Hello Chevy family, last night I drove to work to get some things (security) and the lot was empty so i pulled the e-brake and slid into a parking spot. When the car came to a stop, the engine died and will not turn over. The DIC keeps saying "power steering" and all the electronics turn on but will not FUNCTION. My drivers window would not roll up, the key FOB does not work. When i try to start the car it doesnt engage the starter peroid, just cuts everything off until I released the key. My turn signals display on the dash, but the physical signals do not work. The DIC screens only display my trip distance, everything else is a "-.--" or "0.0" except for my total miles. Also my car has a half of tank of gas, its displaying that its completely empty. Please help!

 

i would start by making sure the battery is good and check the battery conections under the hood at the fuse box. they are known to work loose.

 

I guess i should include the already checked items lol, Ive checked the battery connections, made sure all of the fuses were properly seated, unhooked ground on battery for 15 minutes and tried to start after with no luck. The battery holds charge is still practically new. Seems like something is preventing the vehicle from starting.

 

I would check the voltage at the battery with a multi meter. You should have at least 12.5 volts or better.
If it's lower than that, you could try to jump start it.

 

Tried jumping it after I did the battery reset to see if that was the culprit. Everything turns on and lights up, but for example I cant control my windows, power locks, and my FOB is useless. Doing the 30 minute re-learn now. From what ive read the HHR doesnt have any type of inertia sensor correct?

 

Are you using your normal key? Is the lock&key icon lit up? Is your car a "buy here, pay here"?

How about the connectors at the ECU?

The red wire to the fuse box?

 

sounds like you lost a power feed. did you have the ign switch recall recently? i'm wondering if somthing didn't get pluged in corectly and was jared loose.

as far as i know the only inertia switch is in the air bag system and would not cause a no start.

 

my air bag light is on, but ive never hit anything. is there a way to reset it? Would it cause all of the electronics to not function? My car has normal power as far as gauges, lights, but the power doors will not function and my rear hatch will not open. The lock and key light turns off after I turn the key into the ON position.

Its not a buy here pay here, got it from Dave Gill Certified Used. Does have the recall, havent had it attended yet. The key i use ive had for about 4 months now, i have 2 more at home.

 

This really sounds like battery failure. You said the battery tests as good. How did you get to the battery if the rear hatch won't open?

I think you really need to crawl into the back of your vehicle and manually open the rear door and look to see if something isn't grounding your battery or something.

By pulling the parking brake you might have actually moved your battery or something may have whacked one of the wires connected to it.

You said you tried to jump start it. I have to guess, since you said you can't open the rear hatch, you went with the connections under the hood. You did put the ground wire on one of the nuts on the strut tower,... right?

You can use another body ground or even find a spot on the engine when jumping but if you connected the negative side of the jumper cables to that other black looking connection under the hood {near the red positive terminal}you could have damaged lots of stuff. At the least your electric power steering won't work when you get the engine running again.

So, open the back door and look at the battery for me and let me know what you find OK?

 

yesterday befor i reset the battery, i used the front POS connection under the fuse box. not the skinny one, and did use the "-" strut brace for the negative like it says. yesterday befor i reset the battery the hatch would open. is there a manual way to open it, besides using the button under the beauty bar?

Just a heads up, I really appreciate all the help guys/gals. Ive worked on cars since i was 14 (24 now) and this just really has me stumped... Thank you for the continued advice and help!!