Hi all it has been a long time since I have been on this site, the reason being I gave my wife my HHR soon after we got it. So I lost interest in customizing it and since it was under warranty with an extended warranty on top of it. All I have been doing is making sure the car has oil in it and air in the tires. I have left it up to my wife to report any problem to me so I could either take it to the dealer or somewhere else for repairs. well my wife has been less than fourth coming with any critical information about the car so I have been thinking all has been well.

In July of 2012 I went in for yet another back operation this time on my neck, which failed horribly and caused me to no longer be able to return to work. So I have counted on her more than ever to keep the HHR going since I lost my Honda van and Goldwing to the Repo man. since I cannot work I haven't needed a second vehicle which makes the HHR very important to us that it works properly and is maintained correctly.

Well it has 57,000 miles on it. and I decided that I need to drive the car and see how its doing. I found that my wife just stopped telling me about the many problems she has been having with it. because she knew I was in no shape to do anything about it.
That pretty much sent me through the roof, because she was driving our 24,000 dollar car into the ground. it took a couple days since I can only do so much before my back and neck has me laid out on the couch. but I found the Gas cap was bad triggering a dash light to come on, the radiator overflow jug was empty because of a small leak at the Radiator pressure cap mounted to the upper hose. the rubber o-ring was already dry rotted and worn. and near impossible to remove. so I installed a new Cap and topped of the cooling system no other leaks were found, thankfully I caught this in time.

We have the 2.4 Liter. I am positive I paid jiffy lube a few times to replace the Air filter but it turns out those jerks never changed it. I found the original AC Delco filter still in the housing and the factory marks still on the hose clamps, bolts etc so its obvious they just ripped us off. I did a good engine and engine bay cleaning plus cleaned the Valve cover really good to replace the Spark plugs, I found the rubber grommets that hold the Air cleaner housing stable were dry rotted and broken so I ordered those and installed them.

the dealer went out of their way to tell my wife we do not need spark plugs at 57,000 miles but on the phone I insisted she get them anyways and I am glad I did. 3 out of the 4 spark plugs were nearly seized in the head and yes the engine was cool before I started. So I installed the new plugs with a generous amount of Anti seize to the threads. while they were correct and the plugs were still fine, I wasn't about to waste time trying to clean the threads and reinstall the old ones. I am pretty sure if I had waited till 100000 miles I would have wrecked the heads getting the plugs out.

So if you have not pulled your plugs yet and you have over 50K on them at least pull them and re coat them with anti seize.

I checked the serpentine belt after I had my wife pick one up but was surprised to see the belt is still in great shape. so I didn't bother installing the new one. all in all the HHR is doing well But has suffered some Florida Sun damage since my garage was such a mess it couldn't be parked in the garage. now that I have finally cleaned it out I will be slowly replacing all the sun abused parts, as my back will allow me to . pretty much all the outside window moldings are rotten looking and all the lenses even the Bow ties front and rear are shot.it may take a while but I plan on getting this car back to it former glory when we bought it 9-11-2010

 

I realize this is just an unburdening. But...

It's easier to remove the plugs when the engine is warm, not cold or hot.

Did the plugs have an orange discoloration on the normally white porcelain? That would indicate coolant getting into the combustion chambers (causing galling).

And please use the "enter" key twice every once in a while. Walls of letters are hard for me to read, I assume others have the same problem.

 

This doesn't pertain to the owners manual being true or not , but neglect, for an apparent good reason.
Now take care of your back and your wife, then your HHR when you can.

 

Sorry for my post being hard to read.

The head gasket and cylinder head is fine, the coolant level never got low enough to cause a problem or overheating issue.

The threads on the cylinder and spark plugs must have carbon on them or dried up poor quality anti seize on them. they did come out undamaged same with the head the threads are fine.

Once I heard the creaking sound I should have hit the plugs with a little penetrating oil then work the plug forward and reverse after a soak in the oil.

Bending to change the plugs I was motivated by pain to get the job done.

Working as a Automotive tech since 1985 not once have I removed a plug on a dead cold or Hot engine with aluminum Head.

The motor was run for a short time then allowed to cool while I was working on the other stuff that needed to be done.

My post is just to inform those that choose to wait till 100000 miles to spend the money on spark plugs.

That they may want to take the time to follow the proper procedure, pull the plugs way before 100000 miles, clean the threads and put them back in with anti seize to avoid the possible cost and stress of repairing a damaged very expensive cylinder head.

If you choose to count on having the engine at the correct temperature,
and praying that all the stars in the universe line up just right for you, that is fine by me.

I wrote this post for those that have a newer HHR, and want to know for sure their plugs will come out with no problem because they took the time to do what GM didn't do. which is simply add a few cents worth of quality anti seize.

 

Good point on the plug threads! Take care of your back!

 

I do not remember saying the manual is wrong,I said do not trust it. the plugs clearly will last 100K and maybe even longer.

My problem is with GM not having good quality anti seize on the spark plugs that will last as long as the spark plugs.

You mention neglect, which is not right by any measure.

If I was neglectful I would have wrote this post at 150K but at 57K this extreme preventive maintenance, or right on time for a car with standard spark plugs.

If I was neglectful I would have been looking for a new engine or cylinder head, all because of a dried up wore out pressure cap o ring.that should have lasted as long as the extended life coolant.

Admittedly I haven't been as anal about checking all the fluids, But since I have been down and out with my back problems, I have made sure my wife took the HHR to our Local GM Stealer and other shops at $109 per hour on a regular basis to make sure they do what I used to do.

The coolant leak was so minor, that it left no coolant on our driveway, the only signs of it was a chalky stain under the pressure cap. The amount of coolant that was lost was trivial, considering how little the over flow jug holds at the max line.

I am not sure I would have noticed this even if I was in good health and driving it every day.

GM has made vast improvements on their cars over the years I love our HHR however,it is the little details that they have under engineered, or not yet improved that will cause them to lose me as a customer when it comes time to buy our next new vehicle.

As far as my back, unless they come up with a spine transplant I am pretty much screwed. but thanks for the kind thought.

 

I stand corrected!

 

So have all of us it appears.

At least he learned how to make paragraphs - well, perhaps it was overkill with each sentence a separate paragraph. But it was progress.

 

Not that it matters now. hammer was dropped.