# Diesel Overheated



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The real question is why did your car overheat in the first place. That needs to be resolved ASAP.


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## neile300c (Jul 8, 2014)

how many miles on the Cruze? I am assuming you are under your powertrain warranty? I would have a dealer tow it, and then fix it. It could be a thermostat, or it could be something electronic, or something else...


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## BowtieGuy (Jan 4, 2013)

The biggest red flag for me is, if the car gave you that warning, why did you continue to drive for an additional 30 minutes?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

That isn't oil temp on the car; it's coolant temp. 

Never drive a car that's overheating - it gives you that warning for a reason; you may seriously damage the engine or at a minimum the head gasket.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I would be concerned that some damage was done to the engine running it that hot. Are you tuned or stock?


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

Happened to me as well back in 2013, warning came up, temperatures sky rocketed and I immediately shut off the car..... turned out to be a faulty water pump and as I recall I wasn't beating the car at all that day so it was very shocking. Ever since I haven't had an issue with my cruze, small things but I saved the trip and fixed them myself. good luck to all!


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

..... and wait a second, you drove 30 minutes after the warning came up??? !


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

hahahahaha I was in the middle of DC with no place to just stop. I have 25K miles all stock cruze, never had an issue once with it so far. I will make a dealer trip when I have time I guess.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

If you ever begin to overheat: 1) turn off the A/C; and, 2) turn the HVAC fan to max and turn the temperature control to one click before max hot. 

If it's summer, also drop all of your windows. 

This action will often save an overheating engine from irreparable damage.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

wasn't using the AC I had the windows down during it....I did make a trip the weekend before, was about 8 hour round trip, wonder if that stirred anything up.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Ger8mm said:


> wasn't using the AC I had the windows down during it....I did make a trip the weekend before, was about 8 hour round trip, wonder if that stirred anything up.


I regularly make 8 hour trips with no issues. Let us know what the dealer says and/or if it does it again. I think you are the first diesel owner to have this type of issue.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

Heading to the dealer right now


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Did you check to see if the airflow was blocked by a newspaper or cardboard box at the time?


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

I was just informed its a bad coolant sensor, so you can calm down keyboard warriors lol

added update: They gave me a rental, didn't have the right sensor in stock. So my rental is a 2015 1.4T garbage Cruze, I swear my diesel blows it out of the water.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Glad it was just a flaky sensor!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Good to hear it's just the sensor.


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## Chrispy (Apr 25, 2015)

Ger8mm said:


> I was just informed its a bad coolant sensor, so you can calm down keyboard warriors lol
> 
> added update: They gave me a rental, didn't have the right sensor in stock. So my rental is a *2015 1.4T garbage Cruze*, I swear my diesel blows it out of the water.


*cough* speak-for-your-self *cough*

Glad to hear it was just a sensor though.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The CTD has a lot more power than the LT, ECO, or LTZ.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

obermd said:


> The CTD has a lot more power than the LT, ECO, or LTZ.


inside is a lot nice too


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Ger8mm said:


> inside is a lot nice too


I suspect the LTZ has the nicer inside. The CTD is slightly below the LTZ in trim level. Is your rental a 1LT (cloth seats)?


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

The LS model bottom of the barrel dealer junk car hahahahahaha, covered in cigarette ashes


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

Ger8mm said:


> The LS model bottom of the barrel dealer junk car hahahahahaha, covered in cigarette ashes


In that case, that's not the 1.4. That would be the non turbo 1.8 - which explains why it feels so underpowered to you, especially coming from the diesel. 


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Ger8mm said:


> I was just informed its a bad coolant sensor, so you can calm down keyboard warriors lol
> 
> added update: They gave me a rental, didn't have the right sensor in stock. So my rental is a 2015 1.4T garbage Cruze, I swear my diesel blows it out of the water.





Ger8mm said:


> The LS model bottom of the barrel dealer junk car hahahahahaha, covered in cigarette ashes


The LS is a 1.8 NA engine. It is definitely not in the same class either performance wise or interior wise as the CTD. The 1.4T engine is in the LT (1 & 2), ECO, and LTZ.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

obermd said:


> The LS is a 1.8 NA engine. It is definitely not in the same class either performance wise or interior wise as the CTD. The 1.4T engine is in the LT (1 & 2), ECO, and LTZ.


The 1.4T has been dropped in Australia and while the 1.6T has more horsepower than the CTD, it is way down on torque. The 1.6T is most likely faster on a racetrack, but in normal driving the diesel would still feel more effortless.


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

Tomko said:


> 2) turn the HVAC fan to max and turn the temperature control to one click before max hot.


Why not max? Never heard that before


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

MilTownSHO said:


> Why not max? Never heard that before


Electric heat (in the diesel).

So, OP, if this happens again to you in the future, you know what to do now.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

MilTownSHO said:


> Why not max? Never heard that before


On the diesel model, engaging the last click to max heat switches on the electric heating element that will simply place the engine under even more load.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

Tomko said:


> On the diesel model, engaging the last click to max heat switches on the electric heating element that will simply place the engine under even more load.


how much load is that even gonna be?

theres not a separtate fuse or relay listed in the OM, but even if its 30a, thats gonna be how taxing on the motor? 1%?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

boraz said:


> how much load is that even gonna be?
> 
> theres not a separtate fuse or relay listed in the OM, but even if its 30a, thats gonna be how taxing on the motor? 1%?


Doesn't matter - if the engine is overheating you don't want to add any additional load. Instead you want to reduce load and heat.


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