Problems with 2006 Chevrolet HHR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. at less than 25,000 miles, the brakes would occasionally roll when the brake pedal was depressed. the dealer stated that the rotors did not need to be replaced at that time, but advised the contact to keep an eye out. currently, the failure has worsened and the contact has scheduled an appointment to see the dealer. the instrument panel lights, which indicate how many miles the vehicle has or how much oil is remaining, illuminate on and off intermittently. occasionally, when the key is turned in the ignition, the engine turns over but the vehicle does not start. the current mileage was 30,000 and failure mileage was 22,000.

Purchased 2006 hhr new in 07/06. in 06/07 started the car and the electronic odometer, the speedometer, the tachometer, temperature gauge, oil pressure all were not registering. nothing. pulled over turned off the car. started and nothing. turned off the car an additional time and all lights and gauges started working. took it to a local dealership/service. could not replicate the issue. i have had in the shop on 7 different occasions for the same reason. it additionally will cause the digital clock on the radio to go out/flash, the air bag sensor to flash. they have replaced two electronic parts, one of them being the electronic control module. around thanksgiving of 2008 i had started my car and all the lights and gauges again would not work. i took it to the dealership and the general manager was able to verify that this was occurring. they had the car for 10 days and replaced the electronic part. the car still does the same thing. no rhyme no reason. at night you can open a door, close it and see lights in the radio randomly flashing. i am concerned and awaiting the day that the car just dies while driving it. they have never been able to locate the issue and told me that i am the only one with any problems of this type. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the contact was advised that the ignition switch and gear box needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 4,000 and the current mileage was 40,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving 20 mph over a hole or dip in the road, the entire vehicle stalled and shut off. the weather was not a factor. the stalling occurred at least three times within one week. the vehicle cannot be restarted once it shut off. there were no warning indicators prior to the failure. the dealer does not know the cause of the failure or the remedy. the failure mileage was 53,000. the consumer stated the vehicle was having several issues with the cam sensor, wheels, a broken hub bearing, bent rotors and an issue with removing the key from the ignition, due to the shift cable not staying secured. the check engine light illuminated, the inside driver door handle would not open the door, the passenger side back would not stay secured. updated 06/25/08

Initially, i had intermittent problems with my 2006 chevy hhr. the key switch wouldn't turn all the way off to release the key. i took it to the dealership while it was under warranty, and they informed me that they "couldn't make it do it" (for which they have a record). after about a year-and-a half of this intermittent problem, my key would not come out of the ignition at all. i was out of town, staying at a hotel and had to leave the key in the ignition overnight. i read my owners manual and found the hidden release button in the steering column. i took it back to the dealership, and because i am out of warranty, i have to pay for this repair that is due to poor craftsmanship. after researching this to see if was recalled, i have uncovered numerous chevrolet hhr owners that have experienced the same problem, and it is a faulty shift linkage. this item needs to be on the recall list. *tr

Good day. i'll keep this brief. to be clear, i went to the dealer (autonation usa) with the recall issue shortly after it occurred the first time, and a couple of other times after that. i was told that i was too short, fat, and my knee was knocking the key out of the ignition. my key never fell out of the ignition, but the car did shut off, losing control of all electrical systems while at 70+ mph. secondly, i have gone in to the dealer for my transmission as well. the car began to slightly jerk at around 60k miles. i was told they didn't notice anything, however, they never checked the transmission, and i was told they could do nothing. when the matter got really bad, the mileage was over 100k, and out of warranty. i have brought it to their attention that i attempted to clear this up prior, and was told they would have to treat it as a new issue. i'll make it easy. when i have had the ignition issues nearly kill my family and myself on more than 30 occurrences, the dealer fixing a small, inexpensive item, because they have been exposed, does little to quell the anger i have regarding the various other issues i have regarding warranty maintenance they could have completed while under warranty, and instead chose to belittle me and now wish to charge me obscene amounts of money to repair. gm should offer to complete the maintenance at no cost considering i have gone to them prior to the close of the warranty and was ridiculed and further, made to have my family's life in danger 30-40 times so they could save some money. further, i understand it is not legally required for them to do anything, however, doing the right thing goes a long way. i have spoken to gm about the issues a couple of times now only just simply be told they were sorry and i should have the situation diagnosed (needlessly). this is the first i've heard of this website so i'm trying now. thanks. *tr

