taz3

I recently changed my 2.2l in my 06 HHR when I went to load it on my trailer, the power steering didn't seem to be working, there was no Service warning or CE light. It was raining when I arrived at the shop and while unloading, I tried the wipers, with no success. After the engine swap was complete, the DIC was showing now showing "Service Power steering", I tried the wipers again and nothing, not even the squirter would work. When I arrived home, the power steering was working and the wipers worked as well, so the problem is intermittent. Is this normal that the wipers don't work when the power steering fails or do I have an electrical gremlin issue? I'm not sure where to start diagnosing this.

843de

A wise man(Grandpa Joe) once said, that when you have weird and intermittent electrical issues, check your grounds.

And being that the engine and drivetrain shift about a bit when you come on and off of a trailer, your gremlins sound like they are related to a chassis ground or loose connections.

I've swapped enough engines in 37+ years of wrenchin' to know that if something can be left loose or get overlooked, it will.

taz3

I did my engine from the top and had no grounds to deal with, but I'm certainly hoping it is a simple fix with a poor ground, maybe just from age and a coincidence it happened at the same time.

The only thing I disconnected during my re & re was engine sensor connections on the actual engine, FWIW.

843de

Check, check, and triple check. Even the "dumb" things that you don't think could be causing the problem bear checking.

Oldblue

X2 Taz3, also check the fuse block it might've got knocked loose during the switch and if the trans moved abit the ground on the front of the case might have pulled loose

taz3

OK, I went through what I could find and cleaned the battery terminals, so fingers crossed, the problem is cured.

taz3

I was under the hood repairing a damaged squirter nozzle today and after I was done my issue returned, power steering and service air bag in the DIC and the wipers don't again. I cycled the key and noticed the CEL is not very bright when I turn the key to ON. This lead me the ECM where I noticed the cover was moved from me leaning on it during my repair. I also remembered a couple days ago I toyed with the harness under the cover and these issue went away. I toyed with again and the power steering is now working, along with the wipers, but the service air bag is still being displayed. I'm assuming this is where the issue is, but I'm not sure what to do to resolve this, any suggestions?

Oldblue

disconnect the neg cable at the battery, remove the connection from the ECM and check for any loose or bent pins, most likely you leaned on the cover and that dislodged a pin or bent one.
plug the harness back in, then reconnect the battery neg cable.
start it up!

taz3

OK, here's my newbie question, once I pull the locking tether out, there's a latch that flips back, do I now just pull them apart, or ..... ? I don't want to break the plug assembly.

Oh ya, after wiggling it and putting the ground back on, everything is functioning, but I would like to open it right up to be sure there is no other issue causing this to happen.

Oldblue

If you wiggled it it's a loose connection, simply take a pair of needle nose pliers and push the wire and connection further into the connection. If you really want to take the connection apart there is a tab to depress to disengage the connection from the ECM