I have not posted in a while, (health issues), but, my wife's 06 2LT had a "melt down", threw codes, steering went hard, VERY low throttle, etc. Towed it to the Chevy dealer, and was told that the BCM needed replacing, but, that it may not solve the problem, cost, $600 minimum. Also was told the radiator was leaking, that would be another $300 minimum. I said WHOA, towed the car back home and parked it. Got on line and found I can get a new radiator for $80-$100, but, I can swap that myself. Also found out that I can get a new BCM for about $200, and being located on the passenger side of the console, I can replace it, but, I can't program it. I have searched for "BCM" on this site, and although there's a lot about it, no clear cut answers. Any ideas or help?

 

By all means, do the radiator repair yourself if you're able. Save yourself the $.
I would double check their diagnosis of the radiator being bad and not just a possible leaking hose.

As far as BCM replacement, you may want to rethink that. Who's to say it's bad if replacing it may not fix your problems.( What the dealer said ) Not sure if they gave you an explanation of why it's bad. Sounds more like they just want to try throwing parts at it.
Maybe you could explain "melt down" a little better. And if it threw some codes, have them pulled and post the numbers here.
Your issue may be as simple as a bad ground or positive wire connection.

We're here to help if we can.

 

My money is on the UBEC not he BCM
You didn't notice puddles of water under the car?

Why are you still bothering with Chevy Service Department? There are a lot of more competent shops around, sounds like yours is throwing stuff at the wall.

 

How old is the main battery, a dying battery can give all kinds of grief!
And loose ground wires! Double check them, while your into the fuse panel check all the fuses and relays! And the wiring harness itself for critter teeth marks! They love wiring harness insulation!

 

I know it has been a while on this thread, but, I felt it needed closure as it may help someone in the future. If you read the previous posts, I was having a problem, a big one, well, when the dealership started quoting big money, I brought the HHR back home and parked it. I almost came to sell it as is, but, other cars I had were breaking down so my wife cashed in her 401k and we started getting them fixed one by one, then came the HHR.
We took it to a different dealership and I explained about what I did per someone's suggestion in this thread about cleaning the fuse box under the hood. The dealership found that the fuse box had several burned areas, replace the whole thing and it fired right up and didn't throw any codes, like nothing had happened. I can't say that this will work for others, but, it's a start, and yes it wasn't cheap, but, the car is on the road again and I felt that I should put an end to this thread, I hope this helps.

 

Thanks for updating, good information!

 

One small step for Artificial Intelligence!

I don't know why they always blame the computer.

 

Blame Hal 9000, darned computers!!