Captron

Some of you may have been helping me on my other thread about intermittent rough idling. I was getting nowhere on that so I decided to go ahead and change out the plugs and coils. I know I'll get shamed but I ordered coils from rock auto, not sure if factory oem but listed as a fit for the hhr 2.2. among numerous listed as direct fits for the 2.2
on first start, it hesitated to start, but after a few seconds, engine started and was idling smooth. I let it warm up a little, then took for a test drive. 2 miles from home the engine just died while driving down the road at 40 mph. Got a tow home. Now it will only crank, no start whatsoever. There is a peculiar electrical odor under the hood and actually permeating in my nostrils and I am not near the car. OBD is establishing communication but there are 0 codes with 5 incomplete monitors. So I uninstalled the new coils and reinstalled the old ones. No joy. Just cranks. No codes. No dash warnings. So I have disconnected the battery altogether and will let it sit overnight with no electrical supply.
I sniffed the new coils I pulled back out and they do have the electrical odor and I set them outside in open air to see what they smell like tomorrow.
Have I fried my car's electrical system? Can ignition coils do that?

donbrew

When you disconnect the battery it resets all of the OBD monitors.

I would suspect a hot wire laying on a grounded point or wire. Visually inspect all of the wires, test all fuses. Hopefully a fuse blew finding it will give a clue where to look.

I don't know how new coils could do that.

Oldblue

What brand are those new coils?
What brand spark plugs?
check that ground wire in the back , driver’s side of the cylinder head , it’s the ground for the coils and injectors.
is the MAF connector plugged in securely?
Are the coil connectors all plugged in firmly?


I looked in the RockAuto listing for your 2009 2.2 , there are numerous coils and spark plug listings , AC Delco 41-103 iridium spark plugs are listed, but no AC Delco coils .

Captron

ok Don and Oldblue,........I found a blown fuse in the engine bay fuse box. It was a 15A fuse marked for "inj ign ". I replaced that and reconnected battery and it started right up. I was wrong on the info I provided about the plugs and coils I bought. Too much Amazon Christmas shopping I guess. I actually did get AC Delco iridium plugs from Rock Auto, but i bought Herko B062 coils off Amazon. Today when i smelled the coils that I left outside overnight, only one of them still has the peculiar electric "burnt" odor from the resin top of it. I did not reinstall these coils. So I currently have the new plugs in but the original coils, which I honestly don't know how old they are. I bought this car with 125,000 miles on it and have driven it another 100,000. Those coils could have 225,000 miles for all I know. But the car is running and I don't want to risk another electrical issue so I will leave alone for now and pray that the new plugs alone will help with the intermittent rough idling. . This car is killing me:) And I am a diyer. I have pulled engines in boats and reassembled. I keep my two Jaguars running with significant repairs as needed. I do like driving the HHR but man, its testing me.

Oldblue

Can you return the Amazon coils? Not required.

RJ_RS_SS_350

That would be fuse #45 injectors, ignition module.

Captron

yes sir.......for some reason, one or more of the new coils blew that fuse. I have looked up those coils on Amazon again, and for some reason they are listed as "does NOT FIT your engine" but the seller on Amazon says 'this does fit your vehicle"......so I sent a message to seller about the issue and will wait for a response. I know i could probably fill out the amazon request a refund thing and do drop off the coils at Kohl's, but I would like to hear what they have to say first.

I wouldn't mind if one of you guys cares to educate me on coils and what about these would blow that fuse?
I'm also currently afraid to go drive that car. I'm skittish at this point.

Oldblue

Somebody was right those coils weren’t for your car! They probably are pinned differently at the connector which could be the cause of the short and thankfully the fuse failure, lucky you didn’t burn the HHR to a crisp!
another great example of , buy your parts from a reputable automotive parts supplier, like RockAuto!

donbrew

I have had mixed luck, mostly bad, with Herko.

Captron

I will admit that purchase was a mistake. But to be honest as I have previously stated, I've been keeping my cars and boats running for decades as a diyer and I confess to using aftermarket parts to save a buck most of the time. This experience causes me to rethink that policy. Today I will take it for a drive and see if I make it back home. And wow......a $.50 fuse probably saved my car.
Out of curiousity how did you determine that these Herko B062 coils were not a fit? I have one parts search that says they are not a fit and one search that says they are.