2009 Chevy Aveo5 Died on freeway this morning

[schwaber77]

Haha...just keeps getting better.

Got home from work, checked the Tender, showed charged. Checked battery voltage and showed a little over 12V. So, I put the key in the ignition and nothing new, car won't start, not really surprised. Left car in the ON position, got out and put the volt meter on the battery and within view of the windshield. Got back in the car and tried to start, curious if there'd be a drop in voltage as I try to start. No noticeable drop in voltage.

Now for the part of it getting better, I go to remove the key from the ignition and it won't let me... The key is stuck in the ON position and it will not let me turn it back to OFF to remove the key. The really baffling part (to me anyway) is that this vehicle has a 5 speed, MANUAL transmission. If it was an automatic, then we could assume it's the switch in the shifter but nope. I've tried turning the wheel all the way left, all the way right, e-brake on and off, brake pedal pressed and not, clutch in and out, battery connected and not, etc...and it will not let me return the key to the OFF position to remove it.

So I guess time for some researching before I tear the steering column apart. Luckily, we've got the extra vehicle but still, pretty frustrating.

Anybody got any ideas, I'm all ears and would appreciate the input.

Thanks,
Chris

[Thymeclock]

I have the same car as you, except mine is an automatic. I doubt that it has anything to do with the battery, unless you have more than one problem involved.

Since you mentioned the error code P0014, this might help:

http://www.aveoforum.com/forum/f82/t...olenoid-21310/

If both these solenoids were to fail completely, it might explain why the car won't run.

[schwaber77]

I think I'm into to something much worse than a simple battery...

I was checking fuses and I came across the "FANHI" 30A fuse blown in the fuse box under the hood. I didn't do anything with that fuse as I didn't have one of that style fuse on hand. I did continue to go through all the other fuses there and they checked out ok.

I then went to the fuse box inside the driver's side door and started checking all of those fuses. I there found the 15A "EMS1" fuse blown. So, I replaced the fuse. I immediately went in and tried to remove the key from the ignition and ing around to see if there were any changes. There I noticed a little smoke coming from under the hood. I quickly yanked the fuse I just put in (which was blown and the plastic was hot, soft and warped) and then ran to the front of the car to disconnect the battery.

The smoke was seen coming from within the fuse box under the hood. Pulled cover off the box. One of the wires, orange, that goes to the 35A "ACC/RAP RELAY" was apparently the wire that got hot as the insulation started to bubble. I also saw a little smoke coming from under the ECOTEC cover, where the spark plugs are... I pulled the over from there and the plug had questionable wire, that may have gotten hot too or maybe the smoke just travel up the protective wrap around the bundled wires and that was the highest point where the smoke escape.

I don't have a schematic so not really sure what EMS1 fuse all covers or what the orange wire goes to and how that connects to the plugs...

Seems to me though, I've got a bad short somewhere and considering I smoked something, I'm afraid what that damage could be...

I will say, I do think I smelled a similar smell when I popped the hood when I was stranded on the side of the highway the other day, just not nearly as strong as what I just smelled.

This is turning into an f'n mess. Any ideas would be appreciated. Time for some research and start tracing wires for shorts I think. I love wrenching, not as much of a fan of electrical though...capable but not a fan.

[avguy]

Yep, this sounds like a nightmare for sure. Based on what you described, I think you're going to have to check just about every wire for damage. BBB Industries - TSB's & Wiring Diagrams has online wiring diagrams, and IMO at the very least, you'll need to check for end-to-end continuity. Hopefully you won't need to unwrap lots of bundles, but it's easy to imagine that being required as well, because there's no way to know what's melted and what isn't. And hopefully along the way you'll also figure out what's the originating culprit for all of this mess. Best of luck with this!

[schwaber77]

The more I read about 09 Aveo5's, the more I'm thinking about junking it...Cut my losses now before putting anymore $$$ into it.

Frustrated, I like the car, it's what I want for an everyday commuter car it just sounds like it could be an endless electrical nightmare...

I gotta do some investigative work before making that decision but it is what I fear at this time.

