flashing hold and cel.

[troy_mclure]

2005 aveo, auto, ls, 76k miles.

the timing belt, idler pully, and valves were replaced a couple thousand miles ago. transmission oil was changed last week.

within the last 500 miles or so the cel came on and reported random misfire, then the hold light would start flashing as i neared freeway speed and prevent shifting into top gear untill i came to a stop. then the hold light would go away as would the shifting issue.
recently( most drives, but not always) both cel and hold light are flashing, shifting is real hard(around 5k rpm) and just creeps forward off of a stop.

[avguy]

For misfire, the first thing to check is the spark plugs. Have you done that yet, and how did they look if you did?
Why were the valves replaced - timing belt-related problem?

[troy_mclure]

the plugs looked ok. some oil on the threads, but the contacts were dry.
and the timing belt broke and smoked all the valves.

[avguy]

Next question is the plug wires. Very common for the valve cover gasket to leak and fill the plug wells up with oil. If the wires had an oil bath for a while, they tend to rot and need to be replaced.
After changing 3 of these belts, it's been my experience to find the old belts in like-new condition when changed out. So I always suspect something other than just the belt being the real cause of these failures. Were you able to determine if anything else happened on your Aveo which might have caused the belt to break?

[troy_mclure]

no. the car ran perfect up untill the belt broke(i thought i had run out of gas as i was nearing the bottom of the tank when it died) and had run fine right after the belt/valves were replaced.

plug wires are fine, no brittleness, cracking, or softness.

[avguy]

Misfire could be caused by a number of things, but because of the recent major repair, if it were mine I'd do a compression test and maybe a leak down test as well.

[troy_mclure]

ill look for a compression tester.

with just the cel on the car seems to run ok, but when the hold light starts flashing it wont accelerate or shift well/or to top gear.

[RicochetRandy]

Hold light indicates a transmission issue..

[troy_mclure]

2 new symptoms today.
the car is trying to pull against the brake, and the "box" that feeds into the exhaust was red hot after a 30 min drive.

im assuming that the unburned fuel from the misfire is igniting in whatever the "box" is.

[troy_mclure]

well it seems that my catalytic converter was the culprit. i "gutted' it and the car runs great again. just a bit noisy from the "expansion chamber" in front of the engine.