A couple months ago I posted about my HHR having a weird sqealing noise when accelerating and that was followed by loss of Turbo Boost and power. If the car is turned off and rests for a little while I will get the boost back but occasionally this will happen and I brought it in for service and they replaced a MAP sensor. A couple weeks after that the described problem happened and the dealership found no fault. Well it has happened a few more times since then and I am very concerned because with the squealing noise it sounds to be something mechanical. I am not accelerating hard and the turbo boost is maybe 5 - 7PSI when it happens. After the squeal the boost will not go above 0 and there is definitely a loss of power to the car. It is winter so I have the heat on and I almost always remote start the car and let it run few minutes because it is cold outside. Before I bring it back to the dealership or to another one I need to ask some of you that may know the mechanical parts of the car and hopefully may have some insight on what the problem could be. I just do not see how a faulty sensor could cause a sqealing noise. The best I can describe it is that it sounds like a belt squeal but a but more chirpy than a normal belt squeal. I only have 20,000 miles on the car and I have no idea what the problem could be. Please help.

 

Could it be a air leak in your IC piping causing a "Whistle" that sounds like a squeal? Sounds to me like you are losing charged air somewhere causing the lost boost. Have the dealer inspect the entire turbo system including the IC and all related piping. That is the first place I would start.

Hope all of your problems get sorted out soon,

SPPD

 

Does it sound like a bad bearing? I would think a turbo bearing would not correct itself but, I've had weird things before.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and maybe it is a leak of some sort. It is definitely not consistant as I was out driving today and saw no problem. I guess the squeal could be an air leak of some sort. It only happens once and then I get no turbo boost until I shut off the car and let it rest a little while. The car is due for an oil change so I will bring it into the dealer for that and have them inspect the turbo system and suggest that there may be a leak of some sort. If they find nothing I am not gonna be a happy camper and maybe I will just take it to the dealer that installed the stage kit. Of course that is an hour and half drive but they have a performance shop and seem to know the car better.

 

Well I have an appointment Monday. Wanted/Needed a loaner car just in case they have to keep it for parts so that was the first opening. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed. If they come back and find nothing I am not going to be a happy camper.

 

Well they had my car for 3 days and claimed they could not recreate the problem. They put 120 miles on the car and said it was needed for an extended drive test. They finally insisted I come pick the car up because nothing is wrong with it. So I pick up the car and take it for a quick trip around the block and what do you know, the problem happened during a normal acceleration. I immediately drove the car back into the service center and demanded someone take a look and showed them there was no boost or at least the gauge would go up to zero and no higher. The service rep said that is because I was in park and the boost gauge will not go above zero in park. This just made me even more angry and I told him to get in the car and lets go for a ride. So he and a porter hopped in and I left the parking lot and showed them the car had no acceleration and no turbo boost. They acted puzzled and could tell I was a bit angry.

I kept my cool but I must say I am pissed. I told them if they cannot find a problem they need to ship my car to a dealership that has a performance shop that many people here have bought their stage kit upgrades from (Crate Engine Depot). The dealership that runs that shop is Rockenbach and I kind of hope they ship the car there because maybe they can find and fix the problem.

Has anyone else had this happen to their HHR SS? I do have the stage kit and the car ran fine until about last October/November when this first happened. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

 

Surprised nobody jumped on this....
1) Check IC/piping connections for loosness
2) check the sensor on the ic pipe by the...ac compressor?..reports that the eng would roll over and knock it loose
3) make sure the same sensor was modded to install flat as it has a raised area that prevents it to late flat and not so easily noticed because of the location( hard to see)
..these were the "common" problems once they got past the wiring issues...
Oh yeah, one more is check to make sure the o ring is on tat same sensor...
I'd put my money on the sensor knocked loose...

 

Thank You. I think I will call the service department tomorrow and see if a mechanic is in. It was after 7pm when I picked up the car (and returned it back to service) so all that was there wasa couple service writers, a few porters, and a lady in the cashier Window. Well Sales people were there too but they were not much help. I am not a car expert but I do know when there is a problem with my car. I do my best to give accurate descriptions of the problem because I have heard some really vague ones. Working in IT support I know how important it is to have an accurate description. I think many people would go in and say "my car makes funny noises and now it don't go fast" and leave it at that.

I guess I am mad because I told them to inspect the entire turbo system and the IC piping and consulted this forum and the expertise of the members here first just so I could try and give them a bit of a hand in troubleshooting. But for them to drive 120 miles and say they could not recreate the problem when I did within a mile ride kind of makes me mad.

 

Well I got my car back and here is the story:

It appears when my car was in back in November because the service engine soon light came on and I first had turbo issues they replaced the map sensor. They claim when they replaced the sensor they applied an updated programming to the car's computer but applied the code for a standard HHR SS and not the one for HHR SS's that have the stage kit installed. This caused an "overboost" problem and that is what was happening. So when I brought it in they read the overboost code and adjusted the wastegate accuator which then resulted in an underboost problem. I finally insisted that I talk to the mechanic and I pointed out that I have the stage kit installed and he said that the service writer never mentioned it. I told him I filled out my service request online and made sure I mentioned it in there and so he looked up the original service request and apologized to me. He applied the right code to the computer and once again adjusted the wastegate accuator to specs for HHRs with the Stage Kit. It has been two days and the acceleration once again feels like it should and I hope that it is ok.

I am a bit dissatisfied but will be understanding. For my inconvenience they waived labor charges on my oil change (saving me $25). They also accidentally caused a "ding" in my door when they were putting gas in it and had that fixed. The mechanic said he convinced the "dent guy" (as he called him" to pop out 2 -3 other little dings the found in the door for free. They also cleaned my car inside and out pretty well but you cannot tell on the outside because of the crappy snow and salt that is being kicked up on it.

I guess if I get a survey I will just be honest and I do not want to place blame on any one person but I do my best to provide details of the problem and it just seems in one persons haste those details got lost and I hope it did not result in damage to my car.

Thanks for all the advice on here, it at least made me sound like I knew what I was talking about and the mechanic complimented me on knowing my car so well. Speaking of knowing my car, what does the wastegate accuator do?