843de

That my friend is the right attitude to have.

HHR's are machines, no matter what anthropomorphic personalities we might assign to them.

And machines will break, malfunction, or fail. When that happens, diagnose the problem, fix it, and keep "Keepin' On".

RJ_RS_SS_350

I hope you get it fixed before it fixes you, George. It's not your DD, though is it?

firemangeorge

Nope, not my DD. Just my fair weather car. It doesn't see rain or wet roads.

DrLoch

Understand that.. mine serves the same duties, although it's been caught out in the rain once or twice. Heck I still have the factory wiper blades and washer fluid.

firemangeorge

Just a little update for those that are interested. 1st. I haven't changed the t-stat or dexcool yet.
Something I've noticed is this seems to be only on a cold start to warm up issue. I've driven it 3 times since my original post. Each time it's been from a cold start, the temp has climbed to 217, 219, and 225 before the T-stat seems to open. The temp will then quickly drop back to the 183-185 range in about 15 seconds. It will stay in the 183-187 range for the rest of the time.
The couple of times it was restarted when warm, the temp stayed at the normal 183-187.
I'm still thinking that the T-stat is just slightly sticking when warming up, thus the reason for the initial higher temps.
Once the temp drops back down, it takes such a short time to cool down, I guess the T-stat is fully opening.
Checked the fan operation and that appears normal. It does come on at initial startup( I think only the SS does this )

Anyhow. Still going to pick up a new T-stat and dexcool and get that changed out soon.

Oldblue

Don't forget how Dexcool gets all wierd when heated above 210 or so! That could cause issues with the thermostat, plus age it's going on 6 years old.

Snoopy

Dexcool is NOT hurt by temperatures of "210 or so". Proper mixtures provide protection to the 260 mark for example. And many GM vehicles, including mine, have experienced temperatures of 220 -230 at least a couple of times in the summer..... especially when exiting the valley and heading to the mountains and utilizing Sunset Point climb. But 210 is experienced at least once a day by every vehicle.

donbrew

I'm sure OB meant 240F. He does C normally.

I have experience with DexCool and overheating. It gets clumpy and lots of particulate.

Oldblue

It was your issues that brought the overheated problems of Dexcool to mind, Don. And I did mean 240 degrees F, I don't usally do C in this forum