Blinking CEL?

[williams.nick08]

Hello everyone!

Please excuse me in advance for the long post. I'm worried lol.

I purchased my 2015 Sonic used with 11,000 miles almost a month ago. Being this is my second car, but I'm a first time buyer, I've managed to get my hands on the 1.4L Turbo LTZ model hatchback, auto transmission though (aw man!). For a period of time before I received the vehicle, the dealer gave me the sedan rental version, same engine configuration that had 12,000 miles on it. There was a very annoying squeaking coming from under the engine compartment and only happened when the engine got near 1500RPM and lower (Yes it was making that noise during idle). I pushed the vehicle through it's paces...**** it was fun, driving in manual mode amazed at how agile it was and how fast I could switch through gears. LOL I'm getting beside the point....

I received my vehicle and drove it like granny of course...went to the dealer and got an oil change and everything....I've drove it kinda rough a couple of times, especially this past week.....my aunt was admitted into the hospital and we drove going almost 80MPH with 3 people for 5 hours with the vehicle gear hunting up those hills w/ cruise control on. Returning home, same deal. Approximately 16 miles before I reached my house I had to floor it and maneuver to avoid an accident (people don't know how to drive). The CEL flashed for about a minute and stopped. I was scared as ****. I immediately arrived home and blasted the heater during idle and popped the hood to cool her down. Checked onstar and got a C0561. Looked online and some are pointing to the traction control system but my traction control CEL didn't illuminate at all. Should I be worrying like I should? I don't wanna be paying a note on a **** car (I really love this car though).

 

[4g63gst20]

Is the cell still on? Take it back to the dealership my car did the same thing
. Cell flashed and I took it to the dealership and they told me my cell had been
on for a long time.

 

[Shadier]

Take it back to the dealer immediately. Within a 30 day period, regardless of warranty status (which you should have anyway) they should fix any issue that shows up completely free of charge. I bought a used sonic, 45k on the clock, and on the drive home it went into limp mode and threw a light. Called the dealer, they towed it, prioritized the repair, and had it done the same day free of charge.

Moral of the story, do not worry at all. Assuming you bought it at a GM dealer, it will be fixed for free.

 

[Sauls Automotive]

Document ID:3511588
#PIC5879: DiagnosticTip: Inspect Grounds G100
through G107 When Diagnosing Various Electrical
Complaints -(Jun 20, 2013)
Subject: Diagnostic Tip: Inspect Grounds G100thro
ugh G107 When
Diagnosing Various Electrical Complaints
Models: 2012-2013 ChevroletSonic
The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehi
cle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this
PI.
Condition/Concern
This PI includes a diagnostic tip for various electr
ical complaints, such as no AC,
AC performance, Crank No Start, Engine No Crank, IP
Cluster concerns, etc. The tip below
may be very helpful for intermittent electrical com
plaints that cannot be verified during
diagnosis.
Recommendation/Instructions
If an electrical concern cannot be verified during d
iagnosis and/or if SI diagnosis does not
easily isolate the cause, refer to the Service Info
rmation Locations and inspect grounds
G100 through G107 for any concern, such as glue cont
amination (see G104 example
below), being loose/disconnected, having poor termin
al crimp or contact, etc. If
necessary, the "Measuring Voltage Drop" procedure in
SI can be followed to determine if
excessive voltage drop is present, which is also an
indication of a poor ground connection.
Clean, repair and/or torque the ground as necessary
and re-evaluate the concern.
Examples of Ground G104 with GlueContamination
© 2013 General Motors. All rights reserved.
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Warranty Information
For vehicles repaired under warranty, use the labor
operation below that best describes the
repair performed:
Labor Operation Description Labor Time
*5480008
Remove G104, Clean
Obvious Glue
Contamination, and
Properly Torque G104
0.5 hr
*5480018
Re-torque Obviously
Loose/Disconnected
Ground(s)
0.5 hr
5430962
Ground Connection Repair
(Use for Any Other Ground
Repairs Not Listed Above)
Use Published Labor Time
* This is a unique labor operation for bulletin use
only. It will not be published in the
Labor Time Guide.
ADDITIONAL SIKEYWORDS:
A/C AC C0561 HVAC G101 G102 G103 G104 G105 G106 Gro
und P0700 TCM U0100
Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thor
oughly and complete each step. If the
condition exhibited is resolved without completing e
very step, the remaining steps do not
need to be performed.
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GM bulletins are intended for use by professional te
chnicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are writ
ten to inform
these technicians of conditions that may occur on s
ome vehicles, or to provide information that could a
ssist in the
proper service of a vehicle. Properly trained techn
icians have the equipment, tools, safety instruction
s, and know-
how to do a job properly and safely. If a condition
is described, DO NOT assume that the bulletin appl
ies to your
vehicle, or that your vehicle will have that condit
ion. See your GM dealer for information on whether
your vehicle
may benefit from the information.
WE SUPPORT
VOLUNTARY
TECHNICIAN
CERTIFICATION
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[Sauls Automotive]

Basically.... There are (8) grounds that can cause this issue that I've seen in other Sonic/Cruze's.

Check all ground locations (G100-G107) and you will find glue contamination on one or two.. Clean them up... Reinstall.... Clear codes.... Good to go.

Your going to ask where the grounds are located....
All over... You'll need a factory service manual/ ALLDATA access/etc to match them up.

 

[williams.nick08]

Thanks for the replies you guys. @4g63gst20 the CEL is off. It just flashed briefly that one instance.

I'll check all the visible grounding locations that I can for the glue contamination.

One more question, does the MPG Avg. need to be recalibrate ? It's saying I get 25mpg and I know I can get better than that

 

[Sauls Automotive]

The MPG meter is bull ****. Don't listen to it. Track your actual mileage via miles/gallons and you will see a noticeable difference.

This is because the fuel pickup sending unit in the tank is NOT a vertical rod. It is a metal stick that swings in an arc resulting in skewed readings and a "meter" on the dash that is often not accurate.

 

[Stew]

One more question, does the MPG Avg. need to be recalibrate ? It's saying I get 25mpg and I know I can get better than that

You can reset it of course by holding the button in at the end of the turn signal stalk. The car knows how much the fuel injectors flow, and it knows how many times they're pulsed, and it knows how far you've traveled so it's just simple math the calculate MPG.

But tires wear which changes their diameter slightly, and with the sampling rates of all the various sensors there are always going to be rounding errors so it will never be perfect.

In HP Tuners you can adjust the MPG readout to make it more accurate so I can only imagine that it is also available to other tuners as well, but like Sauls Automotive said calculating it yourself is the best way to get the most accurate results.