electronic communication problems
 

Looking for some advice before I jump into dealer service.

I have a 2011 HHR LT.... former rental vehicle w/ 51000 miles... had for a year and it ran fine.

About 2 months ago message center lite up like a Christmas tree... car ran but shifted hard (AT).... stopped at a mechanics on way home and he put on computer but could not get module to communicate with car or his diagnostics.... was advised to take to dealer.... started car and it was OK till a couple days ago.

on start up gauges and message center goes nuts... car runs... after warm up everything is fine.... last few days we have had cool weather...

any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

2 things in regard to the diagnostics.......

First, you need to make sure the cigar lighter has power. The OBDII-CAN port pulls its power from the same battery power source.

Second, make sure your friend has an OBDII-CAN compliant code reader. If it is just OBDII it will not work.

After assuring these 2 items, attempt the code reading again. WRITE DOWN THE CODES EXACTLY and provide them here. Members will attempt to help out.

thanks Snoopy
 

The mechanic was not a friend... charged me $125 just to hook up... I will see what equipment he has

The power ports (cig lighter) all work

Thanks so much for your quick reply

$125 just to plug it in? Find a different mechanic.

Any good auto-parts store will plug in their scanner for FREE, hoping you will buy the needed parts from them. They likely will not clear the error however due to liability reasons.

you can also check the big fusebox under the hood - some have had problems with them with bad connections (under the fuse box I think).

The fuse box is in 2 parts the upper half comes off with the fuses in it and connects to the lower half via blades. They get loose some times.

Also check the harness connectors under the Dart Vader hood, they sometimes get loose.

Check all wires under the hood for chafing and burning and accidental grounding.

Check all your ground straps, there are a lot of them.

For $125 most get an actual diagnostic procedure, not a scan reading.

Since it's a 2011, does it still carry the factory 5 year/100k warranty?

In this case I trust you mean 3/36,000?

WOW! Overwhelmed by all the great advice and help!!!

Warranty only covers electronics internal to drive train parts...

Tomorrow I will get under hood and check for loose connections and bad wires...

Thanks again and I will keep everyone updated.

Great Forum!

But the 3/36000 covers everything.:corny:

After re reading about your rip-off mechanic saying "it won't communicate", I am really thinking the wiring harness to the PCM/ECM that's the front module with 2 connectors under the Dart Vader. Somebody a while ago had a bad ground strap to the ECM.

Sorry donbrew. I kinda worded that wrong.
I meant does it still carry the normal warranty since it was a rental.