My 2009 has the ESC light on steady with the service ESC message and ESC off message. I got a "body" code from a borrowed scanner that says there is a problem with the steering angle sensor. Alignment is OK. Steering wheel position is OK. No problems with ABS or TCS. Car tracks perfectly hands off the wheel.

Fuel economy is normal and all other operations of the vehicle are normal including shift points, etc. None of the independent shops around here have a clue and the dealer is the last place I want to take it. I have fixed enough of their mistakes over the past 15 years....I am capable of repairing just about anything on the car but need some experienced guidance before pulling the steering wheel and replacing the steering position sensor. If you have been down this road before and had a succesful repair, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks,
Sam

 

It is a 2009 and I am looking for that number right now. May have to pull it up again on the scanner. It is a "stock" HHR 4 door LS with the 2.2L engine.

Following text added Saturday AM, 5/11/24:

This morning I ran the scanner again and it continues to read "C0460-71" the only DTC on the vehicle. Data on the scanner sez: MIL (status) "Current" and "Steering Wheel Angle Sensor Invalid Code.."

I have tried the lock to lock transition on the steering wheel without results. Reset the code several times...successful reset confirmed by scanner each time...but DTC gets set again instantly. IMHO there is a component with a hard failure. Thinking back, the failure happened when I was driving, making a left turn under normal driving conditions. ESC MIL came on and the "Service ESC and ESC Off" messages came on at the same time. Other than that there is nothing abnormal about the steering, braking or any other system on the car (with the possible exception of the driver...) I have looked at fuses and wires and nothing abnormal has shown up so far.

The fact that this seems to be isolated to the ESC/steering along with the message related to the DTC has me thinking faulty Steering Wheel Angle Sensor.

 

Moved from the SS forum. Thanks FMG.

 

Was anything done to the steering/suspension/wheels/brakes just before this? Like hitting a curb then getting an alignment, Steering wheel removed and re clocked.
Any other seemingly unrelated things going on? No "SVC POWER STEERING" message?
What do you mean "body code"? C0545 maybe? C0475?
Check fuse #19 on the BCM.

 

ESC or electronic stability control can be a wheel hub problem. You might simply clear things up by turning the steering wheel to full right lock then back to full left lock then return to centre. This cleared my steering angle issue a few years ago.

 

This morning I updated the post entered last night. The only DTC is C0460-71 Steering Wheel Angle Sensor Invalid Data. Nothing happened to the vehicle prior to the appearance of this code that could explain it (see my updated post dated Saturday AM 5/11/24 for the full explanation.) I have tried repeatedly to turn the wheel lock to lock but the ESC MIL and DTC persist even after using the scan tool to reset the code multiple times. The ESC MIL lights up and related messages re-appear immediately.

Thanks for your response.

 

C0460-71 actually means internal failure. As far as I know the only way to replace the sensor is to replace the entire column.
I guess it is possible that the EBCM or the 12 volt wire from it is bad. The EBCM supplies the 12 volts and ground to the steering sensor. That would be the grey wire on the sensor plug, the orange/black is ground, the other 2 wires are data lines.
EBCMs have been known to malfunction. I would suspect wires and connectors first.

 

We’ve had a couple of posts about this , a problem after a brake inspection, unfortunately the member did not return to confirm the fix, just a couple of months ago I had the ESC light up, it was an internal issue with a brand new left front hub. After installing the warranty replacement hub , the light was out.

 

Is the code "historic" or "permanent"? Those just mean it existed at some time.

 

He said it is current.