Beware Aveo's plastic T-stat housing

[BRD]

I helped a stranded motorist with an '05 Aveo. Coolant blew out in traffic at the upper radiator hose's connection to the thermostat housing, which is bolted to the engine on the front pass side. Inspection revealed this T-stat housing is a POS piece of molded plastic. This one was clearly defective, had sheared clean in half like cut with a big razor blade. Got the man calmed down enough to call his extended warranty carrier and have the veh towed to a Chevy dealer. True enough, Aveo's a cheap date but there's no excuse for that bad part. It's a safety issue, you won't get far w/o any coolant to that little engine. Chevrolet used to be the best car you could buy for the Dollars you could afford to spend. They could do better nowadays if GM wanted to.

[rodeo02]

Wow that's a new one. I've seen aluminum and cheap stamped steel T-stat housings/necks, but not a plastic material yet. I wonder if this guy had work done, where the housing was over-tightened or stressed. Either way, a cheaper fix than a blown radiator, heater core or water pump. Being a 2005, this guy is probably due for a T-belt and a crap load of ($$$) work anyway.

Joel

[mikedudley17]

Originally Posted by rodeo02

Being a 2005, this guy is probably due for a T-belt and a crap load of ($$$) work anyway.

Joel

so sad to say lol

[cmlgolfmaster]

I have a 2005 Aveo hatch with 101,000 miles on it. I had the same problem just yesterday, damn plastic housing split apart and had to get it towed. Now they have the metal replacement part which is quite pricey (around $100). I have read just recently of a lot of problems with the aveo and thankfully I haven't had to deal with most of this stuff YET! My headlights always are blowing and my daytime running lights don't come on anymore. Most likely an electrical problem. Other than that this little car has been great to drive.

[mcthumber]

Aveo problems (all minor IMO) abound on the interweb--

* Timing Belt -- change it by 60k miles or pay the piper. Water pump too!

* T'stat Housing -- replace it with metal the first chance you get or live dangerously.

* Gas tank won't fill -- Not limited to Aveo. Seems to go across a lot of brands.

* Clock winks out -- Seems to be mostly '04s & '05s.

* Front end squeaks -- No definitive cures. I've learned to live with it.

(I have an '06 LT Hatch BTW....50k miles and no issues. I changed the Housing to metal at 25k....Timing Belt & WP at 49k).

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by cmlgolfmaster

I have a 2005 Aveo hatch with 101,000 miles on it. I had the same problem just yesterday, damn plastic housing split apart and had to get it towed. Now they have the metal replacement part which is quite pricey (around $100). I have read just recently of a lot of problems with the aveo and thankfully I haven't had to deal with most of this stuff YET! My headlights always are blowing and my daytime running lights don't come on anymore. Most likely an electrical problem. Other than that this little car has been great to drive.

I have an 05 also. In the past I had problems with the headlight bulbs burning out. Seems the 8 year battery it came with is a 5 year battery. Once I changed it out, my charging voltage went from 14.3 to 13.3 and haven't had any more lights burn out. It's a great little car. A lot of fun to drive, but they cut corners in some crucial areas like the shift interlock which has a TSB on it from Chevy. It went out last week and I've been using a spare key to unlock it at the console. It's got 50k on it and I'm taking it in Monday to get that fixed and a new timing belt with water pump and idler pulley. It was touted as the cheapest car you could buy in 2005. I guess in this life you get what you pay for. Still,, I like it. It's a great little car.

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by Davescort97

I have an 05 also. In the past I had problems with the headlight bulbs burning out. Seems the 8 year battery it came with is a 5 year battery. Once I changed it out, my charging voltage went from 14.3 to 13.3 and haven't had any more lights burn out. It's a great little car. A lot of fun to drive, but they cut corners in some crucial areas like the shift interlock which has a TSB on it from Chevy. It went out last week and I've been using a spare key to unlock it at the console. It's got 50k on it and I'm taking it in Monday to get that fixed and a new timing belt with water pump and idler pulley. It was touted as the cheapest car you could buy in 2005. I guess in this life you get what you pay for. Still,, I like it. It's a great little car.

Big pay raise you used to do your own work and now go to a dealer.

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by rhandwor

Big pay raise you used to do your own work and now go to a dealer.

They don't allow us to work on our own cars where I'm employed. Seems there is an insurance liability problem. I can't work at home because I just got divorced, had to move into an apartment where they don't allow maintenance of any kind on vehicles.

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by Davescort97

They don't allow us to work on our own cars where I'm employed. Seems there is an insurance liability problem. I can't work at home because I just got divorced, had to move into an apartment where they don't allow maintenance of any kind on vehicles.

I'm sorry this happened to you a big pay raise raise would have been better.
Parents,brother,sister or friends home are other ideas for your next project.
A friend with a shop who will let you use a lift is more convenient.

[shilohin]

I recently purchased a 2004 Aveo and it had the plastic t-stat housing and had some seepage. I read about it on these forums and found a replacement on Amazon.com for $51 and free shipping. Ordered one and received in 3 days (fast!). I had to buy a couple of generic t-stat gaskets and had to replace the squeeze type upper radiator hose clamp with a band clamp because the squeeze clamp wouldn't squeeze tight enough on the new housing. While I was looking for the replacement metal housing, I found replacement plastic housings for around $44 plus shipping, so buying a new metal one for $51 was a no-brainer!