Coolant leaks on HHR's can be a bear to track down, the GM engineers in charge of "stuffing stuff" really did a good job, because it's cramped under the hood.

Obviously, you want to look for puddles after you park, any wetness down the ends of the radiator where the plastic end tanks are crimped to the core, and the outlets where the radiator hoses are clamped on can leak too. Plus, take a look around the thermostat housing for crusty deposits that are left behind by evaporating coolant. All the other areas should also be checked for deposits left behind by evaporated coolant.

Check your engine oil, pull the dipstick and look at the oil, any milky looking gunk on the stick or oil that looks like chocolate milk mean an internal leak.

Unfortunately, an internal leak almost always means a blown head gasket, or a cracked head.

Before heading to your dealer, you might want to take it to a good local radiator shop for a diagnostic check, and if you've never had the coolant changed.....now is a great time to service the cooling system. The radiator shop or your dealer can also add a tracer dye to the system that will show the leaks up under a blacklight.

Topping off with tap water can keep you from ruining an engine, but it dilutes the coolant and changes its chemical balance which can lead to corrosion and deposit issues down the road.

 

Hi 843de,

No puddles from what I can tell. I did actually check the oil and it looked OK, but I'll try to give the engine overall a closer look and see if I can find anything.

Thanks for the help!

 

People need to do maintenance ,at a 100,000 miles drain the dexcool and replace it ..Also with dexcool over time will evaporate not a lot but some ,also replace thermostat too , when it leaks it is behind the motor where the fitting is joining the pipe for the supply the other side .. I had a drip leak where you pull the cap off to fill it ,because the part is made of pvc and where the seam runs along the bottom in middle separated ..

 

Places to check, if you are lucky: The pressure cap, the hole at the top of the water pump, any place there is a water connection.

Is there a large puddle of water under the tailpipe after the car idles for several minutes? Steam at the tailpipe that smells like coolant? Is the end of the tailpipe crusted with a black deposit. Are the ceramic parts of your spark plugs stained the color of coolant? Does the oil level increase with mileage? Odor of coolant in the cabin? These are signs of bad luck (head gasket at least).

Checking the coolant level is a MANDATORY monthly exercise, NOT A SUGGESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On a 2006 it only entails opening the hood and looking at the tank at the same time you are checking your oil.

Do yourself a huge favor and learn how to check things under the hood on a regular basis. Check you Owner Manual for intervals and instructions. No worries about getting dirty, everything is easy to do.

Hopefully, when you drove it with the warning lights on you did no further damage to the engine. I am surprised that you didn't mention bucking and no power and hard shifting.

 

No large puddles from what I could tell, although, smells... that, I'm not so sure about. I was smelling a strange smell the second time I ran out of fluid, although that time the fluid was just tap water. As far as I can tell, there wouldn't have been much coolant left in the system when I started smelling that, although I can't say for sure. The tailpipe definitely has some black coloration to it, although I assumed that that was just from general soot in the exhaust for driving the car over 100k miles :P I'll have to check the other things you suggested when I get the chance, though.

Yeah, I don't remember any odd performance issues when the car was that hot. It's funny that you mention no power though, since I've almost gotten used to this weird fluke while I'm just driving normally. When the car shifts into second gear after I accelerate from a complete stop, it feels like power is lost for a moment (this is after being in second gear for about one second or so). Then it picks back up and keeps accelerating. I'm pretty sure I'm not changing pressure on the accelerator, so I don't know what's been causing that.

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

"since I've almost gotten used to this weird fluke while I'm just driving normally. When the car shifts into second gear after I accelerate from a complete stop, it feels like power is lost for a moment (this is after being in second gear for about one second or so). Then it picks back up and keeps accelerating."

That is a symptom of overheating not a "performance" issue. Did you ever look at the analog temp gauge on the dash? Anything above the middle large hash is too hot.

The deposit on the tailpipe I'm talking about is a built up ring of carbon.

I am trying real hard not to sound critical.

 

Hm, I think that issue of deceleration has been around quite a bit longer than the heating issue, normally temperature would stay one mark below half way. Then again, I haven't normally paid attention to the temp gauge, so maybe it's been hot for awhile

So you're saying this built up ring of carbon is not normal?

 

It means you are burning water in the combustion cylinder.

 

AKA an expensive fix?

 

If it is a thin layer of black "soot", it's normal, and nothing to worry about. If it flakes off in chunks, then yeah, it indicates there is a problem.