barstewart

Does the "P0016 = bad timing chain" also apply to the Eco 2.2 litre? Our 2008 HHR only has about 120,000 km/ 75,000 miles on it. Original owners. Easy life, with regular oil changes. Took it in for mid-exhaust pipe work. Drove it home and it died, never to start again. Had the neighbour help me push it up the driveway, where I've been poking away at it in my spare time.

Pulled all the plugs and put them back in the coils to check for spark. Grandson cranked it while I watched the spark. All good. Fun bonus: the injectors squirted fuel into the cylinders and a backfire came shooting out of the intake tube. No loss of hair! :) So: I have fuel AND spark. Another test: with plugs in place, I drizzled gasoline down the intake tube and cranked the motor. Absolutely NO start-up response... which suggests (I guess) that the timing chain has jumped. If true, that's pretty pathetic mileage to get out of a timing chain. Interestingly, the car has had a parasitic battery drain since about when the warranty was over. Leave it for a week and the battery would always be dead. 'Not usually a problem, as it was used more often that that — except when we left it at airports. NOW: the battery can last over a month without the car being used. It would be weird if the no-start problem was related to whatever used to cause the battery drain. If it's the chain, I'd fear damaged valves as well. At this point, it's not worth fixing — including the $100 towing charge to get it to the garage. Throw me a life line, if the P0016 can possibly anything else on a 2.2 Eco.

Otherwise, I'll sell it as a parts car. Thanks in advance for your time and knowledge!

Oldblue

P0016 applies to all 3 displacement engines, it means the timing chain has skipped a tooth, possibly the front guide failed or the tensioner is fully extended because the chain is stretched.
not a hard job to change it


https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...in-kits-60394/

donbrew

How long did you ignore the CheckEngineLight? If not long, I wouldn't worry about the valves.
New chain and guides should cost around 5 hours labor and less than $200 parts.

Do you leave anything plugged into the cig lighter outlet?

barstewart

Never use the utility plug. GM dealer spent some time on the parasitic draw and 'thought' they had narrowed it down to a driver's door switch (for the cabin light). Next time we parked it for over a week, it was dead again.

Check engine light came on as I left the muffler shop. It was a VERY strange coincidence, as they would have done nothing to cause the problem... as far as I can figure. I drove a bit more than a mile home and it died as I reached the driveway. Car has clear coat problems as well as this $1,000-ish repair. A wrecker has offered $400 with free transport, so that's a strong consideration. I'll drain the full tank of gas first, no matter where it goes.

donbrew

$400 is scrap value for a rusted out hulk. You could sell for a lot more than that. A used engine would only be around $2000 installed, but that is not your problem, repairing the timing chain is less than $1,000. Depends on how much you hate the car.
There are no switches for the interior lights, they are door sensors that communicate with the BCM. The BCM turns the light on and off. The sensors send a ground signal, the BCM turns the lights off after 10 minutes of removing the key. Goes to show the level of education for dealer mechanics. Did they try to make you get a power steering fluid flush, like mine did?
There is absolutely no need to go to a GM dealership for any repair other than recall or warranty work. They don't know how to fix anything only how to replace parts. God help them if they can't use air powered wrench on something.

barstewart

Yes, I usually stay clear of dealerships. $400 was the highest quote I got from any auto wrecker. The others offered $200, which seemed criminal. If a slipped timing chain could/would ruin the valves over time... why wouldn't the valves contact the pistons (and be ruined) in that short distance I drove, or during my attempts to start it?

Oldblue

Only removing the cylinder head will confirm if the valves are damaged, if the chain is off 1 tooth you should be ok.

donbrew

I keep seeing warnings about "interference" engine and damaging pistons with loose chain. But, the stories I've read here make damage a remote possibility. I would not declare "junk" without looking farther, unless I had money to burn on a new car. $2000 for a new engine/$20,000 for a used car.
Maybe a catastrophic broken chain would do it, even then I've heard of just a minor dent in the piston. There are borescopes that connect to a smart phone for about $20.

greg8453

We haven't heard from the OP since June.

donbrew

Post #26