08 chevy aveo won't start on cold mornings

Asked by Ellen_43 Nov 10, 2016 at 02:12 PM about the 2008 Chevrolet Aveo LS Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

08 chevy aveo trouble starting on cold mornings.
Will start and run for about a minute then die..can
unhook ground cable on battery and will
restart..after sun shines on it awhile will start and
run fine all day till next morning

8 Answers

70

I'm having same issues, Were you able to figure this out?

7 people found this helpful.
20

Please someone have a fix? I've got the same thing on a 2008 AVEO5

2 people found this helpful.
10

Mine will start but then I get somewhere and it won’t let me leave it just cranks

1 people found this helpful.
30

Wow - same here (2008 stick-shift Aveo 5) - only when below zero (like today - 5th time this winter, though). Runs 2 min and dies. Then won't fire again, like no gas getting to injectors. Thought it was water/ethanol sludging-up in gas, but I ran it totally dry, refilled with fresh gas, and same problem. I can hear fuel pump when I turn key, so I don't think it's an electrical problem to pump. Is there a filter at injectors (can't find evidence of this online)? As soon as thermometer goes above zero, it is flawless - but that took a week during a recent cold-spell. We need to solve this one.

3 people found this helpful.
10

Anyone figure this problem out? Please text me at (763)400-6007 thanks!

1 people found this helpful.
30

It's a year later now. We've had a few more below-zero days this winter, and the same symptoms occur each time: start right up, run 1 min, and die- then not run again until the weather gets up into the teens. 3 times already this winter I have had to use my 1990 F-150 firewood truck to get to work because it will start&run in below-zero weather; my 2008 Aveo will not. Below-zero is miserable conditions to diagnose a problem, but it's the only time all year long that the Aveo fails. Not only does the fuel pump run (as I reported last year), but opening the throttle body and spraying starting fluid in will not make it fire. My hands were too cold at this point to diagnose farther, but I am pretty sure it is loosing ignition - the spark is shutting off. Recall, however, it starts up immediately, runs for 1 min, and then dies and will not start, sometimes for days, until the weather warms. My suspicion is that there is a sensor for the computer that is causing the shut-down - i.e., it is a property that is intentionally engineered into the car. Frustrating. I told my wife that, if she ever finds me frozen to death in the car at some trail-head after I come out from the mountains on a cold day, she can thank who ever designed this sensor/computer for the car.

40

Hey, my friends - I solved this one and my '08 works like new again on the COLDEST mornings - even on below-zero mornings - once again. I'll give some details so you understand. First, it kept getting worse. ALthough the problem started 3 years ago and only when colder than -10oF, by this fall, it wouldn't keep running below +10oF, and by November this became +15oF. This is a big problem if you live in the Northern Rockies!!! I read a forum that said the 1 min run, then die, and the ability to re-set for another min run by unplugging the battery for 10 sec, means "the ECM is not closing the loop". In general terms, the car starts on "open loop" mode, but after ~ 1 min, needs to have correct input coming from all of the sensors associated with the engine to "close the loop" and keep functioning. These inputs allow the ECM to fine tune air, fuel, throttle, etc, and optimize performance. The question became: which sensor was bad? One forum said to unplug O2 sensors as a test. This didn't help. I replaced the MAF/intake air temp sensor (~$7 online, easy to access) and the problem persisted. Then the engine coolant sensor (similar price, hard to access and change under the car, back of engine, between alt and starter, behind a heavy steel brace) and problem still persisted. Unbelievably, I eventually ruled out EVERY sensor that should potentially be temp-sensitive, so I began to suspect the one component that ALMOST never fails - the ECM, itself. I bought a cheap heating pad at Walmart Pharmacy and wrapped it around the ECM (easy to access, behind bat, between fuse box and coolant res). The new heating pads have a 2 hr shut-off, so I put my extension cord on a light timer to turn on at 5:00 am every morning. Every day below 15oF, or even below zero, that I remembered to plug this in, it worked perfect at 7:00. Every time I forgot, it ran for 1 minute and then died. Tentative fault: the ECM, itself. My brother pointed me to a website for a place in NY that sells "plug-n-play" ECMs, pre-programmed to your VIN# and guaranteed, for under $300 (https://www.fs1inc.com/). Lots of money if this is the wrong diagnosis, but after 1/2 the winter with heating the ECM working and forgetting to heat it failing, I had cautious optimism this was really the problem. I bought the ECM and wondered if I was just throwing away my money. Installed it a week ago (15 min job - real easy) and - first surprise - the car started. They really did program it to work on my car! Now, a week later, 4 days below 10oC and 2 of them below zero, it's flawless. I plan to open up the old ECM and see if there is an obvious heating resistor in there. If so, I'll send a pic and you can probably fix yours for $3.00 instead of $300. Always try everything else before suspecting the ECM, but sometimes...... We'll, I think I'm probably good for at least another 10 more years and 80,000 more miles. Good luck!

4 people found this helpful.

Hey - it's me again, and I dissected the brain (ECM). Bad news: there is not an obvious heating resistor in there. Just an incredibly complex circuit board. One component is clearly marked as a 24-Ohm resistor, and this might be the flawed element, but it is an integral part of the circuit board and not something I would would try to "fix" myself. I don't have a $3 cure for you, but the $17 Walmart heating pad really did work well when I remembered to plug it in, and that's not a bad "band-aide" while you wait to get a new ECM or for Spring to arrive. We are another 10-days into cold-cold weather here that the old ECM would not have tolerated, and this really is a "true fix". The replacement ECM is one of the best $300 investments I've ever made.

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