# Wish me luck, she's being towed!



## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

Spent the day in the city, everything was fine! 

On my way home my thermostat rocketed to Max and my 'AC off due to overheating engine' warning came on... And my AC was off.

So I pulled over, car cooled off, was fine for a few more minutes and then as I was trying to pull off it started smoking/leaking coolant.

So I'm currently being towed back to the dealership. Fingers crossed that its an electronics fix. 

It's a 2012 LS AT. No issues, oil changed at 5k, and oil life monitor was at 40% and I still had 3k to go before next oil change. 

Here's hoping my girl's okay :'(


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Good luck. Let us know what happened, I'm very curious.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

Wow! Sorry to hear that. Please let us know how she's doing!

I'm telling you the truth officer! I wasn't speeding but I sure passed a whole bunch of people who were!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I don't think it's electrical. Sounds like a classic coolant leak. Good luck and keep us posted.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

obermd said:


> I don't think it's electrical. Sounds like a classic coolant leak. Good luck and keep us posted.


The only reason why I don't think it's coolant is that I just checked it the other day/there's none in my garage.

Unfortunately my car is in the shop but they are closed until Tuesday due to Canadian thanksgiving. Welp... Happy thanksgiving?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I had a coolant like break in my Montana. It only took about a mile of driving to lose all the coolant. The coolant system is under pressure so any leak will grow and a major leak can drain the system in just a minute or two.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians on this forum.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

Thanks Obermd! 

So, now I'm home safe and sound while the car shall sit at the dealership for the next few days. The Oil Life Monitor now being at 0% is because (well at least to my understanding) the car was in overheating protection mode. 

Well at least I know why it went from 40%-0%. Now when I got to the dealership I had to check the OD, so while doing that I found out my stabilitrak needs to be serviced as well now. There's still coolant in the tank so I'm still not sure about that, but we shall see. I'm anxiously awaiting to see what will come of it. First time I've ever had an issue too. Poor Cruze


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

An engine overheat will kill the oil life so the 0% showing there is a good thing. Hopefully it's all related and there's only one problem. Depending on the location of a leak you may still see coolant in the tank. The leak I had was at the bottom of the engine bay so I didn't have any coolant left. A leak at the top will leave coolant in the tank but not enough to keep the engine cool. You had steam coming out of your engine bay so you definitely had a leak. The only question is where.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

Well, that's definitely a start! My guess then is that it would be at the top. It's actually funny, I've been mentioning to my girlfriend that my car smelled 'sweet/chemically' but I figured it was the copious amounts of cleaning I do to it all the time.

However, after it was steaming, the coolant was boiling/fizzing out the top. My guess then is that it'd be at that point. It's a little terrifying to see your car 'bleeding' on the main highway on a long weekend.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

oMAHONEYo said:


> Spent the day in the city, everything was fine!
> 
> On my way home my thermostat rocketed to Max and my 'AC off due to overheating engine' warning came on... And my AC was off.
> 
> ...



oMAHONEYo,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you are experiencing with your Cruze. If you feel you need further assistance I would suggest that you contact GM of Canada at 800-263-3777 Monday-Friday 7:30am - 11:30pm or Saturday 7:30am - 6:00 EST. Please feel free to keep me posted. Happy Thanksgiving!! 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

oMAHONEYo said:


> Well, that's definitely a start! My guess then is that it would be at the top. It's actually funny, I've been mentioning to my girlfriend that my car smelled 'sweet/chemically' but I figured it was the copious amounts of cleaning I do to it all the time.
> 
> However, after it was steaming, the coolant was boiling/fizzing out the top. My guess then is that it'd be at that point. It's a little terrifying to see your car 'bleeding' on the main highway on a long weekend.


The coolant is under pressure. A pressure loss at the temperatures the Cruze runs at will result in boiling/fizzing. Hopefully it's nothing major and you'll get your car back quickly. When you do, verify everything, including the oil change and Stabilitrak have been taken care of. 

Did you get lucky like I did with my Montana and find a really good restaurant you had never eaten at before? I pulled into a BBQ place's lot to wait for my tow and have now been back several times for dinner.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

obermd said:


> The coolant is under pressure. A pressure loss at the temperatures the Cruze runs at will result in boiling/fizzing. Hopefully it's nothing major and you'll get your car back quickly. When you do, verify everything, including the oil change and Stabilitrak have been taken care of.
> 
> Did you get lucky like I did with my Montana and find a really good restaurant you had never eaten at before? I pulled into a BBQ place's lot to wait for my tow and have now been back several times for dinner.


Yeah, I went back to the dealership today to grab a few things that I had left in it. Decided to pop the hood while I was there and saw the coolant was entirely all gone. Now we know that clearly something is up with the coolant at least. But I'll definitely ensure everything is good upon the (hopefully) soon return! Thanks again for all the help!

