The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, she heard abnormal knocking sounds coming from the rear wheels of the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated that she heard clicking sounds while making turns. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact drove to her residence and parked the vehicle. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
2013 Chevrolet Sonic: engine knocking or ticking
5 of the 217 complaints about the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic describe engine knocking or ticking.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 2%
- typical mileage
- 74,000
- recalls
- 0
Engine knocking or ticking by model year
- 20142
- 20135
- 20125
What owners say
My 2013 chevy sonic developed ticking sound shortly after I bought it at 60000 miles. The ticking got worse over time and then check engine light came on. I scanned the codes and multiple four codes were found. P0171, p0496, p1101, and p2270. After doing some research it seemed to be that most cruze, sonic, and trax vehicles all had the same issues. I took it to the dealer for diagnostics and was informed the vehicle needed a new intake manifold, purge valve, pcv hose, and valve cover. They called the dealership to see if there were any recalls and the only one was the valve cover but would have to pay for diagnostics to see if they would cover it or not. The breather diaphragm in the valve cover goes bad due to a fault intake manifold on these vehicle models. There is a little orange gasket in the manifold that goes bad and causes the diaphragm to go out resulting in having to replace the entire system. The intake manifold not only causes ghat issue but causes the car to get jumpy at stops and stalling out. Have almost had a few people rear end me due to this. The purge valve goes out as well and when at the fuel pump the car will hesitate to crank or run at very low idle shutting off multiple times before it starts up and then runs rough until a decent amount of fuel has ran through the engine. The car would not get enough fuel when at stops or on highways and would also just lose fuel and cut the engine off. Those components have since been replaced by myself and no more issues. Chevy will not recall the parts that are causing the issues and therefore there is a safety issue when out on the highways.
My sonic had the same issue as the federal safety agency recall no. : 19e-064, manufacturer recall no. : n192223230. Except, it happened when I reached to use the wipers rather than hitting the key fob with my leg. I reached to use the wipers and my arm hit the key fob, knocking it into the next position, turning off the engine. It could have just as easily moved over one more and locked the steering. The recall was done on the camaro's, so why wasn't it done on any other vehicle using the same key fob and ignition replacement? Was it because the camaro's price is 4 times the price of a sonic? Are camaro drivers more valuable than sonic drivers? There is a class action lawsuit including the camaro recall, but not the sonic. Https://www.gmignitionswitcheconomicsettlement.com/ I reported this back in 2014, and never heard a word about it.
Air intake system. Not long after we bought the car the check engine light came on reading a code ph171. We were told it was a knock sensor which we replaced and it didn't fix the problem, after we were told it was the air intake hose, checked it and it looks like it's a new hose no issues with it. Now we are trying everything we can to figure out the problem. We check online forums and found out that this is a huge problem with this car and almost no one knows exactly what it is to fix it. When the car is driving it seems fine but as soon as you stop and it idles it seems like it wants to die and almost has a few times. Was just curious if this is such a huge problem that so many people are having why there has not been a recall?
Vehicle makes a knocking noise from the passenger front and rear, when the vehicle goes over bumps and when the vehicle makes turns. The knocking sound can be heard, when the car is parked pushing down on either the front fender back passenger side. Vehicle also sways at highway speed.
Service bulletins that may apply
- This service bulletin provides information on replacing the intake manifold when the engine is replaced...
- The service bulletin advises the tech of a normal transmission shift condition and the delay in throttle...
- This bulletin advises the technician to flush the cooling system multiple times if oil has been found in...
- This bulletin advises the dealers to maintain the vehicle stock on hand by doing a full inspection on the...
- This service bulletin provides service information to technicians on guidelines to replace Oil Cooler, Oil...
- This informational bulletin explains Unscheduled Supplemental Services and the importance of GM Simplified...
- This service bulletin provides guidelines and diagnostic/repair information to technicians regarding...
- This service bulletin provides information for maintenance cleaning of the fuel injectors and gasoline...
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic knocking
Is engine knocking or ticking a common problem on the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic?
5 of 217 owner complaints about the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic (2%) mention engine knocking or ticking. The model year with the most reports is 2012.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic?
There are 0 recalls and 270 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic
Check engine light 22No deployment 13Stalling 12Key fob 8Overheating 8Wipers 7Hesitation 6Jerking 6Misfire 5
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2013 Chevrolet Sonic?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history