Chelly wont start.... please help me find TSB to give to dealer!
07-15-2008, 09:24 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: 07-15-2008
Location: Lancaster, SC
Posts: 6
Chelly wont start.... please help me find TSB to give to dealer!
Hello all, I apologize for the length in advance. I wanted to give you all the details that I have so that I can get the help that I need. 
I have had my 2006 Chevy HHR for about a year and a half. When I bought it, it had 30K miles on it. The first set of problems was the engine light that kept coming on and then the car would have trouble starting. I took it to the dealership in my area and they told me that there was nothing wrong with the car and that the gas cap was loose. I was shown how to correctly put on the gas cap, which was an insult to me due to the fact that I have been driving for the past thirteen years. The next time the engine light came on, the dealership replaced the gas cap. Finally, after the third time, back and forth with the same problems, they stated that there was a bad fuse in the system which needed to be replaced and a problem with the evap solieniod. The car worked fine for another few months with no problems, then became hard to start. I was then told that with the heat/outside temperature (summer 07) that I should wait and let the OBD catch up to the ignition in the car. So that meant, I needed to wait 3 to 5 seconds before starting the car. This seemed to help with the extended start problem for the remainder of the year. May 1st of this year, I was involved in a car accident, which damaged the front driver's side of my car. I waited two weeks to get my car back, because the dealership had to order new parts for the car that had to come from the Detroit plant. I left the car to be repaired. After the repairs were complete, I drove the car home and parked it outside of my building. The car wasn't shut off for twenty minutes before I came back out and tried to start the car. Now mind you, this was a Friday afternoon and the service department is only open on Saturdays from 9 to 12pm. I did not get an answer to any of my five calls and it was only 4:30pm when I called. I called that following Saturday morning, the dealership informed me that they could not get to my car that day and did not even offer to tow it to their location. I had to wait until Monday. The dealership kept my car for a day and then brought it back to my home without the key. I then had to contact the dealership's 24 hour towing service to have them bring me my key due to the technician forgetting to contact me and inform me to come and pick up the key. I was continuing to experience the extended start problems and was informed that I needed to continue waiting the 3 to 5 seconds to start the car. I drive the car every day. This past Saturday, I parked my car at my parent’s house and then got ready to leave. The car would not start, again(second time in two months)! I called the 24 hour towing person for the dealership (we are now on first name basis because of other issues previously) and informed him of the problem. He then came out to my parent’s house, disconnected, and then reconnected the battery, pulled out the fuse, put it back in and the car instantly started back up. My father then informed him that the dealership needed to find out what was causing the car to have so many problems and the car is currently at the dealership. I called this morning and was told that the techs can't find out what is causing the problem. Please help, I want my Chelly back!
I have had my 2006 Chevy HHR for about a year and a half. When I bought it, it had 30K miles on it. The first set of problems was the engine light that kept coming on and then the car would have trouble starting. I took it to the dealership in my area and they told me that there was nothing wrong with the car and that the gas cap was loose. I was shown how to correctly put on the gas cap, which was an insult to me due to the fact that I have been driving for the past thirteen years. The next time the engine light came on, the dealership replaced the gas cap. Finally, after the third time, back and forth with the same problems, they stated that there was a bad fuse in the system which needed to be replaced and a problem with the evap solieniod. The car worked fine for another few months with no problems, then became hard to start. I was then told that with the heat/outside temperature (summer 07) that I should wait and let the OBD catch up to the ignition in the car. So that meant, I needed to wait 3 to 5 seconds before starting the car. This seemed to help with the extended start problem for the remainder of the year. May 1st of this year, I was involved in a car accident, which damaged the front driver's side of my car. I waited two weeks to get my car back, because the dealership had to order new parts for the car that had to come from the Detroit plant. I left the car to be repaired. After the repairs were complete, I drove the car home and parked it outside of my building. The car wasn't shut off for twenty minutes before I came back out and tried to start the car. Now mind you, this was a Friday afternoon and the service department is only open on Saturdays from 9 to 12pm. I did not get an answer to any of my five calls and it was only 4:30pm when I called. I called that following Saturday morning, the dealership informed me that they could not get to my car that day and did not even offer to tow it to their location. I had to wait until Monday. The dealership kept my car for a day and then brought it back to my home without the key. I then had to contact the dealership's 24 hour towing service to have them bring me my key due to the technician forgetting to contact me and inform me to come and pick up the key. I was continuing to experience the extended start problems and was informed that I needed to continue waiting the 3 to 5 seconds to start the car. I drive the car every day. This past Saturday, I parked my car at my parent’s house and then got ready to leave. The car would not start, again(second time in two months)! I called the 24 hour towing person for the dealership (we are now on first name basis because of other issues previously) and informed him of the problem. He then came out to my parent’s house, disconnected, and then reconnected the battery, pulled out the fuse, put it back in and the car instantly started back up. My father then informed him that the dealership needed to find out what was causing the car to have so many problems and the car is currently at the dealership. I called this morning and was told that the techs can't find out what is causing the problem. Please help, I want my Chelly back!
