T/C problem
 

I have 77K miles on my 2006 HHR and now the T/C light comes on and the T/C stays in gear. If you shut the engine off sometimes the light goes off and it goes out of T/C. It is starting to do it more often now.

Any ideas?

Possibly a speed sensor in a wheel bearing or the wiring connecting it.

Sensor. I had the same issue when I was at about half your mileage recently. off/on, no real problem. Dealer took care of it pretty fast (i have extended warranty).

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What did they do to fix it?

That's what the dealer is for! :)
I dropped it off in the morning, picked up in the afternoon.

Seriously, I have no clue what any of this means and that is why I have extended warranty -- they take care it.

Sorry can't be much help on that ...

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Can you explain this a little better... T/C light is on, any hard shifting? (if it's an automatic)

Does the light go out and stay out for any length of time? If so, for how long, etc. etc. This is probably not an actual T/C issue.

I was under the impression that the T/C is always ON by default, and when you see the warning light, it is NOT engaged. Am I wrong?

Correct

Sort of wrong.

The system is always on by default, but it's not engaged until needed. When it engages the light and message should appear, then go out when the system is no longer engaged.

Okay, what he said ^^^^

It is "on" or ready to be engaged when needed by default though, correct?

Yep.

It can come on at any time, but usually after you have been driving for a while. It then shifts really hard and stays on again usually until you stop the car and shut off the engin for awhile. I started to measure the time it comes on by mileage and days and it comes on about every 200 miles or about every 3 days.

Knowing the trouble code that is being set would help.

Okay, T/C light on and hard shifts is sort of like the old "limp mode" and could be a number of things. Without any check engine light and the codes stored when that happens it gets harder to track down. Have you had it scanned for codes? Local autoparts may do this for free......

Likely suspects are cam position solenoids, (there is a thread here about replacing them) a disconnected, or oiled MAF sensor. (only oiled if you have an aftermarket air intake with oiled filter) MAF sensor is right at the front of the engine on the air intake...... Guys at quicky lube places often forget to hook these back up after not being able to figure out how to change the air filter..... :lol: I'm sure there are other possibilities having to do with engine management that will put the car into this "mode" but I'm just going by what I've read here on the forum.

With it being intermittent I would not think MAF and would lean more towards the solenoids. Before you start swapping parts though see if there's any stored codes.....



EDIT: ChevyMgr beat me to it again....... :lol:

Thanks for your help. I am taking it to the dealer on Thursday. Someone else said it might be a 'Exhaust Cam Actuator' . I'll find out for sure on Thursday. Too bad I didn't wait a year to buy as the 2007 changes to the 5 yr 100,000 mile warranty!

Yep, this is what was happening to Blackie. Finally got tired of it and took him in and was told it was fixable and extended warranty covered whatever it was.

Something about a sensor, but i know nada about cars, so no help, but it was an easy fix it seemed.

Good luck!

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