Sorry for the continuing updates but I now have my HHR back!

My salesman went to the service manager and got him to get the computer part from a new HHR and put it on mine. Whenever the part they ordered (if they ever ordered it) comes in, it can go on the new HHR.

He's such a good guy, he called me up this morning to give me the good news and delivered it to my driveway himself along with a gift card to Texas Roadhouse.

I'm not happy with the service department but they don't come any better than my salesman.

I hope to get it out this weekend for a road test. Thanks for all your support and keep your eye on the temperature.

 

Congrads on getting you car back. Glad to here that your salesman did that for you. My salesman retired 3 days after I bought my HHR.

 

Wow...that's great news and great service from your saleman. Good idea to hijack computer part from a new HHR on the lot.

It always helps to have a good rapport with the salesman. Those who are very good at what they do know that even though the sale has been completed. After all, they love referrals and if a previous buyer is unhappy with service provided by the dealership, they certainly won't get them. My salesman is always happy to see me, although he always asks if anything is wrong and always calls me by my first name. And of course, he's always curious to see what I've done to the car since the last time he saw it.

 

Sorry to bother you but I have a question, my coolant temp climbs to like 210 if the car is left sitting for a while i.e. a busy fast food drive thru... but on the freeway the temp is like 185-190. Is the higher temp normal??

 

My 08 does that also. Then the cooling fan will kick in and bring the temp down.

 

That almost exactly what i see with mine. The only time i've had a car over heat on me was after i had it in a body shop for a couple of month and it turned out that the rad was packed with filler dust.

 

What you are encountering probably won't hurt anything unless it goes a bit over that.

If it bothers you....one thing you can do is turn on the A/C. Maybe turn the temp to high, if the area you live in is cold. Turning the a/c on, automatically turns the radiator fans on, providing the necessary air movement through the system.

 

Any idea the temp that the cooling fan kicks on??

 

I'm afraid to admit this, but the coolant fan "kick-in" is not an exact science. Mine turns on at exactly 208 F INDICATED. I've heard others say 210 and 215.

But again, if the a/c is turned on....it's immediate, I believe.

 

Actually, the fans are a variable speed setup. Two parameters control the speed, engine coolant temp (ECT) and A/C pressure via two calibration tables and represent fan speed as a %.

The top table is the one for temp control and the bottom for A/C. At any condition the higher value will apply. These are from an actual HHR calibration file.

With my high summer temps here in VA and heavy urban traffic, I saw the temps rise higher than I would like. What I did was to ramp up the temp table quicker and all is much better now, with much more stable temps.

Hope this helps understand how the fan works.