Glad I didn't pick up that 09 HHR SS I had my eye on @ the dealership then..

 

Sorry to hear that; I hope you reconsider.

 

Ok so it was 38 degrees here in NC when I left for work in my 09 SS that has 36k on it. I stopped at a light on the way in and noticed the temp was up to approx. 215 with the heat on. So I turned the heat off against my better judgement and low and behold it came down to 208. After a little stop and go it got up to about 217. Should I be concerned? Also, I always thought cutting the heat on helped drop the temp, why did the opposite happen?

 

Totally Normal. Mine have reached once 115°C (about 239°F), going uphill, at 10 mph, with heavy traffic, with 41°C temp (107°F)... and just that time, never again.

 

If you're really worried about it, you can take it to your dealer and have them give it a thurough going over, but if they don't find any leaks, there's not much else to do.

BTW, my car continues to behave itself. Did I run into some anomalies caused by the first hot summer in years? I'll know next summer.

 

Good deal. I'm going to get a bottle of coolant on the way home and check it tonight after it cools down to make sure I'm not a little low.

 

Ok, so I checked it last night when I got home and I could barely see any coolant in the recovery tank. I added about a 1/2 a gal to it and that has filled it up to the cold fill line. Checked it again this morning and it is still full. I took it to the dealer and dropped it off to see where I might be losing the coolant. I have a small oil leak that I found 2 weeks ago that I needed to get checked out anyway so two birds, one stone I hope.

When I drove it in today the temps were much better. Stayed around 205, until I hit some bumper to bumper and it ran up to 214. Fingers crossed.

 

So I took it to the dealer and the did a coolant system check and determined there were no leaks. So yesterday I parked it on a hill and when I came back out I noticed a large amount of coolant under the front drivers side. So I pulled the car to a flat spot and took my flashlight out and moved a few hoses around until, low and behold the 2 piece lower radiator hose had a hole that had worn in the side of the hose where it was rubbing against metal. Thanks for nothing dealer!!!

 

that sux..
after repair, It you can't get hose away from rubbing spot, I would wrap that area of new hose with old rad hose to protect from future rubbing thru.

 

Never really watched the DIC digital temp gauge but the other day sitting at a redlight I heard the fan running and flipped it over to see 221 degrees (20 degrees outside) Since then I have watched it closely and see a range of 189 to 221.....yet the needle gauge on the dash never moves. Tends to run between 202-207 most of the time. Just concerned at why the needle never moves vs. the digital output (and I mean the needle literally does not move AT ALL once up to temp). Makes me wonder if I have a sending unit bad and also a thermostat with temp swings like that.

Anyone else watched the digital gauge and what range do you see. My SS has 50k on it now.