2009 Chevy HHR

[alchevy]

Interesting thing happened the other day. We had received a letter in the mail from GM that there was a recall on our '09 HHR. It said that there was a problem with the ignition where you may not be able to turn the car off and get the key out. Since my wife drives the car just about every day to work, it is rarely left at home where I can take it in to the shop. So I just set the letter aside.
Then one day she comes home and the thing happened, cannot turn the car off. She had just filled the tank up with gas. So my first thought was to take the battery cables off, but you can drive a car without a battery. So I called up a Donnie, a friend of mine, and he said battery....no that won't work because you can still drive the car without a battery. He told me to look for a fuse for the ignition or fuel pump. I found those and the car turned off. But I still had several things on, so I started taking out fuses until I thought I had everything off. I said until I thought I had everything off. Should of disconnected the battery because the next morning I put the fuses back in and it would not crank.....battery was dead.
So Donnie came over to jump it off. The battery is in the back under the spare tire, but there is a jump spot under the hood which took some doing to make a good connection. Got it cranked and I drove it to my local Chevy place. They had the parts in stock and got it fixed that day.

So the next time I run into a problem like this I am just going to unhook the battery cables to make sure everything is off.

What is weird about this whole thing is the other HHR (2006) we have
has a problem where you cannot get the key out of the ignition. You have to put it back in a gear and then back to park to get the key out. Chevy place said that it is a safety feature. I guess the safety feature they are talking about is like a neutral safety switch to make sure you are in park so the next time the car is cranked, it will be in park.
AL

[GPster]

Got a little explanation of something that might be a problem there. working on my '80 CJ7 I had a problem with the ignition switch. Because it has a GM column (stock) I looked through my stock and found an ignition switch that came off a '87 GMC S15 and it was the same. So I put it in and it worked. After a while I had some problems with the switch not giving me START. Traced it through starter solenoid, ignition switch, neutral safety switch and finaly played around with the ignition's switch mounting on the column. Got it to working and satisfied I shut it off and was going to leave it but couldn't get the key out. Found directions how to properly mount the switch and being able to get the key out is one of the checks. Things may have gotten sloppy since 2006 and maybe it needs a little finesse. GPster

[Inprimer]

Got a little explanation of something that might be a problem there. working on my '80 CJ7 I had a problem with the ignition switch. Because it has a GM column (stock) I looked through my stock and found an ignition switch that came off a '87 GMC S15 and it was the same. So I put it in and it worked. After a while I had some problems with the switch not giving me START. Traced it through starter solenoid, ignition switch, neutral safety switch and finaly played around with the ignition's switch mounting on the column. Got it to working and satisfied I shut it off and was going to leave it but couldn't get the key out. Found directions how to properly mount the switch and being able to get the key out is one of the checks. Things may have gotten sloppy since 2006 and maybe it needs a little finesse. GPster

Same with my '08 happened 3 X just got a letter from Chevy to bring it in for a fix only trouble dealer is a smuck hate to go there for anything but will comply

[50jimmy]

Our 2010 HHR did the same thing about a month ago.  I had taken the shifter cover off and checked the microswitch in there, and taken the plastic cover off the column to locate the solenoid that allows/disallows the key to turn.  Chevy dealer in Lawrence took care of it after some minor grumbling about my having taken a couple of screws out of the plastic cover  since reassembling it was not covered in the recall notice.  I started to lose my cool and told him to bring me a screw driver if it was that big o deal.  They put it back on.   I had to pull the fuel pump fuse at restaurant parking lot when my wife couldnt shut it down.

Interesting thing happened the other day. We had received a letter in the mail from GM that there was a recall on our '09 HHR. It said that there was a problem with the ignition where you may not be able to turn the car off and get the key out. Since my wife drives the car just about every day to work, it is rarely left at home where I can take it in to the shop. So I just set the letter aside.
Then one day she comes home and the thing happened, cannot turn the car off. She had just filled the tank up with gas. So my first thought was to take the battery cables off, but you can drive a car without a battery. So I called up a Donnie, a friend of mine, and he said battery....no that won't work because you can still drive the car without a battery. He told me to look for a fuse for the ignition or fuel pump. I found those and the car turned off. But I still had several things on, so I started taking out fuses until I thought I had everything off. I said until I thought I had everything off. Should of disconnected the battery because the next morning I put the fuses back in and it would not crank.....battery was dead.
So Donnie came over to jump it off. The battery is in the back under the spare tire, but there is a jump spot under the hood which took some doing to make a good connection. Got it cranked and I drove it to my local Chevy place. They had the parts in stock and got it fixed that day.

So the next time I run into a problem like this I am just going to unhook the battery cables to make sure everything is off.

What is weird about this whole thing is the other HHR (2006) we have
has a problem where you cannot get the key out of the ignition. You have to put it back in a gear and then back to park to get the key out. Chevy place said that it is a safety feature. I guess the safety feature they are talking about is like a neutral safety switch to make sure you are in park so the next time the car is cranked, it will be in park.
AL