That wiring is a bit nasty on the alarm.
For future reference, here is a link to the Owners Manual in case you don't already have one: http://www.directeddealers.com/manua...2100_04-04.pdf

and a link to the installation manual: http://www.directeddealers.com/manua...00_install.pdf

 

OK folks a little update, and Whopper thanks for the links.
I didn't drive the car over the weekend so it has sat, fired it up this morning and all seems A OK. I still have the alarm laying out, I'll tuck that back in after the days rounds.
On a side note I decided to let it idle and warm up from 55F. See how the T-stat worked, seems good, warmed up nicely and gradually let the idle speed down as it reached 160, at the temp the idle was about 650 and took about 6 minutes.

So I'm off to drive like a wild man in the HHR today. I'll be back tonight with the days results.

MIke R

 

Today was a good day, the car was solid all day. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

MIke

 

Well I don't know what to say other than, it could have been....
Battery connections in the rear, I removed the Negative Cable from the chassis clean and reinstalled.
Replaced the battery but we do know the problem persisted after that.
Pulled the UHEC and reseated everything.
Pulled the connectors to the three modules in front of the UHEC.
No change to the third party alarm, all put back in and tucked away.

Folks IDK but right now the car is running just fine. So I hope this helps someone else in the future.

Lastly I'll look around but I do want to ask about the occasional little rpm bump while sitting at a stop.

Thanks again to everyone that has contributed to this thread.

Mike R

 

thanks for the update - this was an interesting (and no doubt frustrating at your end) issue.

 

Well folks I'M BACK~! with the same problem
But I think I may have a better clue this time.
since my last post that all was well in November 2015 I have put on about 5000 miles and it has been rock solid. My roomie took it for a drive of 160 miles this weekend and while she was up north on a small juant to town it happen. So she stopped, turned the car off, restarted and it was Ok. She spent the night and the next morning she drove the 160 back with no issue.
I was already setup in my van so the car sat for a couple days. Today I took it for about an 8 mile drive and all was well, parked for about an hour, get in fire it up and with in a few seconds it happen. This time I did not see the Power steering message on the display but the temp was blank for a few seconds then displays, repeats every few seconds. Had no power steering and was shifting hard and quick.

I had no choice but to drive it back the 8 miles I was away from home. During the ride after a few minutes I saw the security light come on! Hmmmm, I stopped a couple times and shut it off, waited a minute and fired it back up, each time the security light was off for a few minutes then it would come back on. If you recall earlier with pics I showed this wiring night mare of a third party alarm system connected in the body control module compartment. So when I finally made it back I decided to open that nest up again. pushed and pulled on several wires and fired it back up, bam power steering is back and all seems ok.

So I'm seriously thinking that there is a bad connection or the alarm module it's self might be the issue. As far as I know, the OEM alarm system still works but I don't have a FOB for it. Can anyone think of any good reason to replace the OEM with a third party alarm?

For the time being I am going to once again track down each wire that comes out of that alarm module and check it's connection/splice into the OEM harness.

A bit frustrated.
Mike R

 

Do you really need the alarm? Does it have a disable the car feature? Who installed it? Can you go to the mfg website and dl a install booklet?

I would just yank it out. If that doesn't help do the UHEBC thing again,

 

Thanks for the comment Don, I have downloaded the alarm installation manual. It is an avital 2100, seems like a fairly basic unit, handles door locks and ignition interrupt, activate lights etc.
No I don't actually need that alarm although I'll need to get a set of OEM/equivalent key fobs first.

With that said work has kept me away from checking any further the last couple days, today I'll be using it all day and if it acts up again at least I can go back to the alarm easy enough and really figure out if that's the cause.
Knowing what happens now I'm not really afraid of being stuck out on the road. Worse case I can get it back home.
Updates to follow.

 

Why do you need door locks lights etc that's built into the car as is remote start usually?

The only thing added is the immobilizer. And it looks like a complete amateur installed it, so who knows what they did to the wiring.

 

Agreed , carefully remove the alarm , I recommend disconnect the negative terminal at the battery before you start, and don't forget to put a towel over the hatch latch, so the hatch door doesn't close.