And no, sadly, I was stuck on the middle of the 401 eastbound during rush hour. The closest thing to me was a mall on the opposite side of the highway haha. At least I got to hang out with Onstar for the few hours I was there!

You've gotta appreciate a good BBQ though!



Chevy Customer Service said:


> oMAHONEYo,
> I would like to apologize for the issues that you are experiencing with your Cruze. If you feel you need further assistance I would suggest that you contact GM of Canada at 800-263-3777 Monday-Friday 7:30am - 11:30pm or Saturday 7:30am - 6:00 EST. Please feel free to keep me posted. Happy Thanksgiving!!
> Thank you,
> Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


Thanks Stacy. Hopefully nothing else is needed, but I'll keep that number handy just incase! And thanks - the turkey is a wonderful thing to make up for the lost car!


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

obermd said:


> The coolant is under pressure. A pressure loss at the temperatures the Cruze runs at will result in boiling/fizzing. Hopefully it's nothing major and you'll get your car back quickly. When you do, verify everything, including the oil change and Stabilitrak have been taken care of.
> 
> Did you get lucky like I did with my Montana and find a really good restaurant you had never eaten at before? I pulled into a BBQ place's lot to wait for my tow and have now been back several times for dinner.


+1. And let us know what the problem was. We always want to know the issues our Cruzes have.

I hope everything turns out ok.

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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Good luck with your Cruze.

My neighbor across the street just had her Cruze overheat a couple of weeks ago. It blew out a bunch of coolant and went into overheat mode. Cause was a stuck thermostat.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

Tha is again guys,

My dealership doesn't open until 7 (for service) but they guys just gave me a ring to get all the details. Starting to look into it and will call me ASAP. We shall see!


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## horsehaulin (Oct 1, 2011)

Good luck!


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

*Alright

*So I just got off the phone with the dealership. Looks like it was a head gasket leak, but I wont be getting the car back until tomorrow. At least for now they're giving me a loaner to get me to work tonight/possibly tomorrow). 

I definitely can not wait to get it back, it's been too long!

The dealership is great though. Totally on the ball as soon as they got it!


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## horsehaulin (Oct 1, 2011)

Head wasn't torqued properly at the engine assembly plant. Luckily that is not common, still sucks though!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm glad they found it quickly. Coolant leaks the result in loss of all coolant are fortunately rare as well as easy to find.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

Alright, so I got the car back.

First off, I have to really appreciate the service department. They made sure to check in with me every step of the way. They called to let me know what was wrong (which I'll get to what the invoice said in a second). Set me up with a 2012 Impala for a couple days, and all I had to pay for was gas. After I picked up the car, the service advisor gave me a shout to check in, but my phone was off so I'll definitely be letting him know how well it seems to be running now!

The car seems to be running a lot smoother now. It's shifting a lot better which I'm not really sure why, I'm guessing the head gasket leak, but it doesn't seem to be hurting itself when accelerating. Now as for the invoice, it looks like there was a leak near the temperature sensor that finally decided to go from little to big enough that all the coolant would empty on the side of the highway. The strange sweet smell that I associated with cleaning products is now gone. Got my oil change done while it was in the shop, and it was about $30 cheaper than when I got it done at an Oil changers earlier on.

I'll upload the final invoice when I'm home from work for those who want to take a gander. 

My family has bought both Chrysler/Jeep/Hyundai vehicles for the last 15 years. Never have they had such great service. Because of this my dad is certain he's going to my dealership after his Grand Cherokee retires.

So glad to have her back!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The oil change should have been free as it is required after an engine overheat. I suspect the smoother operation of the engine is because there is no longer a leak in the system. Glad to hear they were able to take care of the problem quickly.


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## oMAHONEYo (Mar 23, 2012)

obermd said:


> The oil change should have been free as it is required after an engine overheat. I suspect the smoother operation of the engine is because there is no longer a leak in the system. Glad to hear they were able to take care of the problem quickly.


I probably would have said something at the dealership, but I was due for an oil change pretty soon anyway.

I'm just glad to have the car back & working. As awesome as the impala was, it just wasn't the Cruze.

If anyone in the GTA is looking to buy a new Chevy/Cadillac/GMC I'd definitely recommend Ontario Motor Sales. As I was typing this out, the service rep who I've been speaking with the last few days just sent me an e-mail with his cell number to give him a shout incase anything goes wrong and I can't reach him at work.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

oMAHONEYo said:


> Alright, so I got the car back.
> 
> First off, I have to really appreciate the service department. They made sure to check in with me every step of the way. They called to let me know what was wrong (which I'll get to what the invoice said in a second). Set me up with a 2012 Impala for a couple days, and all I had to pay for was gas. After I picked up the car, the service advisor gave me a shout to check in, but my phone was off so I'll definitely be letting him know how well it seems to be running now!
> 
> ...





oMAHONEYo,
I am very happy to hear that you have your Cruze back and the dealer was able to get everything fixed for you! I am also happy to hear that you are happy with your service center!!  Thank you for the update.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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