ah! Okay I'll burp it a few more times hopefully it's just air not the pump :shiver:

 

The timing chain, balance shaft chain and the water pump are easy to replace

Have a look thru this build how to

http://www.ddmworks.com/assets/image...uild%20Kit.pdf

 

[QUOTE=Oldblue;914107]The timing chain, balance shaft chain and the water pump are easy to replace/QUOTE]

To be completely honest those instructions scare the heck out of me and I don't trust myself to do that job correctly. I'd have to go to a junkyard and practice or something. No Lift+No Room+Fat hands+no experience= a ruined 2.4 This video I watched confirmed my feelings that this is just out of my league
Stuff like timing, especially with an interference motor I'd rather a professional take care of, I read this post https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/gene...ghtmare-60207/ and at my mileage it looks like it would be best to just do everything. I got an estimate for the pump/chain/guides/tensioner/coolant change/oil change and yeah, over $1,100. I'd be over $6000 into a car worth maybe $2000. Also wondering now if I should just.. stop spending money on this car, it may have just been too neglected by the previous owner to fully save. It still needs struts/fuel lines/rear springs/e brake/steering shaft and potentially a rack and pinion. Only 173k miles! Good lord now that I've typed that out it may be clear what I should do. You have to drop the tank for the fuel lines right?

What are y'alls thoughts?

 

No you don’t have to drop the tank for fuel lines

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...follies-62310/


We have many how to guides to fix pretty much everything on an HHR, I don’t own a lift, I work in my 1 car garage or if weather permits outside in my driveway, a 1 1/2 ton floor jack and 4 safety stands. I have been working on cars in some way shape or form since 1962, passing wrenches to my Dad or brother or one of the hot rodders in my subdivision, there were several.
Most let me clean up and put away tools and I learned how to do pretty much everything. So there’s nothing to fear but fear itself. I believe it’s a matter of understanding what to do in what order to get the job done. That $1,100 bucks should cover most of the parts you mentioned.
We get a discount code from RockAuto, and most here, get there tools at Harbour Freight. Phoenix Az is a bit of a drive to give you some pointers and show you how to tackle these jobs. Have a look in or How to area

 

230 is only 13 degrees hotter than when the fan kicks on.. doesn't really sound like over heating to me if it can sit for long periods of running without issue. How high does the needle climb on temp gauge before you decide to take it off the highway? Make sure you have coolant in the reservoir tank and maybe you can do a radiator flush with a cleaner to clear out any debris that may be impeding performance. With the hot temps in AZ it sounds like it's working to me anyway

 

I took it off the freeway when it hit 235-236. But this was at 80mph so that surely had to be better than what the fan could do right? I mean it was idling instead of running at 3000rpm. 235 was half. 230 on my Trailblazer is 3/4! This temp gauge is about as useful as a Ford oil pressure gauge lol. Thankfully Chevy added the digital readout

I think I'm just really worrying over nothing, I've never seen if it keeps climbing into the 240s who knows it could just chill at 235 and not move more, I didn't wanna kill the head gasket so that's why I stopped. I've blown up a poor Ion 2.2 before with just one overheat. It was toast.

 

I had no idea you could replace them with nylon I was going to buy the steel lines! It even says you don't even need to remove the rotted lines, even though I probably would. That's awesome!

 

Reread posts #4 and 5.

FYI. Many years ago, my old Dodge truck had similar "symptoms" as what to what you described with your HHR. I replaced all the usual suspect parts. Thermostat, water pump, fan clutch, hoses, flushed and new antifreeze. No difference.
Mine wound up being a mostly plugged up radiator (INSIDE). Replaced the radiator and no more problems.
When it was running too hot, you could touch the radiator fins. The bottom 2/3 were cool to the touch because no coolant was circulating there.

 

Sounds like you shouldn't be buying older cars. If you can't do the simple stuff buy new.
BTW, what is so daunting about the vid you posted? Besides the guy being a dummy, don't use grease on the rubber gaskets in a cooling system; use anti-freeze.

 

I have an infrared heat gun I can pan it around the radiator as it's running and see if there's any cool spots. I gave it a hose down with the condenser cleaner yesterday but did not remove the condenser so I don't know how well it got the radiator, I was pretty liberal with the cleaner and let it sit for a while. My A/C has definitely seems better but this may be a placebo, I'll see if the feeling lasts hopefully it does and I should've probed the A/C vents before I cleaned it. I'll do that when I get home.

Also, not wanting to replace a water pump myself shouldn't mean that older cars aren't for me. I can't just pull $20,000 out of my rear end to buy a new car. I wish I could though I'd love to have a warranty. What I find daunting is that the job requires screwing with the timing system, even if it has a special tool. If it was driven by the serpentine belt I'd have no issue replacing it because I wouldn't worry about screwing up the timing. I just refuse to mess with anything that has to do with timing. Be it a distributor cap/rotor or a VVT solenoid or a timing chain. Call me a sissy or lazy, but I just don't wanna mess with it.