Hello all! My father owns a 2006 HHR. Yesterday we were coming home from Virgina Beach and his car died. We were heading up hill and we switched lanes to pass a truck. When he pressed the accelerator the transmission shifted down as it should but then the hole car started jerking and the revs shoot way up and it was as if the transmission has disengaged. We would press the gas and the revs would just shoot up but the speed would not increase. We made it half way up and pulled off. We popped the hood. There was smoke coming off the top of the engine block. As I investigated further I noticed oil all over the alternator, belts, cv boots, wheel arches on the left side of the engine. The strange thing was not a single warning light came on on the dash and the temp gauge said the engine temperature was fine. So we towed it home. We haven't had it looked at yet just wondering if anyone on here had any ideas what it could be. On a side note the gear shift also broke yesterday and locked the key in the ignition. Its my dads car so I don't know everything about it but if theres more info you need just let me know and Ill find out. Thanks In advance for any help!

Some info on the car:
2006 Chevy HHR LS
Miles: 168 000
Rebuilt Car
Changed oil about 1000 miles ago

 

I see you say it's a rebuilt. Give a little info on that. Was the engine completely torn down and all internals rebuilt. How about the timing chain. Was that done? One more question. Positive it was oil not transmission fluid?

 

No It has a Rebuilt title I believe he said it was a drivers side impact because the doors on that side don't line up quite right on that side. As far as I know the engine/trans were not touched. Ill get more info from him on that tomorrow. Im not sure if it was trans fluid or oil. With what happened trans fluid sounds more likely. The timing chain has not been replaced. He bought the car last year with 36,000 he's put the rest of the miles on it and travels about 200-400 miles a day.

 

Wow that's a lot of driving daily. Based on what you have stated it sounds like transmission fluid. Gather some more info tomorrow and let us know what you find. And as far as the timing chain it's probably not an issue. I only asked cause of the rebuilt you stated. But since it is just the title and no mechanical rebuild you can more than likely disregard that.

 

ATF tranny fluid is still RED...

 

I don't remember the fluid being red. It smelt like oil but Im not sure what it was. I spoke with my father today he said they did not touch the engine or transmission when it was rebuilt. It was a driver side impact. The timing chain has not been replaced. let me know if you have any ideas or need more info.

 

Was the engine still running. I know you said the rpm shot way up and the car would not accelerate. But was the engine still running or did it die?

 

The engine cut off after the RPM's spiked. We pulled off waited 10min and tried to start it again. The engine did not attempt to turn over but the fan on the radiator continued to run.

 

Im sure some more people will chime in tomorrow on this. If indeed the fluid was oil my first guess would be possibly a head gasket.

 

Im assuming its either that or the transmission. The shop is going to take a look at it tomorrow. Ill see what he finds out tomorrow.