problems with my aveo

[09aveo]

ill try to describe this issue the best i can to the best of my knowledge. i drive a 2009 aveo5 lt1 it has 50,000 miles on it automatic my issues at hand are as follows.

1. my car throws a code for heated o2 sensor bank1 sensor 1 and turns on the check engine light and that is it for that there are no symptoms no nothing just the light.

2. sometimes just randomly i have tried everything and can not make it happen it does it when it wants to but my car will kind of hesitate while driving for a short period of time maybe less than a minute. first you will be just driving and randomly the car will start slowing down and then it will buck back up to speed making the rpms jump up then it will do it again but longer (3 seconds) then it will buck back up to speed kinda making your body and head jerk back and if you come to a stop while it is happening it will ideal rough . also sometimes when you are driving it and you are trying to accelerate it will slowly get up to speed but while it is doing so you can feel the car kinda lightly jerk kinda like someone is towing you and the cord is getting slack and then tightening but it is happening about 1 a second. now all the while these throttle issues are happening they will just randomly stop and go away and you drive like nothing happened. i assume it has something to do with the electronic throttle body cause it will even do it while cruise control is set. also while all this happens it does not show a check engine code at all. this is also why i think it is something to do with the throttle.

3. last but not least yesterday my car came up with the check engine code of P0977 and P0700 and this will come up as soon as the car trys to shift from 1st gear into 2nd gear then the car just gets stuck in either 2nd or 3rd and whont shift at all until i reset the ecu and restart the car but as soon as i get up to speed that requires the car to shift to second you can feel the tranny shift to 2nd and it throws the code and i assume it is puitting it in limp mode. i just call it the aveo version of cvt transmissions lol

[BenjoshYo]

First off, gow long have you been getting the sensor code for? The front sensor definitely needs to be replaced. If its been sputtering for more then a day or two then your downstream sensor will probably need to be replaced as well.

Your second problem is a result of not taking care of your first problem. You definitely want to fix it ASAP so that you do not damage the catalytic converter.

As for your third problem, I would have to let someone else chime in. I havent had any transmission experience with this car.

[09aveo]

well i got my transmission checked for $35 and they said that it is my 2-3 shift solenoid that is going bad and the car will not shift out of 2nd into 3rd

[BenjoshYo]

The solenoid would definitely cause it not to be able to shift. But it wouldnt cause the intermittent slow down and jerking. That is being caused as I said by the sensor not working. The computer is not able to adjust the fuel ratio to burn correctly which results in poor performance at times.

[avguy]

There is a plug wire (COP) recall for the '09. If those COPs have not been replaced yet on your Aveo, that would tend to explain the performance issues its been having. Also, check the wiring for the O2 sensor first, especially at the connectors. If no wiring problems are found, replace the sensor. Do not do anything related to the transmission until after the O2 sensor issue is fixed, along with the COP recall swap (if not already done). It would not be surprising at all to see the tranny codes and limp mode go away once the engine problems are resolved.

[06T200]

There is a plug wire (COP) recall for the '09. If those COPs have not been replaced yet on your Aveo, that would tend to explain the performance issues its been having. Also, check the wiring for the O2 sensor first, especially at the connectors. If no wiring problems are found, replace the sensor. Do not do anything related to the transmission until after the O2 sensor issue is fixed, along with the COP recall swap (if not already done). It would not be surprising at all to see the tranny codes and limp mode go away once the engine problems are resolved.

+1 Not sure if this year had the leaky valve cover issues of the earlier Aveos? But bad plug wires will cause a chain of symptoms and codes.

[09aveo]

First off to clarify the engine issues I was having are completely separate from the tranny issue they pulled the tranny apart to change the solenoids and found out the external wire harness and internal are both corroded so he is sending back the solenoids so I won't get charged for those so now to replace the two harnesses it is going to cost abou $835ish unless my friend that is going to the junk yard today to check on the external harness that will save me $385 so cross your fingers the harness on that one is still good and is the right one

[09aveo]

There is a plug wire (COP) recall for the '09. If those COPs have not been replaced yet on your Aveo, that would tend to explain the performance issues its been having. Also, check the wiring for the O2 sensor first, especially at the connectors. If no wiring problems are found, replace the sensor. Do not do anything related to the transmission until after the O2 sensor issue is fixed, along with the COP recall swap (if not already done). It would not be surprising at all to see the tranny codes and limp mode go away once the engine problems are resolved.

What is this cop plug wire you speak of

[avguy]

First off to clarify the engine issues I was having are completely separate from the tranny issue ...

That is not necessarily true at all. If there is a significant performance problem which is causing the engine to run poorly, the (A/T) transmission can be put into "limp" mode, which prevents higher upshifts, and which will set a P0700 as well. And this can occur if there is nothing whatsoever wrong with the tranny itself.

From the information you've provided, it sounds to me that your Aveo's tranny being put into limp mode because of a non-tranny performance problem is a good possibility. This shop has already mis-diagnosed the solenoid being bad, and now is going to replace corroded wiring. Did they show you the harness, and if so are any wires broken or missing insulation? Frankly I don't have much confidence in this outfit, but I hope for your sake they're right about this.

COPs are a combined spark plug wire and coil. There were systemic defects with these on the '09, and you should have received a recall notice to have them replaced by a dealer at N/C to you. I can never understand why someone goes ahead with a big ticket repair after receiving a suggestion to consider something they don't understand. The advice given on these forums is hit or miss, but if I read something I'm not familiar with, I'm at least going to try to find out what they're talking about before going any further. But in any case, good luck - hope it works out well for you. And at least you followed up on your problem - most don't even do that much.

[09aveo]

well my friend got me the plug i needed from a junk yard and the shop said that it will work perfectly and it is exactly what i needed for my car. apparently my cars tranny harness was severely corroded and was causing issues with communication so we sent the solenoids back and my friend saved me about $350 on getting the harness used instead of at the dealer and so now i just have to wait for the other internal harness that was corroded as well to show up luckily that was only $75 here is what my current plugs look like i will have a final posting for the whole job and what i had to go through to get to the finished product