been in stop as go traffic for as long as I can remember. then my CEL comes on for the first time ever, my coolant peaked at 230 when I finally pulled over. Now I'm sitting between 186-196..usually in the low 180's I believe. All levels look fine though?

 

Have you checked your intercooler pump?

 

where's that located?

 

that wont affect your engine coolant at all. check your fans are coming on ( relay, connectors etc) ...230 is not the end of the world, but it should not happen. sounds like fans not coming on, could be t stat, but get all the usual engine cooling system checks done and you will find the answer..

 

my t stat does get stuck low sometimes..that shouldn't trigger the CEL though

 

still have 130 miles til home..highest I should let it go before pulling off?

 

230*

186-196 is normal temp.

 

really????

 

UPDATE: made it home, killed an hour in the town I was in to let the traffic die down in DC/Baltimore so I wouldn't be constantly stopping and going.

When I was cruising on the highway, temps were completely normal (163-175) however the CEL is still on. Whenever I come to a stop or stay in first for a little, temps rise fairly quickly..got back up to 202 before I realized how to keep it low. Something clogged? Higher speeds are fine so that's why I'd think that.

 

anything 220 and lower is normal

 

Yea my car in the warmer months frequently will hit 220+ it's just a shitty design from the factory I honestly don't know WTF they were thinking.

 

if you are only seeing 163-175 you need to replace your t stat check the fans to make sure they are working

your high

no its not a shitty design you more then likely have a problem

 

If I wasn't tuned I saw 220 on a regular basis. It's normal

 

I think I've only ever hit that once, and that was idling for a good 20 minutes without moving, on a hot day. Try turning on your AC in traffic, it'll get your fans going.

 

if your still having overheating issues, turn your heat on. it will kickstart the pump and allow for circulation. but as others have stated i would double check to make sure your fans are coming on.

 

How will turning the heat on kick start to pump? The pump is constantly driven by the crank with a chain. This is a simple thing to figure out, first your thermo is getting stuck open. Thats not causing over heating though. 2nd. Let the car sit an idle until it gets really hot again, check and see if the fan is running. If the fan is running, get in an rev the car to like 2500 and hold it there. If the temp goes down, then you know you have a water pump on the way out. And if the fans arent working, then well, check the fuse and relay.

 

If I've learned anything about troubleshooting, check fuse before anything

 

220 isent normal op temp for these cars if you are seeing 220 on a regular basis you got problems

 

Its not normal if your on the freeway...but if your stop and go or beating on the car then its normal

i once saw 225 after being hard on it (was actuallly 220 when i shut it off)

 

220*f is nothing to worry about, from factory the fans hit 50% at 220 degrees. now, my car with stage 2 tune, sitting in traffic would generally hit around 215*f before it started coming back down, and it did that from new.

as for the problem, yes 230 is getting high. now being you temps drop when cruising down the freeway, id say your overheating problem is not caused by the thermostat (although with the temps you listed it sounds like it may be stuck open). check your fans, id bet they arent coming on. another thing to try is turn your a/c on, the fan should come on instantly. if the fans are working, check the water pump as listed above.

 

I broke 235+ with a broken IC pump at the track, no CEL or anything though.

 

car doesnt touch over 200 now that im tuned

 

I actually did turn the ac on when I was coming home and yes it did help drop the temp quite a bit. I don't beat on my car..at all so I never see 200's like you guys have stated. By beating I mean constantly to the floor like I've seen some of the guys around here do. In the shop now because they're gonna check a few more things on Friday. The shop owner had the car idle for 1 hour today and temps were completely normal and the CEL went off when I drove the car there an hour earlier and it was on? Beyond confused with this POS they call a cobalt.

 

its an old school trick that when the coolant starts to overheat turning the heat on will actually get the coolant moving quicker allowing for the heat to dissapate.

i used to do it in my dad's old intrepid because it decided it wanted to overheat all the time. just turning on the heat would drop the coolant temp.

 

it doesnt move it any faster...it just acts like a 2nd radiator