2006 Chevy HHR 1LT 2.2L

The rundown on what's going on -

Engine light came on. Took it to AutoZone to get the codes. P0301 code came up. Replaced the boot on the 1st cylinder. Light went out for about 2 weeks.

Light came back on. Replaced it again. Engine light went off for about a day.

The engine light comes on for a couple days and goes off for a day or two at a time.

I bought spark plugs and boots to do a complete tune-up.

-Autolite-Platinum (AP5263) (Pre-gapped to 0.040)??
-Duralast Boots

I go to the Chevy dealership to get the gap and spark plug torq specs and ended up talking to a mechanic. Told him why I needed the info. He said he has had a lot of 2006 HHR in the garage recently with the same problem and bet me it's the Ignition Control Module and replacing the plugs and boots won't fix it.

He was correct about the plugs and boots.

Now I am going to replace the Ignition Control Module to test his knowledge. Problem is - I don't know how to do it. Any help and photos would be great. Or a link to how to replace it.

 

How many miles are on the car? There is a federal mandated emission law that requires them to address anything that can cause the car to fail an IM. A faulty ignition system should be pretty high up the list for such coverage. I would check this out and if possible use the GM part. When I ran a shop I help several customers save hundreds of dollars with stuff like this.

Good luck.

 

I'm at a stalemate here. I've done a complete tune-up on the car. Spark plugs, boots and ignition control module. Costing roughly $150.

The car ran better than it ever has the first 2 days.

**BUT** Guess what is back on. The engine light. I really don't want to have it read again because the people at AutoZone are sick of seeing my face in the store. I'm pretty sure it's the same code.

I'm out of options I guess. Everything else it could be is very costly. Fuel pump, vacuum lines, coil pack.

Guess it's time for the garage to look at it. Just hoping I'm not doing too much damage to the vehicle driving it around with the engine light on.

 

You should be fine if they're the same as they used to be. It's safe to drive with it on, unless it's flashing. Flashing means to stop before serious damage...but steadily on means to have it looked at in the next few hundred miles. Most of the time the CEL involves an emission problem, and people mistake the light for something more serious.

 

It's the ICM. I had the same symptoms except that the engine was automatically shut down per computer command. Since I had it replaced,no issues at all.

 

The ECM and the Catalytic Converter are the only 2 emission items covered after the expiration of the 3/36.

 

Why didn't you just take it to the dealer to start with? Autozone is not the place to go in my opinion. The dealer could have diagnosed the problem and given an estimate for the repair, then you could decide whether to do it yourself or let them do it. They would charge you for diagnostics or if you had them fix it that would be included in the repair. They see HHRs everyday and hopefully know what the issues are. That has to be better than burning up money guessing what might be wrong, just my opinion though.

 

I'm having the same problem on my 2007 hhr. I have an appointment with the chevy dealer tomorrow - you're so right, not worth the shot gunning of parts when they have the equipment to diagnose the problem. I'm sure I can fix what they come up with, saving me a lot of headaches!

 

One good reason might be that most dealers are con artists. For example my dealer told me I needed camshaft parts replaced (on P0013 code) for $700 but when I bought the sensors (actuator solendoids) and replaced myself it only cost $100 in parts and <1hr easy work. You can buy a scanner for <$100 and all the parts you need from GM parts direct.

 

One dealer I took my car in to have diagnosed, the charged me $60 and flat out lied to me.