Its been very hot and humid here in SO.IL. car fan runs alot which mauel says is very normal. Avg about 198 I believe. have seen over 200 many ocasions in humid & heat. Should be normal what Im reading. Id say no worries.

 

Many cars will run over 200.

I would not get concerend till it starts getting to 210-215 and start to really worry at 220 as at that point something is for sure wrong.

 

Yeah on my inst panel, my needle has never even been to half way point yet

 

something people forget about is the radiator itself could stand an external cleaning every now and then....you'd be surprised what collects in the fins....I hit a tumbleweed once and had to do a roadside removal! Hell, you coulda picked up a piece of plastic bag on the lower end and never noticed it,,,,

 

Just to add some more data points. Generally with ambient temperatures between 45F and 85F, mine will run right at 195 to 200F water and same for oil temp (Aeroforce gauge). Last weekend, I was on a long high speed run up north with outside temp at 100F and air conditioning on full. Water temp got to 215F and oil temp got to 250F and held there for an hour. My brothers new BMW 335iS runs 245F oil temp continuously once warmed up for a random comparison.

 

I called dealer they gave me number of chevy customer service 800-222-1020. I asked them about above, he left for 3-4 min. came back to say chevy accepts up to 230 as normal. said if goes over that pull over,shut off & go to dealer. He said all vehicles run differently and if anything happens I'm documented and have 100,000 mi. warranty. it has 7,130 miles.

 

Thank goodness for synthetic oil, right ?

 

If they could develop gas that could with stand a constant 220 deg we'd be running a 220 thermostat.....from a heat standpoint thats about optimum temperature but the gas we have can't handle it,,,195 is the max they can go under current configuations....food for thought.....

 

I've been concerned about my HHR too. It's a 2009 LT with 37,000 miles on it.

Back in May, after months of the needle being below the halfway point, it started running above it, and the fan went on and stayed on longer than it had before. I took it to the dealer and they put more coolant in. Everything was fine for three more weeks. Then it started acting up again. In June, they found the coolant was low, and used dye to trace the problem to a tiny leak allowing coolant to flow into the oil. It took two and a half weeks for all the parts to dribble in and get the cylinder head(s) replaced, but everything seemed fine .... until the next to last week in July, just before I began the three week vacation I'm on now. I got home from a martial arts class and the fan ran for seven minutes after I parked it in my garage. I took it to the dealer, fearing another leak, but they said there was enough coolant and attributed it to the heat. Again, not problem since I left home, but today while driving between Bar Harbor and Shcoodic point, the needle wandered above the halfway point.

Just now I drove in to this internet cafe, and while I was parallel parking, a woman parked ahead of me vacated the space. But while I was waiting, the temp ran up to 243, and the fan ran for five minutes after I turned it hope. I hope there is enough coolant, but I have to shine a flashlight behind the coolant tank to see anything, and even then, I am not sure.

I am hoping that the car is behaving normally given that this year we have the kind of real summer we did not have last year, but I want the mechanics to tell me that. In the meantime, I welcome any comments.

 

243* sounds TOO hot.. I would look into that.........

And to the level in the recovery tank, I raised my level, to a more visable amount, but not so much that it overflows when really hot .. Still need a LED light to see it...