Chevy HHR / Cobalt Bad TCM Ground - How to Fix - No Power Steering, Speedometer, and Not Shifting

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In this video, we have a Chevy HHR that has a bad TCM ground wire that is causing the Power Steering and Speedometer not to work. Also, the vehicle isn't wanting to shift. We will explore how to fix that here.

[@RogerShattuck-sz7co]

I have been shopping for a replacement vehicle for over a month and ready to scrap my Cobalt; thinking the trans was blown. Came across your video by accident; what a lifesaver. Thank you.

[@dlemon0924]

To anyone who is recently having this issue. I had the same problem with abs/warning lights, And gas/rpm/ Speedo all going nuts. After 4 mechanics and endless stressing. I found an auto electric specialist that determined it was the abs pump/module. Hopefully this helps. I spent hours watching these videos and going crazy. This was my fix. Hope it helps someone out!

[@joalberici258]

That sounds exactly like my issue, how much did it cost to get fixed? And how long?

[@joejohnson3469]

its the trans wiring harness leaking flid on the connection it not just this trans ding it several other GM trans cause the same thing. Use brake clean. Pull it apart from the trans clean it out put it back together problem solved. Took awhile to figure it out but haven't had an issue since

[@mell6481]

@@joejohnson3469 My girl is having those issues. The other day her steering stopped working. You can go forward and backup, the wheels aren't responding to the steering wheel. It's easy to turn but no response. Have you heard of that?

[@anchorguy8497]

What type of car?

[@nicknack6042]

Thanks dude. I implemented this "fix" on 4/3/2023 and it worked. I watched several different methods and I ended up using a piece of 12 AWG wire, a 1/4"x1" bolt, a 1/4" nut, and a 1/4" ring connector. Check engine light went off and the car has been driving normal again. Note to anyone who wants to use a ring connector: The 1/4" ring connector is not big enough to go over the ground bolt on the strut tower. I ended up having to use my wire strippers to create a loop on one end of the wire and loop around the bolt on the strut tower. On the other end, I crimped a ring connector to it and was able to put the bolt through the TCM, slip the ring connector on and secure it with a nut.

[@ShaneKelly-q1i]

Lemme know where to get these things and how to do it idk much about electric stuff

[@mowaggs]

I found this video on 09/15/24. My power steering went out the day before. I own a 2008 HHR. Thank you for KZbin how-to-videos. It took me longer to get the tools together than the fix. Thanks so much for posting this video.

[@franciscojaviernunez8565]

Almost gave up on this quick fix until it occurred to me to try attaching the wire to another one of those strut tower screws for ground (I guess first screw wasn’t well grounded) !!!Whew!!! Thanks for the short and sweet video!

[@erinmarie9099]

OMG this is exactly what’s happening to my car!!! I’m hoping this video helps my mechanic when I show him!!

[@dalevalentine2264]

Ya, right on. On the ride home my Cobalt started acting up I couldn't shift in the third lost miles per hour gauge . This fixed it thank you...

[@neocongo1152]

This is the best easy fix!!!! I changed 2 tcm on other vehicles, one was 700 bucks the other I had refurbished for 300. Makes me wonder if I could have used this trick and saved me some time and money.

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

Yeah, it is the craziest things on how it works! Thanks for watching!

[@terrypaicer252]

Hey we just purchased a second 2007 cobalt and the speedometer was not functioning other lights were on as well.... Did your little fix and yes ! Victory ! Great video and Thanks a bunch !

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

Glad to help! :)

[@TheCustomEverythingChannel]

Oh my God brother you are a life saver I've been stranded for hours trying to figure out what was wrong with my car you're video fixed it thank u soooo much

[@safetydave8770]

Chad! Dude! I just bought a project HHR from a buddy and don’t know anything about them. I jumped in it yesterday and, power steering light, no speedo, and transmission shifted, but was not happy. If I do this and I can find out I’m not about to buy a transmission, you’ve just sold a set of wheels and a complete stereo system. No money of course but you are a hero for the day. Thanks

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

😂😂😂 I hope you get that set of wheels and stereo!!! 🤞

[@charlesmahon9860]

I did this and my car is doing it only in the evening when I’m on my way home from work

[@Htxtonytony]

I’m goin thru this issue right now on the road and it’s freakin me out so imma get to a major city and try this. Thank you

[@theintake8961]

It worked for me too! You saved me $600 GM wanted to fix it😣 THANKS SO MUCH

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

That is awesome!!!!! Woot woot!!

[@docgray5004]

@Waterlec so...

