Maintenance and Upkeep Discussion HHR maintenance tips ranging from oil change intervals to brake pads and everything in between.

P0128 code, coolant temp up when idle

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Old Dec 7, 2016 | 10:48 AM
  #11  
donbrew's Avatar
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Could be the fault was not the fan itself.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 12:09 PM
  #12  
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From: Ashland City, tn
My temp on my display goes is anywhere from 198 to 210 while driving and got as high as 214 at idle. The gauge always stays on the line right before the middle. No engine code and hope there is none. Its a 2010 LT, 2.2L and I know the engine is used (yellow marker written on it). Still get good heat coming from it. Always seems with my car, fix one issue and another one pops up.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 12:57 PM
  #13  
donbrew's Avatar
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I'm taking a wild guess that somebody installed a 190F t-stat. Cruising temp should be about 189F.

Some old timers think that raising the temp is good; that used to be OK.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 05:36 PM
  #14  
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From: Texas
Well, I took a look at the radiator fan, and it is not blowing. Like I mentioned earlier, I replaced this part a year ago. Did I get a bad fan, or could this be somehow connected to the thermostat?

Also, my check engine light is gone. It turned off on its own while I was driving to work this morning.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 05:47 PM
  #15  
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Won't know the code till you get it checked at your local parts palace.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 06:06 PM
  #16  
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The radiator fan on the regular HHR's won't come on until 219 degrees F.
(someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)
SamuelJ. You would need to post what temp the fan didn't blow at. Maybe it just wasn't warm enough.

Turning on the AC at any temp would (should) turn on the radiator cooling fan. Try that to make sure the fan does work. If it doesn't then you may have a fan issue that needs more diagnosis.
Old Dec 8, 2016 | 06:17 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by firemangeorge
The radiator fan on the regular HHR's won't come on until 219 degrees F.
(someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)
SamuelJ. You would need to post what temp the fan didn't blow at. Maybe it just wasn't warm enough.

Turning on the AC at any temp would (should) turn on the radiator cooling fan. Try that to make sure the fan does work. If it doesn't then you may have a fan issue that needs more diagnosis.
Just checked the fan again with the AC on, works great. The temperature that I checked it at before was around 205, which I'm now assuming would not have been hot enough for the fan to engage.
Old Dec 11, 2016 | 09:09 AM
  #18  
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From: myrtle beach, sc
i would REALLY just go ahead and replace the thermostat(especially if it's the original after 200 thousand plus miles. the original gm's have a tendency to fail somewhere along the way..........not a hard job, at all, to do. just make extra sure that your replacing with the proper heat range thermostat(replaced mine with a 180 in my 2006 some time back) and get some dexcool to replenish the system........a bad thermostat will most certainly cause a fluctuating temp reading....
Old Jan 20, 2017 | 11:35 AM
  #19  
MikeRuth's Avatar
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From: Tarzana, CA
I have had that error to, and I have seen it go away!. On two 2006 HHR's the code was from the t-stat not letting the engine warm quick enough. Replacing the T-stat did the trick.
As for the code clearing on it's own, that was due to warmer weather, when it was warmer out the engine warmed quick enough several times to reset the code and then on a really cold morning it would pop it up again, warmer days cleared on it's own. Something to consider.
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