When you get stuck with a lemon

[Zack]

Frustration post incoming...

So my father (unlike myself) has no interest in cars with niceties. He is more of the "it should get you from point A to point B" kinda person. They don't drive much anyway. Back in 2016 he was in the market for a new car and I told him to do his research, test drive a few options and get a feel for the market. But no, what does he do? One day on an outing to Caledon (in the WC) he parked outside a deli and out of curiosity walked across the street into a Chev dealer........ and somehow drove away with a Chev Aveo. I knew I was not allowed to make any comments but boy was I disappointed when I heard.

Anyway. He was happy because he got a new car. Shortly after owning it, an unusual problem popped up. Completely at random, the car would turn over but not start. This has now happened about 7 times in the last 3 years and you'll be surprised at what inopportune moments this can occur. Below is the event history we sent to them earlier this year.

• Purchased at Rola Motors in Caledon and they diagnosed the first problem in 2017. They could not find the problem since it was intermittent.
• After the withdrawal of GM, they referred him to Frank Vos Motors in Worcester. In February 2018 the problem occurred again they arranged a tow in for the vehicle and suspected the immobilizer is the problem so they installed a new unit.
• In October 2018 it occurred again and reported to roadside assist. They advised the vehicle must be brought in but they could not as it did not want to start. They ley it stand and after about a week of trying every day the vehicle started again.
• March 2019 the problem occurred again (a month after the warranty has expired) and it started again the next day. They took it in anyway and decided to replace the whole ECU as no diagnostic equipment could pick up any faults.

And finally today... it did not want to start again. This, another example of terrible timing, my dad was on his way to a doctors appointment and they were also scheduled to visit us this weekend.

All faith in this car was lost a long time ago. Sadly my dad is retired and not willing to spend much on getting a replacement car, he does not have deep pockets so "just buy a new car" is also not the easiest option. He does not want to knowingly sell this one to somebody if it has this problem. If he does he will basically get nothing for it anyway. I have been using my contacts at Isuzu to assist with the matter, but there is only so much they can or are willing to do.

Does anyone have any advice or perspective whatsoever? I am really at my wits end and I can understand my dad feels even worse as they are literally afraid of traveling in fear that they will stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere and the car would just not start again. .

[Stompie]

I dont know the Chev's nor the aveos but...

I assume that over the course of the past years, someone removed the spark plugs to check if there is spark when this issue occurs and the car doesnt want to start?

Is fuel being pumped, can you hear the pump prime when the car does not want to start?

[Zack]

I am not sure of the steps that are followed when an Auto Electrician diagnoses a vehicle. All I know is that it has been in the workshop about 4 times and nobody can find any faults. The Immobiliser and ECU replacements were speculation due to them not knowing what the problem actually is.

[Stompie]

I am not sure of the steps that are followed when an Auto Electrician diagnoses a vehicle. All I know is that it has been in the workshop about 4 times and nobody can find any faults. The Immobiliser and ECU replacements were speculation due to them not knowing what the problem actually is.

Was it at the auto electrician while it didnt want to start? if so i would hope that they checked these basic steps.

[individj]

i had an opel corsa....2010 model...bought new...chain slipped...repaired it...paid a fortune..broke..spent more..eventually just said no...ended up giving the car away for very little and lost ..it was a poor decision to purchase the vehicle..that was the consequence...i had to cut my losses.

[Danny@DSCmotorsport]

is the car cold when it refuses to start or is it after some driving that it cuts out and then refuses to start?

Havent worked on these at all so merely just asking. I have a contact at GM with Head office and at a dealer but unfortunately its all here in JHB

[E-Male]

Jees, that sucks especially when older folk are impacted.

Although this is a random occurrence, does it happen when the car is hot? ie. car has been used and then stands for a bit OR from cold like early in the morning?

Could be some electrical like a faulty relay; coil pack; crank sensor; fuel pump- seeing as the ecu and immobiliser have been replaced.

Its a pity that there is no fault logged in the ecu memory when the issue is experienced.

Perhaps check with you dad under what conditions this happens and try to replicate it so you can demonstrate to the workshop/ technicians.

[///Dees]

Is the car auto or manual?

Did you try to kick start it when it turns and refuses to start?

[individj]

now that i think about it im sure there were ECU or immobiliser issues with the Opel too and im sure this has the same setup.

[Tinuva]

I dont know anything about this, but to me it sounds like the engine is getting flooded with fuel. When this happens, its a nightmare to get the engine to start because there is no easy way to get rid of the excess fuel (usually) and also these little engines don't record faults for that.

[UpNcOmiNg!]

Well logically this could only be one of two things.
No fuel
No spark

Alternatively I would look at the cam position censor and crank position sensor.
It could be throwing an intermittent fault somewhere that causes this.
There could also be a spike or drop in ampage through the cars electrical system that may be throwing the sensors off somewhere along the line? Perhaps another battery may assist.

[Nella11]

Ok not the exact same vechile but very close.
Exactly the same problem .
A friend off my daughter came to visit her a while ago all the way from Upington.
She had a Chevy spark that also randomly refused to start.
And on the morning of her leaving back to Upington the car just plainly refused to start.
After testing everything from cam and crank sensors ...airflow meters etc...even started to swop out parts on a running spark ...i just couldn't get it started.
All the parts worked fine on the other spark so I was stumped and started to suspect the ecu.
So I phoned a local sparky ...and he immediately told me to open the fuse box and look for loose wires/bad connections ...apparently a commen issue.
He was right...i actually had more than one bad wire inside the fuse box..repaired them decently and she started up first kick.

[Coisman]

Zack, check the little ring around the key fob. My Daughter Sami is having exactly the same with her Chevy Spark, we figured out the ring moves and miss aligns very slightly, thus the chip in the key gives a tamer error and the car doesn't start.

Worth a try looking into that.

[Tinuva]

Some good ideas in this thread to check out. Some look valid as possible issues.

[Zack]

Thank you for the response guys. I knew I could rely on our community to give valuable input.

I have asked them to check the fuse box and the ring at the ignition and realized I am talking to the wrong person when my dad asked: "Where is the fuse box?". Heavens help me

Somehow the fuse box makes sense to me as that is not something they meddled with much judging by all the diagnostics they have done at the dealers. I decided to just phone a contact that phoned a contact to get an auto electrician out to them that will be able to accurately check what you guys suggested. It's really difficult having them living in the middle of nowhere with no decent resources.

My mom is now quite emotional. She helped arrange a surprise bachelorette party for my fiance this weekend and now she might not even be able to come through

[Gordvisr]

Hallo, which year model is this ? They were very based on the opel corsa, I can almost bet it might be the fuel pump relay.

[JM52]

Geez man. Hopefully it all gets sorted out, especially now that it's almost "family season" when gatherings are common. All the best yeah