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Curious if my cluster was replaced before I bought it?
Problems/Service/RepairsIf you have a problem with your HHR, want a tip on repairing or performing a particular service to you HHR here is the place to post!
Curious if my cluster was replaced before I bought it?
About 2 months ago I picked up a really badly neglected '06 2LT from a police auction with 173k miles. Bad alternator, rusty door bottoms, bad battery, original grinding brakes, original plugs hell everything was original/bad. Almost $2,500 worth of work later and she runs great and I love the car, but I'm not a fan of the transmission at all (Auto)
I noticed my cluster had a gear icon a few days after I bought it and thought it was just a fluid overheating/trans error light but apparently it's a light to tell you to shift. In other HHR YouTube review videos and 0-60 videos none of the automatics I've seen have this light, it's just blank there. I then read that the mileage is possibly stored in the cluster? The CarFax showed usual increase in mileage over the years so I don't think it was done maliciously, perhaps just it broke so they bought one with similar mileage off eBay. In one of the YT videos with a guy having transmission problems one commenter suggested it could be because the wrong cluster was installed. In the video he has an auto and it does have that shift light like mine. That sounds like a bunch of hooey but is it true? My HHR's transmission is not acting strange, except that it shifts way too early so unless you press the throttle 3/4 of the way down every time you take off from a stop it just shifts into 4th as early as possible usually by 25mph and has 0 power so you have to get your foot into it and it'll downshift back to the correct gear. I don't think that's a problem as it is probably tuned that way on purpose to save fuel yeah? Also since that light is not a malfunction light does the DIC have a TRANS HOT message or anything like that to warn us?
This forum has been a godsend for the repairs I've done on this vehicle and I want to thank you all for that.
Welcome to the site! Yep! That’s a manual transmission cluster, I don’t know how it would cause the transmission to shift like you explained, but perhaps if you swap out the cluster to one for an automatic, it’ll solve that issue.
the mileage is stored in the BCM the cluster has to be matched to your VIN with a Tech II scanner.
the mileage is stored in the BCM the cluster has to be matched to your VIN with a Tech II scanner.
Whew! So that means this car most likely has correct mileage. I figured so by the CarFax but it's nice to be sure. I wonder why they used a manual cluster, ehh who knows. Apart from an EVAP monitor that refuses to set could this affect the remote start? I do have the option for it in the DIC but it's never worked I've driven the car over 1,200 miles and it should be getting a drive cycle every day since all I use the car for is to go to work.
Because it's a SS cluster ? Mine doesn't have it either.( But I do have a shift light gauge on my RPD)
Think I read many years ago that the regular HHR's with 5 speed "may or may not" have the shift indicator light. May be certain years/models had it ? Not really sure.
Remote won't work if there is a check engine light...
There isn't one currently nor are there any pending/confirmed/historic codes
Been almost a month and a half and over 1,200 miles of driving. Maybe it's just too hot out or something for the evap test to run. From the info I saw on here the max ambient temp can only be like 86. That's pretty much the low around here this time of year.
There isn't one currently nor are there any pending/confirmed/historic codes
Been almost a month and a half and over 1,200 miles of driving. Maybe it's just too hot out or something for the evap test to run. From the info I saw on here the max ambient temp can only be like 86. That's pretty much the low around here this time of year.
When you use the remote are you pressing lock/lock/start, or just hitting the start button?
Evidently, it was only installed on LS. The panel probably has a knock out for it.
I guess they assumed that you wouldn't buy an LS if you weren't a hyper-miler.
08-16-2021, 02:59 PM
The CarFax showed usual increase in mileage over the years so I don't think it was done maliciously, perhaps just it broke so they bought one with similar mileage off eBay. In one of the YT videos with a guy having transmission problems one commenter suggested it could be because the wrong cluster was installed. In the video he has an auto and it does have that shift light like mine. That sounds like a bunch of hooey but is it true? My HHR's transmission is not acting strange, except that it shifts way too early so unless you press the throttle 3/4 of the way down every time you take off from a stop it just shifts into 4th as early as possible usually by 25mph and has 0 power so you have to get your foot into it and it'll downshift back to the correct gear. I don't think that's a problem as it is probably tuned that way on purpose to save fuel yeah? Also since that light is not a malfunction light does the DIC have a TRANS HOT message or anything like that to warn us? 
I've driven the car over 1,200 miles and it should be getting a drive cycle every day since all I use the car for is to go to work.
