This is my first post here so I apologize ahead of time if I'm breaking any forum rules.

The problem: My 2011 HHR won't start.
-It turns on, clicks but won't start.
-Everything seems to work when I turn the key....windows, locks etc...
-All the warning lights come on and stay on.

Symptoms:
-About three days ago I turned on the car and the radio was frozen. It was on but nothing worked on it, buttons and toggles did nothing. After a bit, it displayed a message that said 'VIN locked" or something like that. So I held down various buttons for a while and it seemed to reset and very slowly sluggishly began to respond to buttons.
- Everything seemed normal until yesterday when the electrical just shut down mid ride. The gauges, radio.....everything just stopped working and turned off. The car ran fine though.
-Today...car won't start.

Attempted fixes:
-Checked the fuses. #30 in the engine compartment (the power outlet one) was blown. I replaced it. No change.
-Unhooked battery for a minute or two. No change.
-Read something about a vapor lock on a forum so I opened and closed the gas cap (trying anything at this point).
-Slapped palm of hand onto face and beat on dashboard a few times. No change but I definitely felt better.

Possibly Useful info:
-My Two year old dropped a quarter into the cd slot of the radio a week or so ago.

Any help would be very greatly appreciated!

 

Have you checked the battery with a load tester to check the health of it?

Or throw a battery charger on it - if the charger has an ammeter on it, that can give a good indication if the battery is low on charge.

and no problem with the posting - nice to see all the info you included. :)

 

Unfortunately, I have none of those tools. I just replaced my battery like 5 months ago though.

Should I just try using jumper cables to start the car?

Somebody mentioned that it might be the voltage regulator?

 

Trying to recall previous posts, but if the under hood fuse box itself wasn't seated well, couldn't that cause some or all of the described symptoms? Anyone with a better memory than mine....

 

Welcome to the site.

As whopper stated, check the battery first. Modern cars electronics can do some really strange things when the battery is acting up.

 

Its probably the battery. I was having trouble with my HHR today.
first you could hear the starter ticking but the engine wouldn't try and turn over.
second i couldn't get my key out
third after trying to start it about 5x the thing just went dead. No lights, radio, nothing on the dash would light up. the HHR completely shut down and nothing would work.
I have learned that the car need a certain amount of voltage to even work. If it drops too much the car will go dead. the last i checked i had 6vdc on my battery witch is half of what i needed to be fully charged.
Replaced the battery to fix it.
the old one was 3 years old.
i got one at auto-zone for 144$ and its the "GOLD" and has a five year warranty

 

Wow...I think this is my new favorite site.

I just tried jumping the car and it still wouldn't start. The thing is, that I just bought the battery 5 months ago and everything turns on in the car; headlights warning lights etc...

I turn the key and it makes one click.....and then nothing.

If the consensus is still the battery then I'll have someone take the battery in to have it checked/replaced. Otherwise, I can just have it towed in (a hassle because I live in the boonies). Thoughts?

 

The radio displaying the locked message means that the battery was dead long enough that the computer memory shut down. I'll bet the lock & key symbol on the dash was flashing.

Or, this is another case of the "buy here pay here" GPS shutdown.

 

If you don't have a battery charger, yeah, give jumper cables a try. Don't forget that the connections under the hood are a bit confusing. The Negative connection is on the strut tower. If you hook it to what some say looks like a neg connection in the electrical cluster you end up blowing the power steering fuse.

If it starts with the jumper cables, then you will know it is battery related - it either needs a recharge due to being drained, or the battery itself is toast. Any auto parts store can throw a load-tester on it to check the health of the battery - but it should be fully charged (or as best charged as it can be) to validate the test.

 

Welcome to the site

I agree try the jump start thing but also check the battery cables where they connect to the under hood fuse box. They have been known to work loose and cause your symptom.

Here is a diagram.