Uh, odd to resurrect this particular old post, but....

There are LOTS and LOTS of posts about how unreliable the Stage 1 kit is. It is almost always a wiring issue. Your timing is about right - most report it works for 6 months to a year. The problem is that GM expects their techs to be able to do NASA-quality soldering. Most won't even solder the connection - they just use a butt connector (or, worse, just twist the wires and tape them with crappy electrical tape). Check out this thread as one example: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/2-0l-performance-tech-46/gm-stage-1-nothing-but-issues-%2Asigh%2A-35426/

 

http://www.dejonpowerhouse.com/

I bought a intake and a downpipe, from them. Even thought he engine light is on you can feel the power.

 

lmos you need Vince at Trifecta, he could help with that light, and power.

 

7 months and 20k miles later and the GM upgrade kit has not caused any problems.

 

Ya right! My 08 HHR SS with the upgrade is over 4 yrs old now and still goes like a "Scalded Frog". Please, do not spew your uneducated, inexperienced fantasies on members that may not know how well the GM upgrade is. 4 years and still running strong is not something that anyone can argue about.

 

Lol. Way to go on a rant about something posted 2 years ago by someone who hasn't logged in in months.

 

Mounts here :)

 

He's right, mine is still running fine with the dealer sub-Nasa solder.

 

The only issue I have had was the connectors. Dealer caused problem, not a GM issue. No parts failure, just dealer Technician sloppy work and another dealer unable to properly diagnose. GM stepped in and got it resolved. 87,000 miles and the car runs strong with 30+ MPG hwy.

 

I've mentioned many times before my trials and tribulations with the gmtu kit and finally worked it out.

Now before anyone says 1,000,586 people have upgraded and not had a problem, fine, but my issues we're my issues.

Personally, I love the little HHR, keep it for some reason, but after replacing a transmission, the high pressure fuel pump, motor mounts, the gm sensor wiring harness, I finally got to the point that I didn't really trust the car and decided to drive it only in the city.

Last week we had production in Northern California and needed 5 vehicles so we took all of our cars and I drove the HHR SS fully loaded down. I'll admit I was nervous as we were going through the desert in 105 f temperature and any problem would have been a big issue.

It ran perfectly, not a glitch, very comfortable, not too hot, but I drove it gently.

I believe this is a great car let down by some very cheap materials and since it was built during the time GM was broke, it suffered from that, which is really a shame because a few thousand more in better materials in the suspension bushings, computer mapping, paint that didn't chip and just overall build quality and this car would be one I would keep for life.

If you use this car for daily transportation, I wouldn't go too deep in upgrades as the car is great if you drive it as a sport sedan instead of a balls out hot rod.

I know I'll be contradicted on this and understand I do like the car, but drive any similarly performance spec hot hatch that cost $5,000 to $10,000 more and you understand where the money went.

Now, I did buy a new Buick GS and GM has really upped their game (and this is an older platform).

Then again by upping their game chevrolet's have gone up dramatically in price.

IMO