jerry455

The thermostat is probably 195*. That means it starts opening at that temp. it may not be fully open til 205*. Next time I have a tech 2 on my hhr I will note what temp the fans turn. They run that hot for emissions purposes.

kby

Well, I'll be darned. Ain't that something... Thanks so much for the great help and education. I am certainly appreciative. Thanks - kip

kby

OK, I hate to be a pain, or hard headed... I just have a hard time thinking that tempretures that high (220 or above) are OK, and will not damage the engine or blow a hose.... Again, thanks much - kip

Greybeard999

New engines are designed differently that older engines...... Emissions standards are the main reasons behind it. (hot engines produce less NOx) You will also note a much quicker warmup time with heat blowing during the winter much sooner than an older car. (not a big deal but desired)

jbman

Make sure you don't put to much coolant in, the normal amount is at the bottom of the bottle. I thought my Rad. was leaking but i had overfilled the coolant, dealer took awhile to figure that one out. Sounds like your fine.

kby

Hey, thanks so much for help and info. I have a 77' corvette, and I had all kinds of issues keeping it running cool. I finally put in an aluminum radiator, ran only the engine fan and it runs the hottest at around 210. When I saw the HHR going over that temp I thought "Oh, not again!" So, perhaps all is well here. I hope so. Again, thanks so much - kip

Laco

The factory T-stat in my HHR is 180 degrees. I can only describe how mine works, but the cooling fan kicks in at about 215 to 220 degrees, pulls the temp back to about 189 or so, then kicks off.

Don06

It's easy to check your thermostat.When you start your car cold, bring up the coolant temperature on the DIC and take note as it rises. When the 195 degree thermostat opens, the temperature will drop from 195 then go back up and cycle like that until all of the coolant is up to temperature.

As has been noted, the 195 degree is to meet emission standards. You could change it but the computer system is programmed for the higher temps.

I haven't seen temperatures over 210 but it doesn't get over 90 degrees here very often and I most of my driving is at speeds above 50 mph.

molecule

Had to read this , just got back from las vegas , Temp was over 100 climbing the 2 steep and long grades seen water temp of 217 and started to get worried turned off the air on both .
Came home at dusk never seen temp over 192 but the outside air was 90 and dropped from there .
217 just scares the hell out of me plannig another trip to the desert next week where temp are 107-112 .

molecule

Just wanted to post back after making the second trip to the desert , outside temp was 104 -116 , one night it was still 110 at 9 PM, Pulled the same hills and some others on HW 15 and 40 , But this time left the AC on after reading about the electric fan being on when the AC is on , It helped as the temp never got over 212 when pulling the hills with the AC on verses the 217 reading when I had the air off the last time .