Was stopped on interstate for almost 2 hours due to a semi rollover blocking all lanes. Was in park most of the time. Once traffic started to move slowly, my car started to shake and jerk every time I put the brake on and/or put the car in park. I thought it was going to die, but it didn't. I considered turning the car off and restarting but decided against it. Traffic was slow-going. Once we were moving at a normal speed, I thought everything would be back to normal, but it wasn't. I reached my destination. Later, when I went to leave, the car would not start. The engine light came on. My car has approximately 66,000 miles on it.

 

I would suggest having the battery tested first.. Auto Parts will do it Free,

Also have them hook up their code reader, & post any code(s) they find here ..

 

X2 On both counts.

With the extended idling, your alternator may not have been keeping up with electrical demands of running the engine, heater, and lights. That would pull your battery voltage down to where it was low enough to cause your HHR to act up, they can be cantankerous with batteries that become discharged.

Having the codes pulled will point out other possible problems that may be acting like a low battery voltage situation.

Be to keep us updated on what you find out.

P.S. to the forum!

 

X3 I'm leaning to a fuel pump failure also. Long run time being stuck on the highway under load at idle. You don't use much fuel at idle but the fuel pump is pushing fuel through the regulator.

 

I almost missed it. Welcome to the site

 

Good thought on the fuel pump too Lucky, especially if she was low on fuel before the extended idling period, the pump may have overheated enough to start cutting out or dropping fuel pressure.

 

Welcome to the site citigal5814.
Isn't the Check Engine Light on usually indicating some sort of emissions problem? Wouldn't a vacuum leak or a sensor either being bad or correctly doing it's job and showing a problem be more suspect. I think knowing the codes, if any, would likely point us in the correct direction as 843de said in post 3.

 

The last part of the OP's post said the car would not start. My comprehension on this is that's where she is at right now. Gonna be a little hard to pull the codes if she can't get the car to a place to do so. Sounds like a tow truck is the next step.

Not to be harsh, but the OP does not sound like the type who owns a code scanner.

 

Uh, overheating?

 

Hey citigal,

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about your HHR! I see that you've been getting some advice from our great forum members. I'm not sure if you were going to tackle this on your own or were planning on taking it to a dealer, but if the dealer is the route you plan on taking I would be happy to assist in setting it up. Feel free to reach out via PM.

Jonathan A.
Chevrolet Customer Care