Chevy HHR Network - 2006 2.2 HHR Electrical Issue or possible Demonic Possesion

Hello from Las Vegas

My local Craigslist/Facebook ad was answered by a guy that asked me to go inspect a non-running HHR as a candidate for an engine rebuild and add vehicle to his work fleet. I went and inspected the HHR and found that it had been run low in oil and spun a rod bearing.

I purchased the vehicle and towed back to the garage. Yanked the engine, had it machined, rebuilt it and reinstalled it. It fired right up without issue. Engine temp climbed to full temp and leveled off. Fans engaged and all seemed good until I turned off ignition. The engine stayed running for 5 seconds with key out of ignition. Yikes!

With key out I could hear a high pitched "whine" coming from under hood fuse box area and inside the cabin, the passenger airbag pressense light and the "fresh" air indicator from HVAC were both powered still. Occasionally the engine light on dash would also stay on with key out. This issue would drain battery.

I am very comfortable with engine mechanical and have rebuild almost 200 of these Ecotec engines. I must admit I struggle with electronic issues. Here is what I did:

I verified all fuses in both under good and cabin fuse boxes were present and good.

I replaced top of fuse box under hood with a used unit (charging post had snapped off and hoped it was somehow the culprit).

I replaced all relays with relays from another HHR without any issues.

Relay #51 RUN/CRANK stayed powered with key out. If removed the whine, passenger airbag pressense, fresh air light on HVAC powered off. Also, no more parasitic draw on battery.

With relay out I probed the ports and found that 2 were ground, 1 had 12.4 volts (same as battery), and the last had 10.4 volts. Of I am reading the diagram I found online, the 10.4 volt terminal should be at 0 and the relay should supply power to it when commanded. So I assume it's getting back-powered somehow. And that's my issue.

A friend was helping me replace the brakes on it when we had terrifying (and kind of funny) thing happened. With the key out of the ignition (car had been sitting for over 48 hours) the ignition "activated" and the engine started.

It was exactly like a remote start. (I mean the starter was only engaged long enough to start engine). Inserting the key, turning ignition to "run" position and then off did turn off engine.

Under the dashboard and near cabin fuse box /BCM area it was apparent that it had an aftermarket alarm installed at some point. It was removed and from what I can tell, although crudely removed and wires left behind, it it seems no remnants are attached to factory harnesses. I found absolutely no evidence of a remaining module that could be for remote start. The car purchase included 2 key fobs. Neither fob had remote start button. Accessing the BCM with my scanner, I saw no factory remote start listed.

I paid an alarm installation place to send a mobile technician out to inspect the alarm removal and complete it properly. He agreed that there was no evidence that anything was still attached to factory harnesses. Also agreed nothing present that would be remote start.

I have scoured the wiring harness and se no evidence of wire damage.

Scanner is no aid with key out as the OBD port has no communication until key is on. Once ignition is on (engine running or not) the scanner shows typical conditions and no MIL requests are even pending. It runs and drives great. No issues at all until ignition is in off position. The self start issue is rare. It has happened 3 times in 10 days. I remove positive battery cable when not near the car for obvious safety issues.

Can the ignition starter switch in steering colomn fail and cause these issues?

Is it a demonic possession?

Any advice on what to test or how to proceed is welcome.