[JB_Fraser]

So if you were to cut(repairable/splice) the 'orange' overheated wire and install a new fuse , what are you missing?
Do you still see smoke?
Does the key release?
What is missing from normal operation?
As Avguy commented , there could be an issue within a bundle/short (which can be a nightmare) but if you can isolate the problem to a wire/sensor/lamp/fan/etc you may be able to eliminate some troubleshooting paths (not to say that the overheated wiring hasn't added to this problem).

You may be able to systematically narrow down your 'wire tracing' to a specific wire in a bundle and follow that path.
Mine is an 05 Aveo and I can pull the 30 amp FANHI fuse without any issue for starting/driving (yeah, it'll overheat) but this is probably a separate issue (perhaps an idea of the wiring status on your vehicle).

The EMS1 fuse is eerily familiar to some recent posts over the past few months.

Anyone on the Forum have an 09 wiring diagram related to the EMS1 fuse and the components it protects?
If so, you could try and isolate all of them, and bring them back one at a time and see which culprit is causing the issue (hoping of course no other damage has incurred), It could be an easy resolution, hoping that one system isn't reliant on another (that's were it gets sticky).


Cheers

Just seen the TSB link posted by avguy, good info (hoping I wont need it!)

cheers

[schwaber77]

I hear ya JB. I haven't done much with it yet. I've got a couple of buddies that might take it off my hands for around $1k (blue book is only like $2500). If they'll do that, I'll just take the cash. I could use the $ and the vehicle is not a necessity so I won't be to upset letting it go.

If not, then I'll start picking away at it and try to isolate the issue as you're suggesting. We'll see how it all pans out.

I do appreciate the input though from everyone and if it turns out I keep it and start working on it again, I'll report back or will be back with more questions I'm sure.

Thanks,
Chris

[hans]

My 2007 chevrolet aveo recently had "stall on freeway, then crank, but no start" issue due to Camshaft Position sensor related issues. In short, if PCM does not get stable CMP position reading then it stops Fuel Injectors hence "no start condition". Assuming you have ruled out battery issues.

Here is what I would recommend you to do:
1. To verify if CMP sensor is good you need a cheap $20 oscilloscope and 5V and 12V power supplies (you could use regular batteries as well and connect ground together) and 10KOhm resistor. Then wire up everything as user JRE suggests here - https://electronics.stackexchange.co...ab-environment. You should see 5V when you move a wrench in front of sensor. Otherwise 0V.
2. In my case CMP sensor was fine, but there is some other issue (either PCM or circruit short somewhere else). You could remove EMS2 fuse and see if you have 2.4V (as I do) or 0V (what I think should be correct voltage) on EMS2 harness. See https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/...ain-relay-is-t for more details.

P.S. when removing CMP sensor be careful not to drop the screw because it will be hard to "fish it out". See this video for more details on how to remove sensor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3z43830FQQ&t=545s.

P.S. I don't have explanation why your key got stuck.

[hans]

My 2007 chevrolet aveo recently had "stall on freeway, then crank, but no start" issue due to Camshaft Position sensor related issues. In short, if PCM does not get stable CMP position reading then it stops Fuel Injectors hence "no start condition". Assuming you have ruled out battery issues.

Here is what I would recommend you to do:
1. To verify if CMP sensor is good you need a cheap $20 oscilloscope and 5V and 12V power supplies (you could use regular batteries as well and connect ground together) and 10KOhm resistor. Then wire up everything as user JRE suggests here - https://electronics.stackexchange.co...ab-environment. You should see 5V when you move a wrench in front of sensor. Otherwise 0V.
2. In my case CMP sensor was fine, but there is some other issue (either PCM or circruit short somewhere else). You could remove EMS2 fuse and see if you have 2.4V (as I do) or 0V (what I think should be correct voltage) on EMS2 harness. See https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/...ain-relay-is-t for more details.

P.S. when removing CMP sensor be careful not to drop the screw because it will be hard to "fish it out". See this video for more details on how to remove sensor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3z43830FQQ&t=545s.

P.S. I don't have explanation why your key got stuck.