LS1notFOUND
New member
Heres a long one for a Sunday read,
I seem to always find that 1 in a million problem with any vehicle I own, except for my Grand Prix GTP CompG which I really wasn't gentle on in any respect and "tweaked" a bit. Maintained it really well like any of my vehicles.
Back to the Sonic, Went on my first road trip. 750miles from Base to home, to and from the car performed as a great cruiser, only a few locations did the extra weight and 130hp of my fully loaded car show up (big hills and 45mph don't mix). To and from was mid-upper thirties for MPG, DIC displayed 37 there and 36 back (I was driving much quicker back). If I did the limit in a rigid manner and had cruise I'm sure I would have got near or more than 40 on the DIC. I-95 if you get in a row with the right vehicles, you get going pretty quick and don't notice it till lights ahead remind you that indeed Highway Patrol men are out and about.
Unfortunately not long after reaching Buffalo the check engine light randomly came on and when I went to start the car in the morning, this happened: sonic cam sensor.mp4 - YouTubelong, and sometimes never happening starts or sometimes starting waaayyy out of time and not finding idle) Once it decided to start it seemed fine.
I took it into the dealer which then provided me a loaner Impala with the 3500 motor, which didn't seem like to bad of a motor but still would want more if I went fullsize, seemed to drink the same, if not more than my old 3800 Supercharged vehicle.
Had that loaner for a fair amount of time as they waited for parts:
Cam sensor
New cam which then waited on back-ordered bolts.
Service Writer mentioned something about an actuator but I believe that was just part of the trouble shooting process as the part number didn't show up on the invoice. (switching one "bank" to the other "bank" maybe).
Upon pick-up which was down to the wire for when I was supposed to report back to base...
I see my car go to a service bay and stop rather than over to me waiting to pick it up. I wondered over and I'm told the CEL is on again, this is Friday approximately 6 O'clock and all but Lube Techs, Writers, and a small team of Salesman have gone home.
"P0597 THERMOSTAT HEATER CONTROL CIRCUIT OPEN"Something unplugged?
Checking all Connectors: All Secure
I'm told basically the Thermostat is in the open position and my engine fans will be running full speed, this should be fine to drive to Base.
Being that its 90 degrees+ across the country and my AC would be on, this was probably the state the vehicle would run in anyway, just longer to warm-up. Not a problem when your going to drive 750 miles strait through.
This was at Basil Chevrolet Transit Road Depew, NY. They did a good job of getting it drivable despite waiting on parts, thumbs up to them for keeping me informed and also discussing options to get me back to NC on time w/ or w/o the Sonic.Arrive in Camp Lejeune and make myself an appointment with Marine Chevrolet who I purchased it from.
Drop it off, am called in the evening, they couldn't replicate the vibrations, noises I heard (shocker right?) in the front suspension but will have the thermostat ready at 1030 tomorrow. I'll let the vibrations go for now, I'm sure it'll show up later in spectacular fashion. One of those, have them look at it while its in there deals.
A call arrived to me about pick-up time "we have a loaner available for you there is another part we need for your vehicle, we'll need it through the weekend and into Monday" Here we go again.
"Back in the Impala again" (sing to the tune of Back in the Saddle Again) this one a 2012 w/ 10K on the clock from Enterprise which "picked me up" from the dealer.
I'll keep you informed about the progress at my local/purchasing dealer, Marine Chevrolet, Jacksonville, NC. So far I have been happy with my dealer experiance despite frustrations on the time table. There is also some gunk on the paint that Marine Chevy is taking care of free of charge.
Off topic, but this Impala is actually pretty nice!
I have to say the 3.6L 300HP engine with a 6 speed transmission is pretty nice, MPG its pretty good too and the trunk is huge. The torque thats absent from the GTP, GXP, SS 3800 supercharged and 5.4L motors isn't missed except for places such as the drag strip because in FWD do you really need to spin the tires that much?
I will say everything motor wise under that hood looks foriegn to me and appears to take up just as much space as smallblock if not more.
Steering wheel mounted gear changers are also pretty good, dropping the shifter from D to L automatically drops you from 6th to 4th and if you pre-plan your shifts like any auto, movement its very responsive. Leaving it in auto mode it always makes the higher rev decision and smoothly drops you to the required gear and off you go. Engineers did a heck of a job!
This 3.6L does live in the upper rev range though and appears to red-line near 7. It might be because its a beat rental but the steering is the only complaint, doesn't seem to cut down the effort and increase the sensitivity at low speeds....takes more effort off center to turn than the Sonic...which is kinda the opposite end of the FWD spectrum.