07-15-2008, 10:11 AM
#4
Founding Member
Join Date: 11-23-2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 8,210
You might want to put some breaks in your paragraphs when posting. It makes it easier for people to read a long post. I am going to try and break down this post a little.
This is the number one reason for the CEL light to come on. We see this at least once a week.
This is the number two reason for the CEL light to come on.
Fuse replacement is confusing and an unknown, evap solenoid will set the same CEL code as a loose/leaking gas cap.
This statement by the dealer and their instructions to you are a sure sign of either gross ignorance of how a chevrolet functions or total BS to blow you off with.
Is this where it would not crank to start, but you had dash lights?
What repairs did they perform?
More BS from your dealer.
The dealer should be using this information to do their diagnostics.
In my opinion you have either a loose ground wire, or a bad fuse box or a wiring issue at the fuse box. Since your accident was on the drivers side this could be related to it or just simply a bad fuse box. If you tap on the side of the fuse box you may be able to recreate the condition. I hit them with the side of my fist and have seen all sorts of strange events afterwards.
My last piece of advice is don't talk about forums to the dealership employees, they will only roll their eyes and blow off anything you say. If you want to tell them you have a friend that is a manager at a Chevrolet dealership, and you have spoke to me, about your problem you may get a little further with them. No guarantees on that though. Besides I like being friends with forum members, even the ones that FLAME dealership service departments, techs and employees in general.
I took it to the dealership in my area and they told me that there was nothing wrong with the car and that the gas cap was loose. I was shown how to correctly put on the gas cap, which was an insult to me due to the fact that I have been driving for the past thirteen years.
The car worked fine for another few months with no problems, then became hard to start. I was then told that with the heat/outside temperature (summer 07) that I should wait and let the OBD catch up to the ignition in the car. So that meant, I needed to wait 3 to 5 seconds before starting the car. This seemed to help with the extended start problem for the remainder of the year.
May 1st of this year, I was involved in a car accident, which damaged the front driver's side of my car. I waited two weeks to get my car back, because the dealership had to order new parts for the car that had to come from the Detroit plant. I left the car to be repaired. After the repairs were complete, I drove the car home and parked it outside of my building. The car wasn't shut off for twenty minutes before I came back out and tried to start the car.
This past Saturday, I parked my car at my parent’s house and then got ready to leave. The car would not start, again(second time in two months)! I called the 24 hour towing person for the dealership (we are now on first name basis because of other issues previously) and informed him of the problem. He then came out to my parent’s house, disconnected, and then reconnected the battery, pulled out the fuse, put it back in and the car instantly started back up.
My last piece of advice is don't talk about forums to the dealership employees, they will only roll their eyes and blow off anything you say. If you want to tell them you have a friend that is a manager at a Chevrolet dealership, and you have spoke to me, about your problem you may get a little further with them. No guarantees on that though. Besides I like being friends with forum members, even the ones that FLAME dealership service departments, techs and employees in general.
Last edited by ChevyMgr; 07-15-2008 at 11:24 AM. Reason: spelling as usual...........
07-15-2008, 11:00 AM
#7
Thread Starter
Join Date: 07-15-2008
Location: Lancaster, SC
Posts: 6
Thanks so much! 
Let me clarify some things after reading your last post.
Before the accident, the problems that I had were that the check engine light kept coming on (gas cap replaced/bad fuse). After the accident, that's when the problems with starting the engine occured. I still had lights in the dash and headlamps still came on. They then said that I had a bad fuse. I have been trying to tell these guys at the dealership about the problems but they dont seem to be listening to me.
After speaking with the service manager this morning, he said that he needed to "catch the system" while the code was on the OBD and the problem needed to be recreated in order to find out what was causing it. Is that true? If so then "genius" cleared the code out when he took the fuse and the battery out and then hooked them back up.
Let me clarify some things after reading your last post. Before the accident, the problems that I had were that the check engine light kept coming on (gas cap replaced/bad fuse). After the accident, that's when the problems with starting the engine occured. I still had lights in the dash and headlamps still came on. They then said that I had a bad fuse. I have been trying to tell these guys at the dealership about the problems but they dont seem to be listening to me.
After speaking with the service manager this morning, he said that he needed to "catch the system" while the code was on the OBD and the problem needed to be recreated in order to find out what was causing it. Is that true? If so then "genius" cleared the code out when he took the fuse and the battery out and then hooked them back up.
07-15-2008, 11:22 AM
#9
Founding Member
Join Date: 11-23-2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 8,210
After speaking with the service manager this morning, he said that he needed to "catch the system" while the code was on the OBD and the problem needed to be recreated in order to find out what was causing it. Is that true? If so then "genius" cleared the code out when he took the fuse and the battery out and then hooked them back up.