'm very interested in hearing from anyone who is also interested/capable of getting into the eeprom on the BCM. The attached is a .bin pulled from a remote start optioned 2010 HHR that was cut up in a salvage yard, sadly i don't have the RPOs but i left the vin in the file so you can look it up if you'd like. I'd love it if we could get a library going of .bin files to possibly start decoding the options but I understand the interest/capability may be low.

 

Prolly aren't that many takers, bc not that many 2009-11 w/o RS. For 2008, as you seem to know, with a few specimens, RS is available but just turned off and disabled by an absent hood switch, and the hack is to simply groun a particular wire.

Would have guessed the intersection of those w/ "interest/capability" with those who have affected car is probably substantially less than 0 5. Maybe we beat the odds and it's exactly 1.

 

Well, I'm not worried about takers since I'm not selling anything. But also, the jumper trick doesn't work on all 2006-2008 cars, if the option isn't in the information center, it won't work by jumpering the door ajar wire alone, doing it this way is the solution for those cars too.

​​​​​​Something I don't recommend but I did it anyway because I can is to jumper the pin in the BCM.

 

That is the same as grounding the hood latch wire. That only works on 2008 models that were ordered with RVS hardware deleted. 2010-2011 did not have RVS as standard equipment. 2009 had the RVS deleted in firmware and hardware.

At this point in time almost all HHRs have been sold without fobs and sellers claiming "it doesn't have RVS". Most people are satisfied with that.
I got my 2008 in 2008 from a GM Used dealer that told me it didn't come with a fob (lie), the Service department went so far as to tell me there was no RCDLR installed (lie) when I went in for a RCDLR re flash required to get the TPMS working correctly. I later did the hack for RVS but rarely used it.

When messing with the hood ajar switch it is important to know it is actually 2 switches arranged on a NOR logic; one open one closed toggling. The 2008 hack closes the correct one leaving the other open.

 

I'm not sure if you're just adding info or you're confused about what's going on here. But I'll summarize it regardless.


My 2010 hhr didn't have RVS, I got a 2010 donor BCM that has RVS and pulled the .bin files from it. Then I edited the vin and mileage to reflect my HHR, added the jumper, and after using tech2win to make everything happy again, I have factory RVS.

Messing with the eeproms is probably where most people would get lost, beyond cracking open the BCM, I had to modify my CH341 to output 5v to be able to read and write to the eeprom in circuit.

This cost $40 for the donor BCM, $14 for the CH341, $110 for the vcx nano and tech2win. In theory if I could have gotten the .bin that I created this post to share, i could have edited it and put it on my original BCM to save $40.

I would like to create a flow chart maybe and a loose tutorial that explains it, the flow chart I think will help people understand better what they can and can't do without the confusion of the year and RPOs.

 

I was adding information and explaining why most owners would not bother. Some might now; 10 years ago many would have. Not many are willing to spend $110 on a tool they will probably use once, and has the ability to render the car a boat anchor if used wrong. The hood latch switch was there as a mandated safety device to stop pranksters starting the engine while somebody has their hands on the fan belt.

We do have a how-to section for such things. Feel free to post a how-to there it would be a welcome addition.

I do know that it is relatively easy to make a OBD2 reader with a $3 ESP8266 MCU or Raspberry Pi, probably make into a good scantool for real cheap. The most expensive part is the OBD2 connector/ ELM327 BT about $10, BT module about $8. Raspberry Pi 4 has BT.

 

You're probably not wrong, and beyond that, getting one set up and running tech2win isn't intuitive at all and not completely kosher because I'm pretty sure most of the gm software it comes with are cracked versions. But it's the cheapest way to do a crank angle re-learn, an unexpected side effect of swapping the BCM. And although it cost a good amount of money and it's not intuitive, it's very easily a tool you will find use for in the future and it's still cheaper than kits I've seen online to add remote start.


I have an autel ap200, a great tool able to do crank angle re-learns on other makes and models but not my 2010 hhr, maybe one day it will get an update that lets it do it. I got mine on sale for $40 and it's been a pretty valuable tool, especially for programming FOBs.

 

But sadly, they won't be useful for swapping BCMs. I love my elm327s just because they are so cheap. I have one installed in my HHR permanently, combined with my android headunit it will allow me to do a track recorder with data from the obd2 overlaying on the video, I just have to stop procrastinating and install the cameras.

 

I have heard people say they have an ELM327 that can write to the computers. Should be easy for someone that knows that stuff.
You might need a CANDI adapter for your Autel. If it works for 2008-2010 it should work for 2011, just lie to it.

 

The ap200 uses can-bus to communicate with the modules, it's just lacking in software. If the elm327 could do what a tech2 could, I'd be pretty excited about it, but we aren't there yet.