New owner of an '09 with some issues

Hey everyone,
Just picked an '09 Aveo5 SS with 122k on it for $800 because it has a blown head gasket.
The previous owner was a lady with two kids that completely trashed the interior(needs a very deep cleaning). A bear also tore up the backside of the passenger seat back...

The po's boyfriend said that the CEL came on and he found oil in the coolant tank and an external oil leak so they stopped driving it.
I found no coolant in the oil and the engine sounds and runs fine(only drove it on and off the tow dolly).
I borrowed my brother in-law's code reader but it won't connect to the ecm. It powers up and tries, but says no supported functions.

I'm hoping I can throw a gasket in it and have a decent daily driver. I'd like to upgrade the suspension and tires because if it isn't fast, it should at least handle.

Do a leak down test before doing a head gasket, because that oil is much more likely to be tranny fluid. There is quite a bit of prior information here about the tranny cooler/radiator separation failing on the '09, allowing those fluids to mix. On the OBD connection issue - check the grounds.

It's a manual trans, and I didn't see any cooler lines going into the radiator. I'll look again, hoping it to
be something simple. I was reading that newer cars(this one included) use a CAN bus OBD system and
that the reader I have isn't compatible with it.

Just got a chance to actually inspect the car, there is a very small amount of oil in the coolant reservoir.
Just a light film floating at the top. The temp gauge doesn't work and just had the code read, which is a
coolant temp code. It's leaking oil pretty bad out of the sending unit plug, so that's an easy fix.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SilentMatt

It's a manual trans...

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I just assumed A/T because it's been reported frequently in the past, but not the case with a standard. Nevertheless, I'd still want compression/leak down testing before doing a head gasket job. There have been some thermostat issues with the second gen, so you might want to also consider that when diagnosing the coolant temp code.

I really don't think there is any combustion gas leaking into the cooling system. No evidence
of pressure building up or bubbles. I'm going to flush the cooling system and go from there.


The code was a PO128 Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature
I was just reading about the thermostat issues, that's a pricey little unit!

I started cleaning the car, but it's just too gross, I think I need to take it to a professional...