2009 HHR SS (Purchased new in September 2008)...
Generally good considering it just pushed 140k miles.

Last weekend, main shaft seal failed- smoked like crazy for about 45 seconds before I could get off the highway (was right at my exit ramp) Towed to the dealer. Dealer claims to have completed compression tests, & oil pressure tests all good.

Dealer replaced the turbo & gaskets (looks like the lines were replaced too, or they were cleaned in solvent and polished...)

Drove home 150 miles, drove like a champ... great on boost... 33.5 mpg @ 70-75 mph most of the way. Sunday evening, started smoking like crazy again ,and no boost. WTF???

Dealer warranted work, supposed to be looked at soon... will let you all know upon inspection.

Replaced the turbo with new

 

Congratulations on your first post, let us know what they do next..

 

Dealer # 2 says dealer to dealer work is only warranted if it is a "part defect" and that if anything else is found, will be more labor / parts. Dealer # 2 says new diagnosis fee applies, and suggest I take it back down to dealer #1 (130+ miles away).

Overall, I have loved my HHR.. The only problems I have had have been dealers not fixing things right the first time (3x now in the last 6 months).

It gets frustrating when the dealer is supposed to have the *only* people qualified to perform top notch work on my vehicle, and it seems that they (at least in Ohio) are all hill-jack mechanics.

 

Any Chevy service folks that can lend me some insight? I'm quite frustrated dealer didn't clean out the oil now that I look at it. did slow oil leak from turbo clog Cat which caused initial failure, as well as subsequent failure?

I am sure any oil sitting in the pipes / inter-cooler wouldn't have helped.

 

Generally It is not uncommon to have a Cat or O2 failure after any large amount of oil or antifreeze is in the exhaust. Cleaning it out is not normally an option. All that they can do it let it go and if it holds good if not replace it when it fails.

Dealers are hurting for good help anymore so it is hard for some to do good service work. The dealers that do the best Turbo work are the ones who have techs dedicated to Turbo work. They all will need them soon but a few have already had them.

The other issue is many cars are so complex that things do not all go at the same time. And if it ain't broke how do you know it will fail in 10 miles or 110,000 miles.

Overall most of the GM turbo engines have not been at issue any more than most others. You do see a head gasket here and there but was it a bad engine or an engine that just had the crap run out of it?

With the SS as with most performance cars many are cared for well and others are rode hard and put away wet.

The one factor to a turbo or even a DOHC engine is there are more parts and more chance for failure but even with the number of added parts the issues have not gone up in relation.

 

So Dealer #2 has identified the oil problem. Oil leak into the high pressure fuel pump- contaminating the oil (and producing the recent bout of smoke)

 

I'm really sorry that you have been having all this difficulty with your dealership. Please keep me updated on how everything goes with dealership 2 and if the problem gets fixed.

Thanks,

Jessica L.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

So car is now throwing a cat code (p0420) and p0101 (MAF/VAF).. I am afraid that dealer # 1 just told me to drive it and it would "burn off any oil" that it contaminated my CAT.

Dealer # 1 (from the work order)
"The vehicle will still smoke some until all the oil that had been put through the engine and intercooler burns off. We drove it until it quit smoking but it may still smoke until that oil is all gone"

I removed the intercooler and had to remove significant amount of oil from it - meaning the dealer didnt even remove the 4 bolts and 2 clamps to clean out the intercooler.