Check engine light incident - thoughts?
 

So my new (to me) SS may have an issue, the check engine light came on when I started her up to head home after work. no obvious issues in sound or function. The car has the Aerotech Interceptor gauge which is supposed to allow you to see DTC codes? I paged over to see what it was, but the gauge read "no Faults". since I just got the car almost blind I'm not confidant that the gauge even works correctly, etc. So I chose "clear DTC" and the engine dropped idle sightly for a second, and the check engine light went out.

Probably how that's supposed to work....

So. My Question - does it follow that if there were a problem that caused that light to go on, and the condition were to still exist, the light would come back on?
If I take it the shop tomorrow, would my clearing the code through the gauge knock it off the computer, or would they still be able to read whatever set it off?

The light will come back if a problem pops up. After you clear codes the computer is cleared, so no use looking for codes now. Even the freeze frames are now gone.

The only thing that may be available is a reoccurrence that was not sufficient to set the CEL. Many faults require more than one instance to set the CEL.

Thanks for the info. don't want to hurt the car

the light came back on and I had the codes read - DTC P2199 - which references the IAT sensor correlation. The mechanic showed me a service bulletin that referenced that error. 08-06-04-034 from June 08. Deciding if I should let them work on it or take it to the dealer. the car runs fine as I can tell, no surging etc. I don't know turbos enough to know better. I've read some threads here that suggest it may be a leak?

See the link in my sig.

I googled the code got air intake temp sensor issues importance of repair 3 of 3

Sounds like you need to look at the MAF sensor and it's wiring, since that's were the IAT is.

Check for loose or broken pins or wires

Funny thing - the light went off on it's own today - after I scheduled a trip to the mech....

The Aerotech gauge displays stuff off the computer, and I have it set to show the intake air temp which when I started it up until I got going on the highway it ran 65-75 degrees. got as high as 160 while stuck in traffic today,but ran 90-130 degrees. izzat too hot?

Hmm. That doesn't seem right. My intake temps generally are close to the actual outside temps. Maybe 4-5 degrees hotter when stopped at a light.
Even during the summer, I don't see a big increase.

Are you running the stock breather box ? If so, I would check that it's sealed properly. Especially the tubing going to the fenderwell.

hey Fireman -
The stock box is gone, there's a Spectre Fabric filter on it which sits directly over the middle of the enigine. I wouldn't have put it there, but there it is. thats the "hot" side, isn't it?

Yeah, that's what we call a "Hot Air Intake", it's pulling in underhood air and feeding the engine an intake charge with an elevated temperature.

You may want to track down a stock intake for your HHR, despite not being as "cool" as the assorted aftermarket intakes, GM's engineers did a pretty good job on the OEM units.

Vibro. That Spectre filter could be the source of your CEL popping on. The SS engines appear to be very "finicky" when it comes to putting on aftermarket air filter parts.
Some owners have even reported CEL's coming on after just putting in a different filter.

while looking for info on a stock box, I came across pictures of my engine compartment that linked back to this forum. turns out I've purchased a members SS. my car previously belonged to foxtrotraptor! sent hime an email requesting as much back story as he cared to share, and I'm going through his old posts now so I can piece together as much history as possible. I thought there was a good chance the previous owner was on here, there's too much stuff been done by someone who clearly obsessed over it. (a man after my own heart!)
I hear you on the stock box, I think it would be best as well. Is this something I can just pop on, or will the car have to be reset by a tune or something? its got the GMTU and an aftermarket Exhaust ZZP/borla tip no muffler.
the CEL condition went away. is that part of a cycle or did the trigger go away?
If I have the sensors replaced and the chip reflashed as per the service bulletin, will I have to have any tunes redone? I'm not clear on how any of that works.

vibro

First. There is no "chip" in these cars. A computer or ECM, yes.

Fwiw. It would be best if you could get hold of foxtrotraptor and see if he had a tune put in when he added those parts.
If he didn't, then you could probably put on a stock airbox and be good to go.

Thanks FM. I sent him an email, we'll see what he has to say. What all is involved in a tune? Who can do it, and what tools are involved?

Research.

Ok, I guess I've reached my noob question limit! lol
To Don - believe it or not; I'm a big 'teach a man to fish' guy too, so from my end coming to this forum and asking questions is research. All part of my process to find out about my car. All good though, I've since filled in the blanks to my tune question.

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions.