2009 HHR Power Seat location number 37 under hood.

Is supposed to be a fuse or a circuit breaker?

I had a 2010 HHR and never had reason to look. Just bought a 2009 and need to know if it uses an actual fuse or a circuit breaker.

It presently has a 30A thermal circuit breaker mounted on a pigtail plugged into location 37 in the under hood fuse block. Is this normal or has it been kluged as best as you can guess?

The metal cased circuit breaker is getting hot and the power seat doesn't function. I can unplug it for a bit, let it cool down, plug it in, and the seat will operate.

This also doesn't seam like proper operation. I would think if there is a current draw, the circuit breaker would trip and thus the breaker wouldn't get hot.

 

You answered your own question. There is no circuit breaker. If the owners manual says fuse, that's what goes there.
If that circuit breaker is getting hot there is a draw causing it.
Which seat is it ?

 

 

My guess is that somebody added a heated seat or fog lights. 30A is pretty high. GM doesn't use fuse taps.

 

I'll try this again. Found the problem. There was a wire that had shorted out to the seat frame and burned through. Apparently in the process it took out the switch.

I was able to confirm the motor works by cutting the wires to the motor that raises and lowers the seat(yellow and lt. blue). The system works via the switch like so. In one direction the lt. blue wire is grounded and B+ is applied to the yellow wire. Move the switch in the opposite direction and the reverse occurs. Thus by me manually alternating which wire was grounded and which received B+ I could raise or lower the seat.

That is after I freed up the gearing. The gears between the motor and the seat had jammed. I was able to take a rachet with a 14mm socket and free up the gears. Once that was done they moved freely up and down as power was applied.

The motor that raises and lowers the front of the seat works in the same manner. The wires for that motor are dk. green and dr. blue. I'm sure the same goes true for the motor that moves the seat forward and back.
The switch had jammed causing B+ to always be applied to the lt. blue wire, the one that was pinched and shorted. One could replace the fuse, or let the circuit breaker rest and one would have seat control except for the raising and lowering. But when one sat in the seat it would cause the exposed wire to hit a ground and blow the fuse. When the circuit breaker was installed it was getting hot because of this constant short drawing current through it.

The wire repair and switch replacement fixed the problem.

 

 

Good diagnosis and repair.