WELL.... WHAT THE HECK!

I think ill keep it in this thread, because who knows if its related or not. Guess what?

Driving into work this morning, and the CEL has come on AGAIN!

I know everyone has been saying that the Knock Sensor 2 that came on very soon after going from regular unleaded to super+ was just a fluke and coincidence, but come on..... the CEL AGAIN!

Sooooooooo... when I finally get home after work and grocery shopping, ill be plugging in my gizmo reader, and see what has triggered it this time!

What the heck though!!!! Spent $700.00 on Harry since changing the gas..... i know..... nothing to do with it..... just seems to be a lot of things happening after bumping him up to the "good stuff".....

Ill keep you all posted here, on what i find out. darn it though........... Thanks everyone for all the help and advice so far, you have all been pretty great, and OldBlue you have been awesome mate. DeVoiD

 

MPG is determined by ERG. There is more energy produced per gallon of 91 octane than 89 octane therefore better MPG. But the price of 91 octane may or may not outweigh the MPG benefit since the $PM is usually higher.
The injectors inject the same volume of gas every time, it does not matter how "fast" it burns, but how much energy is released. It is not a 55 gallon burn drum where all of the energy is wasted.
Some cars, like HHR SS need 89 (mid grade) octane not 86 octane to run at all; a SS that is "tuned" REQUIRES 91 octane.

The higher the octane the easier to "burn" rather than "explode".

Spark plugs are not included with the coil. On you HHR each plug has a coil attached to it (Coil On Plug). The cars you are thinking of with a single coil pack use a "wasted spark" system where 2 plugs spark every TDC cycle. They did that because it is a cheap way of ensuring complete burning of residual gas with only a small efficiency drop.

 

Ah, gotcha. That and what the other people here on the forum have said, certainly has helped me understand a lot more about the whole process, and reasons for more MPG and such, very helpful. I just cant believe that bloody CEL is back on, and Ill have to check that out tonight when i finally get home and am able to plug in the whirly-gig and see what the error is this time! ugh. What a pain in the butt! Thanks again for explaining it further, appreciated. DeVoiD,

 

Doubtful, you'd have to ask them. But you should find out what spark plugs were installed.

 

My wife has their invoice somewhere, and im pretty sure the part is on it. Now i just have to find that, but she is a lot more organized than I am..... I would have thought a garage would go with the car makers recommendation when it comes to parts, but i guess you never really know until you check it out.

 

OK, so an update on the new CEL that popped up yesterday.....

Thankfully it wasnt a serious one, and i know about this issue. The Error code was: P0806 - Clutch Position Sensor.

As you all probably know, the clutch on the HHR SS is a weird thing, well it is on "Harry" anyway, and has that large spring on the underside of the clutch pedal. Its been tricky for quite some time, and on occasion doesn't pop - return - back up all the way, but even when that happens, its not down enough to cause an issue with accelerating or anything else. I noticed when my wife was driving yesterday, you could hear the revs were up when she was changing gears, and im not sure if that was her, or because of the clutch not returning back to its original position, but it was shortly after hearing that (on two consecutive - 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th) when the CEL came on.

I have tried oiling the spring, and to a certain extent that has helped, but i think it needs to be greased. The only reason that hasn't been replaced is the cost of the part, its an entire assembly, and its not like you can just replace the spring, a very expensive part in itself and im sure the labor would be high as well. On the back of the clutch, where the spring attaches to the clutch, there is a notch where the spring is held, and i noticed that appears somewhat worn. If it was originally a hole just big enough for the spring to be held in place, now its more like a hole that has been stretched horizontally, like an "()" if that is how it was originally to "( )".

The good news is that i was able to clear the CEL. My wife has had a lot of stress going on at work, and going to work stresses her quite a bit, and if i was guessing, i think maybe she kept her foot on the clutch and didn't release the accelerator and that's the revving noise I heard, and what caused the CEL to come on. Just a guess though. But that noise, etc hasnt happened since, and didnt happen when i drove in this morning.

of course, ill keep my eye on it, as well as my ears, and if it comes back on, ill post back to this thread.

Thanks all, and have a happy day, DeVoiD

 

FYI. That spring is available by itself. (although at one time it was on back order or unavailable). Not that costly.
There are some older threads regarding the part and I think the part #. Try searching for it on this site.
As far as the area you say is worn, not sure how to deal with that.

Edit. Try this thread: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/ss-s...ing-kit-53899/

 

Thanks. Odd, because the garage said you have to buy the entire assembly when i asked if they could just replace the spring. I know there is a plate (or similar) and it looked welded on, but i would have to look at it again, as my memory is a bit foggy about that.

im wondering about the hole the spring is attached to, on the clutch side of things. I wonder if i got some heavy gauge copper, threaded it through the hole and just wrap it around, if that will stop any play in the spring (on that side).

Ill check out the link shortly. Maybe i have the ability of changing it myself. But id have to really have a good look at it again, plus that spread out hole might be part of the problem.

Thanks so much for replying, its appreciated. DeVoiD.

 

Never assume the mechanic will use factory parts, you know about Thought, and what happened to him? Right?

 

Very true, but should be any garages SOP.

I had a thought, but lost him..... nope, i dont know what happened to him....