JTHanson

Hello everyone,

I've been searching the forums here and have tried a few things but I haven't had any success yet. My wife has a 2006 HHR LT with the 2.4. Last week a buddy and I changed out the shift solenoids for the usual reasons. When we put it all back together there were two problems: the shifter wouldn't move out of Park and the engine wouldn't crank. I tried getting to the shift interlock solenoid on the shifter but I can't get the trim around the shifter off because I can't move the shifter out of Park. The chrome ring came off just fine but the rest of the bezel won't come off. I've tried adjusting the park/neutral switch on top of the transmission but no matter how I adjust it the shifter won't move out of park. The engine also won't crank no matter where I adjust the switch. At one point the key wouldn't come out of the ignition and I had to push the little plunger in the steering column to turn the key off. That only happened once.

Is there something I'm missing in putting things back together after the transmission solenoid job? What else should I test to figure out how to get the car running again?

RJ_RS_SS_350

to the forums!

Might be a dead battery.

Oldblue

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/driv...reverse-62657/

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/driv...olenoid-61313/


One of these has information about shifter position

donbrew

I would look at the shift position sensor where the cable enters the housing. If it is not in neutral/park the engine won't turn over. And check the battery (if you left the key "on" it drained the battery).

JTHanson

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I appreciate your time.

The first thing I checked was the battery. It wasn't a problem prior to disassembly and was only disconnected for about 24 hours. I checked voltage and it read 11.8V which should be enough to turn the engine over or, at the very least, make the starter click. All the lights in the car light up as normal but there's no movement at all from the starter.

I've read through the posts linked in the above responses previously. That's why I first tried to move the shifter so I could get it into reverse to try the reverse lights method of adjusting the park/neutral switch. Does the shifter position matter for making that adjustment or could I remove the shifter linkage from the transmission and just move the switch to check when the reverse lights come on? I'm not at all familiar with how this vehicle's systems work since my experience is mostly on older GM trucks. I tried moving the park/neutral switch through its range of motions to see if I could get the car to crank anywhere along that range but it never did crank.

Any more suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Greybeard999

11.8 volts is a dead battery.

Oldblue

Anything under 12.4 volts …. Dead battery.

fastsuv

You need to find the common fault that would cause the shifter to not come out of park, and also the engine to not start.

The conditions that allow the shifter to come out of park is that the ignition switch is NOT in Lock and the brake pedal is pressed.

The conditions that allow the engine to start is that the shifter is in park or neutral, and the ignition switch is turned to start.

Seems like something is up with the ignition switch, or a connection to it got dislodged?

Perhaps something is loose at the fuse box, which you must have moved out of the way when you changed solenoids?

When you move the key to "ON" do the dash lights come on properly?

Steve

fastsuv

I just noticed the 11.8 volt battery reading in your posts.

Yes, that is very low. Note in the chart below that 11.8V is about 30% state of charge for the battery.

RJ_RS_SS_350

Have the ignition related recalls been performed?