Hello to all!

Not exactly new to the boards, but a first time poster. Proud owner of a 2006 LT. Was just wondering if anybodys HHR had the same electrcal meltdown as mine or has anyone heard of this happening. Car had 62,167Km.

As written on the work order:

Vehicle has been slow cranking for a while...Battery was dead this morning...customer tried to boost,would not take...will fire when hooked to front terminals...cables removed and vehicle dies...tow in...Perform AVR and Report, No or low voltage throughout system, Suspect high voltage spike, shorted multiple components, Replace fuse block/BCM/Shifter Asembly/Repair wiring to PCM/Replace throttle body asembly/Replace Headlight, tail light bulbs, wiring harnesses.

When I talked with the technician he compared it to the car being struck by lightning. After all was said and done, they had to put 1700 dollars in parts and 13 hours in labour in to fixing it. Took 3 weeks to get my car back.

Then two weeks later my fan that pushes air throgh the car seized.

I got really lucky with the purchase of my extended warranty. When i first bought the car i did not purchase it. Then decided at 58,000 km to purchase. Original warranty ran out at 60,000 km. Car had it's meltdown at 62 167 km.

Dealer was great throughout the whole time of the repair, kept me up to date with what was going on and set me up with a complimentary car.

Even after all of this I still love my car. And will buy another when the time is right.

 

yikes. This should not happen in the year 2009!

JIm

 

I would have liked to inspect and see all of the parts that were replaced in that car. In all the years I have been a GM tech, Thats a lot of things. Headlights,tail lights but no dash lights or inter. lights? BCM & PCM ? SHIFTER?

{will fire when hooked to front terminals...cables removed and vehicle dies}
Looks like the PCM must have worked as long as power was suppled!!
Shorted battery? bad fusible link? Alt. bad? No it was not replaced in the list.
I would have loved to do a review of that warranty R.O. and have the tech tell me how this all went down....

Sorry it could have happen just like the tech said,
The above was just my rant if it happened on my watch !

 

Ya, the shifter had full movement through the gears, without having to touch the button on the shifter or the brake pedal.

As for the dash, the LEDs in behind the cluster/climate controls have started to flash at me as i drive, within the last couple weeks. They don't go off but they will get brighter, and then go back to normal, then repeat.

Ya all the other parts you have mentioned were not replaced. When they first mentioned a power surge I asked about the alternator because to me it sounded like the voltage regulator had caused it?

 

I have only seen a lightning strike take out that many things.

So did they find the source of the short or shorts?

 

NO, didn't say if they had found a short. If it was a lightning strike would i have been able to see any markings on the car? But if it was a lightning strike, they probably would have denied warranty

 

The last two vehicles (trailblazer and suburban) that got hit by lightning had evidence at the metal fender antenna. And if they saw evidence of that they would of denied warranty and told you to call your insurance. I don't think our antenna is a magnet for lightning though.

I have seen a BCM taken out during a jump start gone wrong but not everything they replaced. Did everything they replaced have signs of high voltage damage?

 

The work order says, suspect high voltage spike. And they replaced the wiring going to the PCM and to the head/tail lights, due to melting. So I am asuming that some if not all the components had signs of a spike.

 

I have a scenario and i'm hoping that someone might have had a similar situation:

Some time back my car's battery had run down and I had to get it jumped. Instead of jumping it from the back battery the man used the front hookups that run to the back. After he jumped it my car felt like it was falling apart. The engine was shaking and it wouldn't go over 15 miles an hour. The message screen said something about power being drained from the motor. I drove it about 100 feet, shut off the engine and restarted it. worked fine. Since then the check engine light has not shut off, and when i take it to get a diagnostic ran, the reports come back with "multi engine misfire" but there is definitely no feeling of misfire. Has anything like this happened to anyone? What did you do. Any suggestions on what areas i should check?

Thanks

 

Speaking of lightning strikes,several years ago we had an Olds Cutlass Supreme brought into the shop after getting zapped by lightning through the radio antenna.Took out most of the electrics EXCEPT the antenna!