2010 hhr 2.4 auto 59,000 mi.


Hi we got a slight vibration after a couple of minutes at a stop light in D.
When we put it into neutral the vibration goes away.
Transmission? To worry?

thanks KK4

 

'09 HHR, 110K.

I noticed this same issue a couple months ago exactly as you described it. The check engine light came on briefly but has since disappeared, and the problem also stopped. Just today I noticed the problem starting again, and it has gotten much worse.

Instead of a bit of vibration, the entire car will start to lurch forward a bit. It's a back and forth motion that even makes the car bounce up and down to a degree. In neutral the problem is greatly diminished but still detectable. In park I don't really notice anything. I don't worry much about small noises and vibrations, but this time the issue was flat out scary. I was almost certain that if I hit one more stoplight I'd have to leave the burning remains of my car there.

The type of movement made me think maybe I just had a broken motor mount but I'm becoming convinced now that it is a very serious and expensive drivetrain problem. I hope this is not the case, I really don't have the means to get it looked at professionally at the moment much less fix it. Whatever causes this issue, I'd recommend getting it checked out ASAP if you can. I'm at a point where I'm scared to use my car now, having had numerous catastrophic failures at speed in the past.

If anyone knows about this issue I could really use a hand too.

 

It's possible that you 2 may not even have a transmission problem. What I get from your descriptions, sounds almost like an erratic idle. I could be wrong.
In the case of Cki, it's sounds like a more severe case. The car will idle up and down thus creating that lurch that you describe.
Kingkat4. Not sure about yours. Could be any number of things. Hard to diagnois that one over the internet.

 

Since the problem has been intermittent and seems to only occur at idle that sounds like a great avenue to pursue. It also sounds like a very inexpensive fix which I like even more. I'll be looking into this and update this when I have more information. Thank you for the suggestion, I'm not ready to send my car to the boneyard yet.

 

Cki - since the CEL lit up, you need to get the code from it downloaded. Almost any auto parts store will hook up their code reader and download it for you. Post the code here, and we will see what advice we can give you.

 

My 2011 (less 30k) had a Vibration problem when I start the engine or when I stop at traffic light or during traffic congestion.
When RBM less than 1000, I feel annoying Vibration going through the engine, car body and the steering wheel keep shaking. You can’t hear it but you feel it and when I’m going beyond 1500 (RBM) the Vibration disappeared and the ride is very smooth, but check engine light stays lit on the gauge all the time.
Code Reader: P0003
How I terminate this Vibration .

Any help would be appreciated.

 

About every car i owned had done this sometime in its life..a can of good cleaner thru the tank generally clears this up..as there are only 4 cylinders , having one of these mess up will cause all sorts of weird things. Run some seafoam or Berrymans B12 in the tank and see what happens. A dirty injector,,water,,bad gas....all causes. Try the easy things first.

 

P0003 is related to fuel issues in diesels from what I can see.

 

Take it in and get it checked out . Had a problem with my 2010 with 42,000 miles and the trans went out lost rev and had problems with drive. they tore it down and replace rev , tor-converter, sun gear and along list of other parts . good thing was it was covered under the 100,000 drive train .

 

Mine was doing the shake and lurch at stop lights, them CEL p0303,p0300. Those brand new plugs that I re gapped myself cost me $28. Anyway, I had exactly the same symptoms, but I had a code reader and found out that I screwed the new plugs up by being a set in my ways old goat that couldn't trust the factory to set a gap.

I think khalifa may be meaning p0300 or one of the specific p030_'s. Those mean a cylinder is mis firing, first change plugs. If that does not do it there are other things to check. Unless, of course, it's a VW TDI.