Forgot it was an SS we are talking about.

 

So got the news back from the shop. Seems the chain that drives the water pump is missing That makes sense to me why it seemed the coolant was not circulating. They also said the motor had too much pressure being built up and that the head gasket is blown (HCs present). Where the heck did that chain go? The car has no codes and until it over heats it is smooth and responsive.
The repair quote about knocked me over!

$2921 to replace all the hoses, go through the head while doing a head gasket replacement and replace the balance shaft and camshaft chains. There seems to be quite a bit of mark up on the parts from what I can dig around online for. Is it worth it? I don't know.... I like this little machine a lot and have put a lot of miles (164k) since I got it new. I could probably find me another driver that would be easier to work on for the price of the repair. I could shop the parts and attempt the repair myself. I guess I have to figure out if it is worth my time..... I did notice a few New in the crate 2.0Ls on Ebay
Thanks for the replies :)

PS. Coolant fan was operating and checked out good at the shop. IMO that WP/balance shaft? chain is probably start of the issue...

 

So the shop has the engine torn down? And what exactly do you mean the chain is missing? It's gotta be right there somewhere.

Since I assume the chain has now been found after the tear down, what was wrong with it? Broken chain or failed gear.

Interested in the findings. Please update this with a little more info. Some pictures might help out also. Thanks.

 

Whoever did the water pump did not use the special tool and the chain fell off.

Probably ran rough also, since that chain also runs the balance shaft.

Lucky that it did not foul the cam chain.

 

Sorry for no follow up. I did some more talking with my local service tech and determined the shop who did my diagnostic was not completely correct on the prognosis. The tool was used n the water pump swap (by me). Car was running fine just would over heat. I think they were partially correct that it is most likely a head gasket. Since I have a serious commitment to my job I decided to kick the HHR to the curb. I lost all confidence in it being reliable. That is a must have for me. I got plenty of other rigs to maintain to worry about my daily driver that IMO is a PITA to work on. I went back to a RWD 2014 Camaro In crawling around it I feel way more comfortable tinkering once the warranty runs out.
The dealer has not fixed the HHR yet but as soon as they figure it out I will get back here and provide the info. New rig is the same for insurance and within a half mile on MPG even before break in is done Tires will be 35% more but I can live with that.

 

Hey JWA,

Thanks for the update for all of us! We are hoping your service provider can look into this and get a repair done for your HHR. Let us know if you would like any further assistance with this or have any feedback to share.

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

Well, that sounds like an upgrade to me! Hope the Camaro works out better you. I could "settle" for one like that myself...