A few days ago we bumped into a problem that the our white Chevrolet Aveo from 2012 wouldn’t keep running. The engine would start and after about one second of “bubbling” it would slowly die/stall. I’ll tell you the story and hopefully it helps some people.
Trying to keep the engine running
After about ten times I almost gave up. I just couldn’t keep it running. I usually start the engine whilst pressing the clutch, because our other car wouldn’t start without pressing the clutch. The solution was to start the car without pressing the clutch. Then the car would start (and keep) running! It would actually let me move it. So that’s awesome.
Code 89
After driving 50 meters this happened. I turned around immediately and parked the car. As you can see and hear in the video there is a lot to see and hear here. Firstly the bright red coolant temperature indicator. The engine wasn’t hot and the temperature outside was about 25 Celsius. Secondly you can see code 89 at the top right of the dashboard screen. I immediately checked the manual and it said: “Service vehicle soon“. Thirdly the abundant sound that just wouldn’t stop.
Cause & solution
Code 89 is very generic. The cause of this problem is subjective and can differ from car to car even though the code is the same. On my car the problem was that the coolant temperature sensor was broken. This caused the engine to “not know” how to regulate itself and therefore occasionally couldn’t start. After the garage replaced the coolant temperature sensor for 140 dollars the problem was solved!
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