Engine cooling fan not running?
 

Howdy,

Summer finally arrived here in WI and I noticed the other day that when I'm driving, my car temp shows the mid-upper 190s which seems normal. However, when I stop, the temp climbs up to the 210+ range. Once I start driving again, it comes back down to the normal area. I'm guessing that there's no fan that's blowing air to keep things cool. I'm assuming there's a fan somewhere but that maybe it's not running?

If anyone can direct me as to where the fan is and how to figure out what might be wrong, that'd be great.

Thanks.

There's a simple way to see if the fan runs, open the hood and see. Which cobalt do you own? A base model Cobalt won't turn the fans on till over 215°F, so it may be working correctly. If there's no fan above 225°F, then you have an issue. Also, the A/C will turn on at least one of the fans (maybe both?) regardless of the coolant temperature.

I have a 2006 LTZ. I can try turning on the air and see if the fan starts up. If it isn't supposed to run until 225 then maybe everything is OK.

Yeah, there's always quite a bit of worry with these cars regarding coolant temps. It's good to remember that the analog gauge on most "normal" cars will stay pegged in the middle even if the coolant temp moves 30°. There's no concern till it gets to 240°F.

I'm looking at the digital readout on the information panel and I just watch it go up and down at times and didn't really know what's considered the Safe Zone and when I need to start to worry about something...