[@docgray5004]

@Waterlec it's all good. Having the issue with my cobalt only it seems to be in the gauges only. I haven't noticed any play in the power steering or transmission. Bunch of the cluster lights come on and the speedometer, tachometer, fuel Guage all drop to zero and will come back on. It will do this 2 or 3 times and then resume back to normal. Not gonna lie it makes me worry I'll be driving down the road and my airbag will face check me. Never know what to expect out of this car tbh.

[@docgray5004]

@Waterlec thanks for the back story....it was a good read. Can't really blame the mechanic though. Sometimes one problem could have multiple possible causes. I'll look into my ground when I have some weekend off time....work kicks my ass during the week.

[@docgray5004]

@Waterlec I ask one my ol lady's cousin who is a mechanic, he said it was most likely a bad ground in the wire from the back of the cluster. Definitely gonna check the wire from. Tcm first before I get into pulling out the cluster. Not sure how simple or not that will be.

[@victorthomas8484]

I'm experiencing a thumping noise left and right side on the front of my 2008 chevy hhr and I'm about to install sway bar links, inner and outer tire rods ends, and the boots, stabilizer bushings also 1/1/2022 and also struts later on maybe next week I installed the lower control arms last week I really thank you guys for doing all the videos

[@matthewnewcomer5068]

This video saved me a bunch of time and money fixing an 06 cobalt. Thank you!

[@victorthomas8484]

Back to you Chad Williams I want to personally thank you for your video on the my 2008 chevy hhr Ifinally added the bolt to the TCM and grounded the other end of the wire to one of the 3 strut tower bolt/nut on the driver side and it really works I'm gonna say thanks and thanks again

[@markrowland4552]

Hey Man, outstanding video. I went two days ripping every fuse out the car, cleaning contacts..blah blah blah....in 90 degrees and insane humidity. The P/S light was on, and the car wouldn't shift out of first gear. Ground wire? No. No Way, I said. YA. Fixed everything. Had some Romex laying around, and a coffee can full of little connectors and clips I thought I would never use. Thank You again, you helped me Big time!

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

Glad to help! Such a silly fix, but so glad that it works pretty much everytime :)

[@nickhopkins6249]

FOR THE PPL THIS DOESN'T WORK FOR. My mother bought a cobalt had the same issues I added a Ground and still had a communication tcm issue! We sent the car to a bunch of shops and got crazy quotes and crazy diagnosis finally we sent it to a place that specializes in electronic stuff like radios and remote starters they even wire the local police cars. Anyway they had to add one of the positive feed wires that are on the tcm they charged us 75$ to fix it and it solved all these problems I'm not sure what wires but if anyone has questions message me i can send pics of what they did

[@viddy228]

Im having this issue and my 2005 Cobalt already has the ground wire from the TCM grounded to the chasis of the car..Problem still is there..

[@nickhopkins6249]

As i said u need to jump the light red/white wire coming out of the tcm to the red/white wire going into the ecu

[@PickelJuice659]

Pics plz!

[@joshuanavarrosr20]

Yes pictures please

[@shannonmoore2602]

Pics

[@pnp8849]

I've exact issue while driving at 70mph it almost soil my pants when engine speed drop into limp mode. I noticed the door locks keep clicking so I pulled door lock fuse #26 in the middle console and that fixed the issue so far. Will try TCM grounding just to be safe. For anyone having AC fan not blowing or intermittent. It's most like the spade connection at the BCM connection. GM decided to use 15A connector on a 20A circuit and of course that will not last. Remove the terminal block, which is pain, and re-crimp the connector and try not to use blower at high speed.

[@artyart31]

Wowsers I tried it and it worked, thank you

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

ISN'T THIS FIX CRAZY???? I have had to do this on 2 of my vehicles now. Glad it works so well!

[@MrJohnnyDistortion]

The bad ground is probably located at a connector unless any visual damage to the wiring itself is evident from chafing against something in the engine compsrtment.

[@s10xtreme43]

This fix work for few weeks for me, the problem came back with more trouble, now the starter make a big tic tic tic and continue to do tic 3 time after the key was removed from the ignition. I rotate the crank to check if the engine is hard to turn and it’s rotate easily with a 3/8 ratchet. I try to remove the ground wire to diagnose and now the coil pack make a noise like a vacuum leak, the noise stop when I unplug the connection from the coil pack. I still search where the problem come from.

[@born2wrench]

You did what how can you put a spade connector between tcm bulk saddle plug and tcm?

[@fishjunkie249]

So just add wire to the medal part between the plastic ? And then to a bolt?

[@philliportega3279]

Thank you for your information you saved me lots of money.👍

[@209hotmess]

Most AWESOME and helpful video EVER. Short, quick and to the point. I appreciate u. Thanks.

