Well I’ve been working on my car for over 2 weeks, and researching these forums and youtube a lot.
I guess it’s time to post my first/current status, and see if anyone has any opinions, thank you in advance. Sorry for long post, this is almost everything I’ve checked/tried and I’m trying to include the details ppl question in other threads.

2007 HHR wouldn’t crank. Battery is a couple months old, all electronics working, I tried jumping just in case but no luck.
I did all the basic starter troubleshooting, no luck (relays, fuses, etc).
Finally gave up and had it towed back to my house for further investigation.

12mos ago I replaced the factory starter (oil sender leaked on it). I used a cheaper aftermarket starter, which has worked great. My assumption was the cheaper starter died, as can happen, so I ordered another starter since it’s not hard to replace.
Replaced the starter, still no crank. I assume both can’t be bad.

I begin detailed research, and start testing as much as possible with the multimeter.
I am able to jumper the 2 solenoid terminals on the starter with a screwdriver, and it cranks fine, with the key turned on I can even start the engine that way and it runs fine.
Tried starting in Neutral, tried fiddling with shifter, no luck.
Disconnected front hood switch, tried shorting purple wire as advised to disable hood ajar sensor for remote start, no luck. (BTW my remote start hasn’t been working for some time, but apparently that can be caused by emissions codes.)
Tried ODB2 scanner, nothing useful from that (only emissions codes).
Tried spare key in case of programming glitch, no luck.
Battery is good, starter has power to the large 12V terminal.
Charged battery more just in case.
12V into pin 30 of the crank relay is hot.
Tried straight jumpering relay pin 30 to solenoid pin 87, No crank.
When key ignition is turned, I DO get power on crank relay pin 86 from the PCM, 12v, so it seems that it is trying to crank the starter.
I tested continuity between crank relay pin 87 and the solenoid terminal – Nope, so I think that narrows down the problem more.

At this point I have a workaround solution (since I have been without a car for too long now, I can’t keep wasting time, and no money for a dealer to track this down). I’m planning to install a basic pushbutton starter switch wired to the starter. Mount that by the driver, and it should be good (with the key on); I just got the parts to do it (cheap).

As for the actual problem….
It seems to me the issue must be somewhere between pin 87 of the crank relay and the end of the wire to the solenoid. My buddy said all the potential starter stoppers (Park Neutral Safety Switch, Anti-theft, Hood Ajar, etc) would be connected to the PCM and not in-line with that wire, but I don’t know if that’s true. If he’s wrong and it COULD still be one of those I’d have to debate the time and expense of troubleshooting and replacing whatever. If he is correct, then I think the problem would have to be a connection in/under the relay box, or in the actual wire.

I’ve considered taking the relay/fuse box apart to check, but this car is 16 years old and there are no other electrical problems. I know it’s got a ton of connections under there, and it’s old and dusty, and can be tricky to get apart and even moreso to get back together, so I am wary of introducing any other potential electrical issues when I only have the 1 thing wrong at this point. And there’s only a chance the problem is there, no guarantee that would solve it (I’m not even sure what there is to “fix” under there without looking at it, not much on youtube except for 1 low res video).

As for the solenoid wire, that disappears into the many-branching enclosed wiring harness that goes all throughout the engine, and I’m not sure how I could even troubleshoot or fix that itself.

Oh and the end of that wire with the ring terminal on the solenoid, is not perfectly clean, but I can get good connections from it locally, it’s definitely making contact with the solenoid terminal.

One thing that surprised me, the solenoid S terminal showed connected to ground.
But after pondering I decided this must be normal because:
A) The starter worked fine when I jumped those 2 terminals with a screwdriver.
B) The (motor or coil?) has negligible load resistance when it’s not powered ?
However, if that isn’t normal, then I guess the whole problem could be the solenoid wire being grounded out somewhere it shouldn’t be. Although I’m not sure why it would start from the screwdriver and not from the relay signal over the wire.

So unless I make a breakthrough or someone has a better suggestion, I’ll probably just go with the add-on starter switch for now.