2006 hhr lt. history of abs/brake/front end component failures and electronic malfunctions since purchase in winter of 2005. when applying brakes steering wheel shook hard from l to r and brakes grabbed/released. dealer found rotors warped at less than 10k miles. warranty repair/resurface. problems continued: abs engaged on dry pavement under 10 mph but would not engage at road speeds with brakes heavily applied. at same time, pedal went to floor. ase certified gm mechanics told me this was impossible - until service manager test drove and concluded pedal goes to floor; car is unsafe to drive. claim opened/resolved with gm. dealer found defective wheel hub assembly (left) that caused abs failure below 8k miles. (no accident) next failure occurred in the right wheel hub assembly and an accident resulted. gm and the dealer claim no defect but only error code is right front abs failure with prior 7 pages history of abs/brake/electronic problems (submitted to ins company and gm and in possession of the dealer). this failure resulted in an accident with substantial damage to the wheels/rims/undercarriage of the vehicle. gm and the dealer concluded - without bench testing the right wheel hub assembly - that there was no defect; however, the only error code recorded is an abs failure (claim opened with gm). gm and dealer have called to see how the vehicle is doing - i declined to commit saying that i would be making a determination as to the vehicle's performance shortly. good thing - the steering wheel shakes from left to right on application of the brakes and the brakes pulse as if the wheels are no longer round (grab and release). these are the same symptoms that occurred when the rotors when out of spec. it is my suspicion that the rotors have again gone out of spec and that the abs/braking component failures are continuing with this vehicle. i am about to take the car to an independent mechanic for evaluation. *jb

Key locks in the ignition and will not release, it took repeated attemps at first of cycling the key off and on to get it to release after a week or two the proplem became worse to the point of the the shifter had to be cycled from park to low and back several times before the key would lock and release from the steering collum, after a few days this didn't work,the problem then was mentioned to the dealer and they said it was "common" with this modey of hhr. had i not been a mechanic the vehicle would be stuck were ever the problem occured, i temperally fixed the problem by going under the steering collum and pulling a cover off about a inch down from the steering wheel and pushing the rod to the left about a quarter of an inch to get the key to lock and release the key where the vehicle can be driven and locked to prevent theft. *nm

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the vehicle shut off after it was driven two miles. the vehicle would not restart. when the key was turned in the ignition, the vehicle attempted to restart. there were no warning indicator lights. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they replaced the starter. however, the failure continues. the dealer was unable to determine how to repair the failure. the failure speed was unknown. the current mileage was 18,860 and failure mileage was 9,000.

One day the radio would not change stations, i used the control on the steering wheel and radio turned up all the way and would not turn down until i pulled over and shut the car off. took the car to dealer they tested and ordered a new radio. not installed yet. a few days later the interior lights got real dim and would not get brighter unless i turned the auto lights off. this happened several times. about a week later,went out to start the car it would not start and the key got stuck in the ignition, called roadside assistance they jumped it and took it to dealer who said it was a loose ground. the radio quit working all together. two days later it would not start again so i jumped it and it started. the radio started working as i was driving down the road. four days later car would not start and we called roadside assistance again. they came and jumped it and towed it to dealer again where it is now. *jb

After 7500 miles, hhr is demonstrating starter/ignition problems. as opposed to new vehicle, it now takes between 3-7 seconds or more, to get vehicle to start. initially, vehicle started immediately with key and remote starter. this problem is intermittent but chronic. a vehicle should not take this much cranking to start. *nm

The outside temp indicator stopped working. the dealer replaced a "body control module" this caused the cruise control to stop working. 1 "electronic control module" was installed. problem still existed. a second ecm was installed and the cruise once again works, however now my driving lights no longer work. it will be returned to the dealer for a time to try to get all the electronics to work as they should. *tr

2006 chevy hhr shuts off while driving. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving at various speeds the engine lost all power without warning four times. the vehicle was safely pulled off the road each time. on three occasions the vehicle restarted immediately when it was put into neutral; on the forth occasion the vehicle sat for 45 minutes and then restarted while in park. it was taken to the dealer after each failure. the dealer installed an event data recorder in the vehicle to be manually started in the event of a failure. the edr did record the fourth failure however was unable to duplicate and repair the problem.

I have had several issues with my hhr since purchased in september 2005. first incident was the lock on the hatch broke after only owning the car for a few months. next was with the brakes. at first i noticed a noise when i applied my brakes it sounded like something was loose. this nose would come and go. after a few months i started to notice a slight vibration in my steering wheel when braking a few days later that vibration turned to violent shaking and resistance when braking. i took it to the dealer who informed me the rotors were warped and needed to be repaired. this was roughly around 13000 mi. the dealer did repair the rotors under warranty and didn't give me the "it's normal wear & tear" mumbo. next is the check engine light keeps coming on. it will stay on for a few days and then go off. this has happened 3 times already and the dealer has replaced the sensor each time. now we are up to the 4th time as it came back on again yesterday. i have also had issues with the radio. the radio has had power to it and no volume. this happened 3-4 times b/4 i took it to the dealer who had to reset & reprogram something on the radio. *tr

(1) none, it just stopped working. (2) outside air temperature indicator does not work, temperature stays the same for several days. it might change to the correct temperature or just change a few degrees when it feels like it. (3) dealer replaced outside air temperature sensor. it worked ok for 4 days. stopped working again. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the door alarm will not sound until the back door is ajar six inches. the dealer determined this was how the vehicle was designed. no repairs were made.