[@horalesupervato1]

This is the same issue I had with my 2006 Chevy cobalt. Hope this will fix it. Thank u for the video

[@eli2in005]

Did it work

[@bobbywilliams2807]

Awsome video fixed my issue

[@marcushenderson5304]

Is there a more in depth video to this as to how to connect this to the TCM?

[@victorthomas8484]

Hey this is my 3rd comment thanks to your video I think I may have solved the problem 2008 chevy hhr ran awesome yesterday I'm gonna add a bolt through the TCM left corner hole tomorrow a done deal comment tomorrow thanks again for the you tube videos

[@whodatnola]

I drop a wrench on the battery post and tcm now when I ground out the test light to the shock post and touch the case on tcm my test light lights up and any clue if will help me

[@sharonbunn2397]

Hi Chad, first I want to thank you for sharing this info. Would I blow my transmission if I don’t fix this problem and continue to drive without trans shifting?

[@shvanfayak1778]

thanks alot and alot to you.. i haved a biggest problem and my all lights was on and my gache not work also ask to service the said its pay 500 dollars to fix.but with your video i fixed all my problem thanks alot again. you got subscribe and like video

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

Thank you!!! Glad to help and very happy it fixed your car!

[@superdow1000]

Was the power steering actually not working or was the power steering light just on? I have a similar issue with my car and the power steering is not working....

[@superdow1000]

I added the ground to my hhr and it is fixed (at least for now) - Thanks!

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

Isn’t that crazy how that works?!?!? Glad it helped you! As long as you did a good job installing that, it will be the permanent fix. Thanks for watching!

[@superdow1000]

@@ChadWilliamsFixesAll Not sure that it is permanent....there are some other videos where this fix eventually failed. But I assume that yours has been ok since your video was posted (1 1/2 years ago) and that seems permanent. Here is a similar video where your type of ground wire fix eventually failed after a couple of months.....kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpmQfGqEjMZpr6s What I would like to locate is the ground wire for the hhr tcm to the engine block which may be corroded per the linked video in the next paragraph. The following post has a discussion and picture of a similar problem in a colbolt that was fixed by locating the actual tcm ground wire on the engine block and repairing. www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-d613_ds634318 I also have a replacement tcm waiting in the wings.... not sure that will make a difference if it is a ground wire....however the replacement tcm did fix (at least for now) the problem for the guy in the first linked video in paragraph one above.

[@superdow1000]

As of today 4-19=2022 the fix is still working YAH! still wondering how to make the permanent fix

[@DNW1000]

@@superdow1000 Was your issue just related to power steering? Everything else is working but power steering randomly goes in and out for me; fuses are good, I’ve replaced the motor, still no luck. Wondering if this could fix it?

[@lltatl1649]

I have a 06 chevy cobalt ,and none of gauges move and only works at night or if my auto lights come on ,will this fix it??

[@aaronv2x]

Everything worked for me but my car is shifting hard now

[@Nezdude87]

same here, just did this fix a few minutes ago and have hard shifting. otherwise everything else is fixed. did you find your issue?

[@eXSuperVi11ainart]

I’m having this issue too I think me and my dad are going to try changing the transition solenoid and fluid.

[@victorthomas8484]

Hi I'm back again my code reader found 7 codes and when I cleared them 5 hours later my gauges, and transmission started acting up again so what do I do now please I need help 2008 chevy hhr 2.2 do I need to also clean under the fuse box under the hood

[@victorthomas8484]

I'm going to try other things tomorrow but this morning driving to work I drove approximately 20 miles and it didn't happened but this afternoon when I got off it started again gauges, transmission,rpm,ram,, mph, temp I just don't know what to do please help me

[@rickeyviger5271]

You sir,thank you so very much for this video,you just saved me so much hassle ❤️

[@zombyymom9698]

Hi Im having same problem with my 08 Malibu but I can't seem to find out how to fix

[@jamesburns1673]

Don’t use a wire to check it just use a voltage meter on dc from red jump post to silver body of tcm 12v or 14 if car is running

[@victorthomas8484]

I have a 2008 chevy hhr 2.2 and my temp,mph,rpm,ram, gages move up and down or flunciate up and down and ps light is on and Trans act up but when my gauges are working properly it runs well and the ps works also this morning I went just over 3 miles and it started acting up so I'm gonna try this I hope this solves my problem

[@simplyscyfygirl2641]

Did you ever sort out your problem? I have a 2008 Hhr doing the exact same thing you described

[@Imjustjillian]

Really hope this works! I’m having this problem with my hhr and I’m going to get the clips and connectors for it tomorrow! Wish me luck ☺️🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Imjustjillian]

@Kennie Mackk it worked for the most part but I decided to go to the dealership and have them fix it correctly

[@chadoliver2966]

No the correct way to fix is to repair the main ground wire that is connected to the transmission it is mostly corroded and needs to be cleaned of any rust or corrosion and then reconnect the ground back to your transmission.