I was going to install the switch and try it for a while to make sure everything is good, and then find an appropriate in-line fuse to splice in the switch wire. But then I remembered the crank relay slot already has a 30A fused terminal with power for the solenoid. So if I have a soldered connector on the wire (with no exposed metal/wire), inserted solidly in that terminal slot, and the wire is zip tied inside the relay box so it can’t bounce around at all, I can just utilize the intended fuse as is to begin with.

I asked another guy who does state inspections (I’m in Virginia), and he said that adding a starter switch should not affect inspection of an automatic. He said it only matters for a manual, where it shouldn’t allow the starter to crank without the clutch pushed down. That confused me though, because then I realized that I will probably be able to start my automatic car in gear too (very bad!) if I forget to leave it in park. Any thoughts on this?

You guys are awesome and thanks again for being here.

 

Perhaps I should mention, the HHR seems to have another relay called “Run/Crank” (#51).
I had tried swapping this one with no results, so I’ve ignored it since then.

I don’t know what it does because none of the other starter/relay troubleshooting I’ve seen deals with any other relays to make the starter crank. I doubt this relay is bad because I’ve swapped all 5 around and it still doesn’t crank, but if it is connected to something else important then… ??
But the engine definitely runs when I force crank the starter anyway.

 

to the forums!

Have the ignition related recalls been performed? Follow the link in my signature to check.

 

Whoops, yes.
I did check the VIN on GM's website and all the recalls (including the ignition) has been done.

 

Third part info update, from a mechanic friend of a friend:

He said he's seen this several times before on HHR's. The wire harness with the solenoid wire goes through the left motor mount, and makes a sharp bend up. Apparently this can break eventually, breaking the solenoid wire connection.
So that makes sense with everything I'm seeing.
I'd definitely fix that if I thought it was doable for me, haha.
I don't even know how I'd get into the wire harness tubing without screwing everything up, it looks like such a mess.
And I'm not sure where that is, he said the location is near the firewall.

I guess I should be happy that I at least have the starter pushbutton workaround.

 

I suggest you tighten those 4 7mm bolts in the under hood fuse box, if you hear a pop or click tighten them more, a loose fuse box can give yo this problem, so can a burnt fusible link.

Read this thread

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...n-58286/page2/

It’s plausible

 

Those bolts were already super tight.
I had loosened them to test, and I am about to tighten them back down now. I decided against trying to pull it apart already heh.
I had also tried pushing down on the fuse box as some recommend.

What is the fusible link ?

I think I've tried most of the stuff in that thread... Or I think a bunch doesn't apply since I can start the engine by jumpering the solenoid manually.
I'm not sure about the Neutral Switch, but if all that stuff goes to the PCM, then I already know the PCM is working because I can measure the signal it sends to the relay.

I would like to know if any switches come after the crank relay, or it's just straight through the wire to the solenoid.

It's too bad I can't just replace the solenoid wire to the relay, but taking that relay/fuse box apart seems like a bad idea, and I don't think there's any good connectors underneath to use manually, from the video I saw.

 

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...r-59169/page2/

It’s discussed in this

 

No such thing as "just emissions code". What is the code number?
Undo whatever you did to the hood switch. The hood switch inhibits remote start only when the hood is open. It is actually 2 switches; one grounds when open the other grounds when closed.
What happened when this started? Just out of the blue, someone messed with the fuse box?
Are the wires on the outside of the fuse box connected properly? 1 wire nearest the firewall 2 wires on the front.
The wire the tech is talking about is the bundle that goes around the EVAP purge valve bracket. Easy to see. Nothing to do with motor mount.
Engine should only start if the auto trans is in park or neutral, There is a switch on the trans.
Any diddling around the gear selector?
Look at the fuses on the BCM. Especially #8, #10, #25.
There might be a fusible link between the starter and alternator, simply test for continuity.
If there is a signal from the ECM to the relay the relay is bad QED. Note that is the Purple/White wire to the relay from the ECM. The other side (pin 85) goes to ground on the top of the transmission.
Here is the diagram of the starting circuit in pdf

start.pdf

 

Well the fusible link is after the starter, I don't know how it would affect the starter.