donbrew

With all those miles towed, do you have a electric transmission fluid pump and cooler? The absence of these items would cause the trans fluid to absolutely burn up, unless you are towing front wheels raised off the road. Remember that the internal fluid pump works off the driven (motor) side of the torque converter, and even in neutral the trans will be turning (and heating up). Not an expert or invitation for flames, but I believe this is technically accurate.

Don06

The strange thing is that the owners manual says the vehicle cannot be dolly towed, IE: front wheels off the ground. It says to dingy tow it with all four wheels on the ground with the ignition in ACC position, transaxle in Neutral, remove fuse 8 from the floor console fuse block and don't exceed 65 mph..

donbrew

Yes it does say that and "see your dealer/retailer or trailering professional for additional advice and equipment recommendations". I would be willing to bet one pint of homebrewed beer (either stout or ESB) that the local rec vehicle store would push real hard to sell an auxiliary electric pump and cooler, maybe just for the profit motive, but it made sense to me when my cousin explained his set up to me.
I am also used to car manuals limiting the mileage a car can be towed on the drive wheels usually like 25 miles, my manual does not state anything about that, could they have changed automatic transmissions that much?

Don06

Now I assume they mean to find the correct hitch and light setup to tow. If you needed a pump and cooler I would think that GM would say that in the Owners Manual.

I'm curious why it can't be dolly towed. There is a line: "Dingy towing your vehicle may cause damage because of reduced ground clearance." It seems that they mean Dolly towing because putting the front wheels on a dolly lowers the rear on a short vehicle like the HHR. Dingy towing with all four wheels on the ground would be normal ground clearance.

I don't know if having the rear wheels turning when the front wheels don't causes any problems. With no power to the computer or brake systems, it seems unlikely.

What I don't like about Dingy towing is the lack of braking on the towed unit. The towing vehicle has to provide all the braking. A dolly can have brakes so you have a little more braking. If the towed vehicle starts to wander, the dolly brakes can be applied to stabilize it. I would put it on a trailer to tow it, then I have two axles to provide braking and there is no wear on the vehicle.

urbexHHR

The clicking noise is normal when you apply the brake to shift from park.