So I'm idling outside of a restaurant waiting for an order. All of a sudden the dashboard goes crazy. "LOW FUEL" indicator on the DIC, followed by the fuel gauge dropping. I think I have a leaking gas tank. Then that warning is gone and the gauge goes back up. Then it drops again. and The DIC cycles through that warning, the odometer, all dashes (- - - - - - - ), a couple of other warnings, the other gauges and lights all go on and off and on. I an stunned. My wife goes IT Crowd and says, "Try turning it off and on again."
So I shut it down. Wait 30 seconds. Starts right back up. No problems. This was Saturday afternoon. Drove all day yesterday with no problems.
Any idea what happened? I have a long trip coming up that I wish I could postpone, but I really don't want to be worrying about the car breaking down.
Thanks.
2011 LT, Auto, just over 100k.

 

Low voltage episode. Idling a long time, the voltage dropped. The computers on these cars are very sensitive to low voltage.

You may want to have the charging system and battery tested.
AND. How old is the battery ?

 

Thanks. New battery. Two months old maybe.

 

Have it load tested, it might be ok.
at idle the alternator can barely keep up to the electrical things in the HHR and is not charging the battery.

 

Resurrecting this old post. Everything was fine for the trip. And then one day last month, it was dead when I went to start it. So I jump started it. Bought a new battery. (It actually wasn't two months old. I was thinking of my older HHR.)
Everything was fine.
Until Friday. On the way home from dental surgery (me), with my wife driving, the dashboard goes haywire while driving. At the next light she turns into a parking lot. Shuts it off. Waits a minute. Starts it up and everything is fine for the rest of the drive (about 15 minutes).
Today we drive to the grocery store, about 15 minutes away. Everything is fine right up until I almost get back to the driveway. This time the chimes go off, the tach starts bouncing, and the security light comes on. Chimes stop. Tach goes back to normal. But security light stays on. I park. Turn it off. Start it up again. Security light is still on.
Went back out 30 minutes later and started it. Security light is off.
I'll be taking it in to the shop this week to get it load tested. Is there anything else I should ask about?
The only aftermarket item I have is an Atoto A6 Android stereo. But it has been in there for over two years.

Thanks again.

 

Sounds like you are dealing with a common problem. Search up the fuse box under the hood. A great write up shows those same issues and how to fix it. I would take the fuse cover off and look for any loose fuses\relays. They are known to wiggle out a little.

if all are tight and secure, I would look to make sure grounds are clean amd do the fuse box cleaning.

 

X2 ^^^^^, and have the charging system tested along with the battery load test.

 

FIRST: Look at the large red wire connection to the fuse box, the nut sometimes gets corroded or loose.
SECOND: press down on each fuse and relay to properly seat them. Both fuse boxes!
THIRD: make sure the topo of fuse box is tightly fastened together, the top and bottom halves sometimes become loosened (tighten the bolts).
FOURTH: This is NOT a dealer only situation, they don't know anything that the guy down the street doesn't know. (likely less). If it's not a part they can replace they are lost in the forest.
FIFTH: Check the battery terminals; if you can move them by hand they are too loose

Security light always comes on with a no voltage situation, goes back off after good start. Something is loose causing an intermittent loss of voltage, a wire, a connector, a ground, a wire laying on something sharp or hot.

 

Thanks guys. It stopped sleeting long enough to check the fuse box this morning. A couple of the relays definitely felt loose when I pushed on them. Hopefully that is it.
Both halves of the box seemed secure.
The cables coming off of it and the ones on the battery were tight.
I will look up the fuse box cleaning.
I still need to get the brakes checked before a trip in a couple of weeks, so I will have those tests done too.

 

This should help.....

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...rmation-59520/