[@joejohnson3469]

its the trans wiring harness leaking flid on the connection it not just this trans ding it several other GM trans cause the same thing. Use brake clean. Pull it apart from the trans clean it out put it back together problem solved. Took awhile to figure it out but haven't had an issue since

[@frankieholguin8715]

clutch asf, is this a temp fix? or more sustainable one

[@mathewwebb4345]

Did this help bc my security light and tcm are on and it's shifting funny I did this and no change

[@crockett159]

Bought a car (chevy hhr 2006) cash. The odometer does not work, how can I fix it. It lights up but on ly shows the same miles that were on it when I bought it.

[@deandrecostley9136]

Having the same problem with my Chevy cobalt my steering wheels seems like it’s lock and my rpm and speed meter seems like it’s not working ... Do you kno the problem. ?

[@Prettyxjayy]

Same issue, were you able to figure out the problem ?

[@juniorronaldo4589]

It didn’t work for me what do you recommend me to do?

[@dillonshuffle]

Same

[@s10xtreme43]

Did you find your problems? The ground wire work for few weeks but now the starter dont want to crank at all, it’s just make tic tic tic even after removing the key from the ignition.

[@enriquemolano9717]

Thanks si much ,My car it's a working

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@kevinblackmon2223]

absolutely fixed this HHR. Why does this happen

[@josehirvingarcialuna5503]

Mi hhr 2011 presenta problemas en que se tirones y se apaga en baja y anda gastando mucho combustible que puede ser

[@x2malandy]

Cool beans man. I will try that.

[@davidraichel7554]

My car is doing the exact same thing. I tried your fix but it did nothing to help my car. I’ll keep trying to find a solution.

[@jlrew]

What gauge does the wire need to be? I’m going through the same problem right now. It started 3 days ago.

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

I bet 10 gauge wire would be just fine for this fix.

[@jlrew]

@@ChadWilliamsFixesAll Hey Chad. I did that and it still keeps happening just not as often. Should I get the TCM changed out? The other thing I saw was that the ignition switch could be bad or have a recall on it. So I’m not exactly sure what to do about it.

[@DrewVerdin]

What about the t/c light. Mine keeps throwing itself into gear when that lights on. Spent over 1400$ already on this car an they still cant figure out how to fix the T/c

[@Dakeith15]

I had that issue with my 2006. I could not figure out what it was. I replaced part after part. It ended up being a dirty throttle body that was sticking and throwing the T/C off. Might not be your problem, but it couldn't hurt to clean it anyways.

[@Chubbys]

Dakeith15 where is that located ? i’m 16 with my first car and im getting all these issues that i’m trying to fix with the tc light and power steering

[@DrewVerdin]

@@Dakeith15 had a mechanic change my throttle body or so he says he did. Chevy is saying it might be a ebcm. Mines an 06 also. Spent over $2000 on it ready to try an get it fixed. Almost out of hope for it. Might be time to trade her in lol

[@pappaclutch3266]

Broken motor mounts. Fixed my mounts on a 06 HHR and never seen the TC light again it’s been a year and half. My motor was sagging like 3inches because of broken mounts, stressing the CV joints throwing the code

[@rickortega1614]

I've tried this and even spent 169 dollars on a time and still not working any suggestions

[@williammizebee]

I have power steering but when heat is on it increase temperature when steering wheel turns rpm fluctuate up and down less than 40 not good for gas either 08 hhr 2.2 209.000 maroon 13 in vin number maybe that's why? The tire pressure monitoring is about to drive me to the Nutt house I can't believe GM would do this to their customers unbelievable

[@willavedikian2001]

Do an overview of the cutlass

[@ChadWilliamsFixesAll]

I will be posting one late spring, early summer. :)

[@isoBrenden]

This worked but now my car won’t start after installing the ground someone please help

[@forsakenlife4873]

Shakiest video footage I think I've ever watched on YT.

[@fishjunkie249]

Didn't work for me

[@jackwadel4482]

GM Common.

[@Alex_Bket]

I hit a deer and i have p1682 do you think thos gonna work ?

[@zombyymom2000]

Hi Chad will this work for my 09 Malibu. U explained all 3 issues I'm having exactly to the T