Hockey pucks. I doubt they even sell those things down here on the Gulf Coast. I just use a 1x piece of wood, about 6 inches square. Lay a piece of old rubber floor mat on top of the wood.

 

Nice write-up with pictures

 

I was rather surprised when I walked into the big box sporting goods store and saw an entire shelf full of hockey pucks. I think it was 3 for $2.00, real cheap, anyway.

They fit inside the tabs of the lift just right, and just the right size to fit the skirt cut out on the car. If you stack them you need to glue them together, or catastrophes can occur, really.

 

Was that in the Don Rickles section??

 

Yeah, I wanted to check the level, and I bet it takes only a minute or two, but I just didn't know how. Can someone direct me to where transmission fill port on HHR is? I did a search and could not find anything on the fill port, but I think I know where the level check plug is located on the passenger's side. I will also probably need a special funnel and a jug of transmission fluid.

I found this video for Chevy Cobal:
Will it be the same for HHR?

 

There are several threads on this site related to checking/changing the trans. fluid. Did you try this sites Search box ? (It's in the brown header above)
Anyhow. I did a quick search. No less than 29 results. Here's one of them:
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/main...n-fluid-28917/

Also a pic that will help:

 

Oh, it is that black cap that is buried behind the black wires deep in the abyss in the car's hood, which you can only feel once you reach in there but can't really see it. I got it now! :) I will just drive to the nearest Walmart to warmup the car as suggested in that post and check the level afterwards.

Thanks!

 

There is a bit of a problem with words and drawings. They can be easily misinterpreted and misunderstood, especially by a novice person that tries to work on his/her car for the first time. Reading all of these tutorials and someone else telling you, it is THERE -> X, is completely different than seeing it.

While doing coolant drain/flush/refill process I came across so many threads that discuss where the drain plug is located, how it can come out, how you can use lower radiator hose to drain the fluid, etc. I think, people asked the same question so many times because they are a little bit confused, not because they did not read about it. Maybe it would be a good idea to actually take pictures of these places on the car to make it more evident for others.

Great tutorials already exist, and also good comments them that clarify details, but they lack that finishing touch!

Anyway, I was able to finish transmission fluid fill process. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I raised the car on 4 jack stands and made sure that transmission was leveled by placing a bubble level on transmission pan. The same process that I did before.


The black cap that is buried behind the black wires deep in the abyss of the car's hood, which you can only feel once you reach in there but can't really see (without a good flash light).

I tried to unscrew this cap early in the morning and it came out fine, but after driving around for about 15 minutes it wouldn't open as easy. The plastic expanded and made it hard for me to brake it loose without groove joint pliers. Next time I will undo the cap a little bit while the car is still cold, so I don't run into this problem again.


This is the hose that I used as an extension for the funnel.


It fits perfectly into transmission fluid fill port. As was suggested in one of tutorials, I didn't push it in deep, leaving it just in the fill port.


The level check plug wasn't hard to find. While the car was running I removed the bolt and asked my dad to pour the fluid into the fill port through the funnel.


It took quite a bit of fluid until it started to pour out of the level check port. Then I put it back in and tightened it to good-and-tight torque spec.

 

There is a strange problem that I get from time to time. ESC OFF/Service ESC light turns on for some time, and then turns off after about a few minutes of driving. No check engine light, though. I read that there can be many things causing this. Maybe while I was doing all these repairs I messed up wiring somewhere.

I usually get this message while driving, so it is hard to pull the codes. Next time I will stop and check what may be causing this. A loose connector somewhere?

 

If you will put your photos in your posts the right way, you could post your own how-to. I will explain again; your pics are too big for folks with 3-4g cell service, when your photobucket account dies, so do your posted pics.

Sort of sounds like you don't know about our how-to section. "How To" Tutorial Library - Chevy HHR Network

We would greatly appreciate it!

See the link in my sig.