I am new to the forum and hope someone can help. My HHR was losing fluid and when pressure tested I was told the radiator was cracked. I have repalced the radiator, bled the system for ai and repalced the thermostat. I t will in the 200 range while moving. Once stopped at an idle, the temperature begins to creep up until reaching the alternate cooling mode. The fan is working. Initially it acted as if the thermostat was stuck but that doesn't seem to be quite fitting the overall problem. Also, when run for several hours, it finally reached the point where the A/C could not be run and would only stay cool with the heater on full blast. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome!

Do you have any codes that were thrown with this, post the new radiator install?

What kind of Antifreeze did you get?

 

Welcome first of All-

& Are you sure you have gotten all the air out of the cooling system.. These engines can be tricky to get it all out..

Some recommend parking on a steep grade with the front end up the hill.. So the air can try to reach the highest point..

Also: have you checked the dip stick to make sure your oil does not look like chocolate milk.....


Edit: When the engine gets too hot, it will shut off the A/C...

How hot are your numbers reading off the DIC ??

 

to the forum johnbear1990!

Sleeper hit all the salient points in his post, a bit more info from you would be great like the DIC temp readout, and do check the condition of your oil, my thoughts are leaning a bit towards a blown head gasket.

 

OK. Oil checks out good. No Chocolate Milk! I will need to get the codes read and get back to you all. Thanks for all the input.

Driving in to work this morning it stayed in the 190 - 200 range. Once I got off of the freeway it started to rise and hit 230 F. Again, heater on windows down etc. I will try again to bleed out all the air. My driveway has a large slope so that should work. Any suggestions on the best way to bleed the air?

 

Honestly, getting the air out of the 2.2 and 2.4 cooling systems is a bear, the dealers and radiator shops have a special vacuum cap adapter that allows them to pull a vacuum on the cooling system.

At this point, its time to take it somewhere like your dealer or a trusted radiator shop and have then evacuate the system by putting it under a vacuum. As hot is its getting I'm pretty sure you have a significant amount of air trapped in the cooling system and you're flirting with cracking your head/blowing a head gasket.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

Something I've done in the past was to squeeze the radiator hoses after the stat opens to help push the air out (cap off obviously) while running. Haven't done the HHR yet, but it is on my list of "to do" this spring.

 

I recently found that a new filler cap would not allow the refill while cooling thingy, put the old (OE) one back seems to be all good. So I had a low coolant level in the system, but the tank was full. Tank level went up but not down, hoses getting squished when cold.

Unfortunately , if it got to 240F; I am betting on head gasket replacement, and that whoever told you radiator leak meant head gasket.

When the temp gets to around 240F the computer goes into "get stopped" mode. The cylinders will fire alternatingly, so that you are only using 2 or 3 cylinders at a time. The A/C will shut off, Auto transmission will not shift right. Get me to a parking area NOW!!! and TURN ME OFF!!! And then after that happens, you will probably need at least a head gasket if not an engine.

Don't forget to change the ATF (if you got it) after an over heat event.

And, getting the bubble out of the system could fix it, but 240F while moving is a "death" kind of thing. Been there, done that. Both ways.

 

Don't forget - the coolant temperature sensor is adjacent to the thermostat housing. After the thermostat is opened, it is reading the temperature of the coolant that has already flowed through the radiator. If your temp reading is higher when you are moving at speed, you have got big time problems. Somehow, exhaust gases are coming into physical contact with the coolant - that's the only way that coolant can get heated beyond it's ability to absorb heat efficiently, when the rest of the cooling system components are intact. Some types of head gasket leaks allow exhaust gas to leak into the cooling system but do not allow coolant to find it's way into the oil. The water pump, radiator and fans are all doing their level best but there's just too much heat in the coolant. I don't think that a trapped air pocket preventing coolant from contacting an internal metal surface could be large enough to cause that kind of temperature rise at speed.
Ouch! It's head gasket city, in all probability.