I seem to always find that 1 in a million problem with any vehicle I own, except for my Grand Prix GTP CompG which I really wasn't gentle on in any respect and "tweaked" a bit. Maintained it really well like any of my vehicles.
Back to the Sonic, Went on my first road trip. 750miles from Base to home, to and from the car performed as a great cruiser, only a few locations did the extra weight and 130hp of my fully loaded car show up (big hills and 45mph don't mix). To and from was mid-upper thirties for MPG, DIC displayed 37 there and 36 back (I was driving much quicker back). If I did the limit in a rigid manner and had cruise I'm sure I would have got near or more than 40 on the DIC. I-95 if you get in a row with the right vehicles, you get going pretty quick and don't notice it till lights ahead remind you that indeed Highway Patrol men are out and about.
Unfortunately not long after reaching Buffalo the check engine light randomly came on and when I went to start the car in the morning, this happened: sonic cam sensor.mp4 - YouTubelong, and sometimes never happening starts or sometimes starting waaayyy out of time and not finding idle) Once it decided to start it seemed fine.
I took it into the dealer which then provided me a loaner Impala with the 3500 motor, which didn't seem like to bad of a motor but still would want more if I went fullsize, seemed to drink the same, if not more than my old 3800 Supercharged vehicle.
Had that loaner for a fair amount of time as they waited for parts:
Cam sensor
New cam which then waited on back-ordered bolts.
Service Writer mentioned something about an actuator but I believe that was just part of the trouble shooting process as the part number didn't show up on the invoice. (switching one "bank" to the other "bank" maybe).
Upon pick-up which was down to the wire for when I was supposed to report back to base...
I see my car go to a service bay and stop rather than over to me waiting to pick it up. I wondered over and I'm told the CEL is on again, this is Friday approximately 6 O'clock and all but Lube Techs, Writers, and a small team of Salesman have gone home.
"P0597 THERMOSTAT HEATER CONTROL CIRCUIT OPEN"Something unplugged?
Checking all Connectors: All Secure
I'm told basically the Thermostat is in the open position and my engine fans will be running full speed, this should be fine to drive to Base.
Being that its 90 degrees+ across the country and my AC would be on, this was probably the state the vehicle would run in anyway, just longer to warm-up. Not a problem when your going to drive 750 miles strait through.
This was at Basil Chevrolet Transit Road Depew, NY. They did a good job of getting it drivable despite waiting on parts, thumbs up to them for keeping me informed and also discussing options to get me back to NC on time w/ or w/o the Sonic.Arrive in Camp Lejeune and make myself an appointment with Marine Chevrolet who I purchased it from.
Drop it off, am called in the evening, they couldn't replicate the vibrations, noises I heard (shocker right?) in the front suspension but will have the thermostat ready at 1030 tomorrow. I'll let the vibrations go for now, I'm sure it'll show up later in spectacular fashion. One of those, have them look at it while its in there deals.
A call arrived to me about pick-up time "we have a loaner available for you there is another part we need for your vehicle, we'll need it through the weekend and into Monday" Here we go again.
"Back in the Impala again" (sing to the tune of Back in the Saddle Again) this one a 2012 w/ 10K on the clock from Enterprise which "picked me up" from the dealer.
I'll keep you informed about the progress at my local/purchasing dealer, Marine Chevrolet, Jacksonville, NC. So far I have been happy with my dealer experiance despite frustrations on the time table. There is also some gunk on the paint that Marine Chevy is taking care of free of charge.
Off topic, but this Impala is actually pretty nice!
I have to say the 3.6L 300HP engine with a 6 speed transmission is pretty nice, MPG its pretty good too and the trunk is huge. The torque thats absent from the GTP, GXP, SS 3800 supercharged and 5.4L motors isn't missed except for places such as the drag strip because in FWD do you really need to spin the tires that much?
I will say everything motor wise under that hood looks foriegn to me and appears to take up just as much space as smallblock if not more.Steering wheel mounted gear changers are also pretty good, dropping the shifter from D to L automatically drops you from 6th to 4th and if you pre-plan your shifts like any auto, movement its very responsive. Leaving it in auto mode it always makes the higher rev decision and smoothly drops you to the required gear and off you go. Engineers did a heck of a job!
This 3.6L does live in the upper rev range though and appears to red-line near 7. It might be because its a beat rental but the steering is the only complaint, doesn't seem to cut down the effort and increase the sensitivity at low speeds....takes more effort off center to turn than the Sonic...which is kinda the opposite end of the FWD spectrum.
Last edited:
