# Heater temp control issue



## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

What year and trim level do you have? Automatic or manual transaxle?


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## Sroberts9337 (Feb 3, 2012)

2012 ltz. Auto climate control. But neither auto or manual mode works on the heater. The above post is describing the heater in manual mode. The service department at the local dealer has called tech support, and they said they have never had that happen that they know of.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Sroberts9337 said:


> When I turn my heater on high the air will come out hot, but when I turn the temperature down one or two degrees vent air will come out. I took it to the dealer and they said that there was a reprogram for it. When that didn't fix the issue they said there was a short in the unit, and after they replaced it the issue still wasn't resolved. This only happens about half the time, so when I took the car in again they kept it for a week and they said that they couldn't replicate the issue so they couldn't fix it. Has this happened to anyone else?



Sroberts9337,
I would like to apologize for this issue that you are experiencing. I would like you to keep me informed on this issue. If you have any further questions please feel free to message me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TurboDoug (Feb 23, 2012)

Sroberts9337 said:


> 2012 ltz. Auto climate control. But neither auto or manual mode works on the heater. The above post is describing the heater in manual mode. The service department at the local dealer has called tech support, and they said they have never had that happen that they know of.


Well it sounds like you are describing my problem too! I also have a 2012 LTZ. I can have the heater jacked up to 80 degrees on a 40 degree day and cold air is still being blown out. Like yourself, when I put it to HI it is red hot, but then one notch below high, and its back to the cold again. Oddly, it seems to only happen during the day when it is sunny out, as I have not had this problem at night. I wonder if the temperature sensor is located where the sunlight tricks it into thinking its hotter in the car than it really is. I plan on visiting my dealer at some point about it, but just haven't had time. I have around 3k miles on it and got it a month ago.


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## tbill (Dec 4, 2011)

to the original poster, please clarify what is going on. are you having a temp issue, or a mode change issue? your description is sort of confusing to me. you say it's hot on 'high', but a degree or two lower and it's vent air. to me [as a tech] i read that as it's hot, but when i turn the temp down a bit, it changes modes to come out the vent, am i reading this wrong? just trying to understand what the actual issue is, not being a wise guy, so sorry if it comes across that way.

also, as a matter of perception, 75 degree air pumping out of a dash vent feels pretty cold, if in doubt, put a thermometer in the vent and compare 'feel' to actual temp, you may be suprised at the contrast between the two.

i have never been a fan of the auto hvac systems in gm cars, as people get tied to degree settings, as in, that's the temp the air should be coming out, when in fact the system is trying to regulate cabin temp overall, which leads to changes in air temp coming out of the hvac ducts. 


anyway, the clearer the info, the more chance we have of choosing the right diagnostic path to resolve the concern.


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## rayw (Mar 7, 2012)

Just got my LTZ last Monday,mine is doing the same thing. Took it back to dealer today.They reprogramed the HAVC. Picked it up going home same thing. Took it out this evening as turbodoug said and heat worked. So know what do I do?


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## Marzen (Feb 3, 2012)

-My 2011 LTZ A/T will get stuck at high temp setting if I roll the temp knob to high while the car is traveling at 70 mph after 20 min of driving . I cannot lower the HVAC air temp by turning the temp knob back down. The digital temp readout does go all the way down to LO, but the air temp exiting the vents does not decrease. Changing the: mode (ie vent exit), auto, manual, blower speed setting, turning the car off then restarting 5 min later will change nothing - it is in effect locked up for some unknown period of time that I have not had the opportunity to explore. All I can do is put the blower on its lowest speed and roll down the windows until I get to work. 
-I've repeated this problem 3 times now, all while the vehicle is at normal operating temps, outside air temps are in the upper 20's, and I roll the temp knob up to HI while the HVAC system is in AUTO MODE. I have an appt at the dealer this Sat to investigate. The service dept says they have never heard of any GM HVAC system "locking up". I have learned not to roll the temp up more than 5 degrees at a time. This is my first car with the auto temp feature.

UPDATE: 3/10/2012
Unable to duplicate the HVAC problem. My guess is that it does not fail when outside air temp is above freezing. Great communication from the repair dept guys, I was impressed and they also updated the firmware on my radio to rev DB. Hopefully that will improve syncing with my Apple devices.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

rayw said:


> Just got my LTZ last Monday,mine is doing the same thing. Took it back to dealer today.They reprogramed the HAVC. Picked it up going home same thing. Took it out this evening as turbodoug said and heat worked. So know what do I do?



rayw,
I would like to congratulate you on your new Cruze. I would suggest that you take your Cruise back to the dealership and have them look into this again. Explain that what they have done was not the proper fix for the issue. Please keep me updated on this issue. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to message me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Marzen said:


> -My 2011 LTZ A/T will get stuck at high temp setting if I roll the temp knob to high while the car is traveling at 70 mph after 20 min of driving . I cannot lower the HVAC air temp by turning the temp knob back down. The digital temp readout does go all the way down to LO, but the air temp exiting the vents does not decrease. Changing the: mode (ie vent exit), auto, manual, blower speed setting, turning the car off then restarting 5 min later will change nothing - it is in effect locked up for some unknown period of time that I have not had the opportunity to explore. All I can do is put the blower on its lowest speed and roll down the windows until I get to work.
> -I've repeated this problem 3 times now, all while the vehicle is at normal operating temps, outside air temps are in the upper 20's, and I roll the temp knob up to HI while the HVAC system is in AUTO MODE. I have an appt at the dealer this Sat to investigate. The service dept says they have never heard of any GM HVAC system "locking up". I have learned not to roll the temp up more than 5 degrees at a time. This is my first car with the auto temp feature.



Marzen,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you are experiencing with your vehicle. Please keep me posted on the outcome of your appointment with your dealership. If you have any further questions, comments or concerns please feel free to message me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## crmcknight (Feb 25, 2012)

I'm glad to hear other people are having this problem too! In my previous car (TrailBlazer) I never had to fiddle with the climate controls - it was set at 74, and was always comfortable. This car, a 2012 LTZ when set at 74 or 75 - will freeze me out! When it is cold at night (at or below freezing) the air coming from the vents is appropriate, and the cabin is comfortable. However it was sunny today, the outside temp was about 45, and the interior temp was set at 74 on the Auto mode, it was blowing COLD air, and the blower motor speed was erratic. It started out on Hi, and then eventually lowered itself to about a medium low setting, still blowing cold air. 
The only way to get warm air when it does this is to adjust the temperature above 80. 

I think there was a reprogram with the 2011 climate controls, and I kinda know my service manager personally and he claimed he didn't know of any issues on the 2012's... yet. Im going to give him a link to this page and see what he can find!


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## buckeyewalt (Mar 10, 2012)

Well like everyone else here, mine is doing the same thing, except that I don't have the auto climate control. If I put the heater control on high,,it will blow hot air,,,crank it down to outside air only,,,still blows VERY warm air,,,car has only 545 miles on it. What gives.....???? Unfortunately out of town on business with the car,,,sooooo I guess I have to have it set on air to keep it comfortable.....then take it to the delaer,,,,,another wasted day. Too bad this isn't a shirt,,,,I would take it back and get my money..!!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

buckeyewalt said:


> Well like everyone else here, mine is doing the same thing, except that I don't have the auto climate control. If I put the heater control on high,,it will blow hot air,,,crank it down to outside air only,,,still blows VERY warm air,,,car has only 545 miles on it. What gives.....???? Unfortunately out of town on business with the car,,,sooooo I guess I have to have it set on air to keep it comfortable.....then take it to the delaer,,,,,another wasted day. Too bad this isn't a shirt,,,,I would take it back and get my money..!!




buckeyewalt,
I understand your frustration with this issue. I would like you to keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to the dealership. If you have any further questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

buckeyewalt said:


> Well like everyone else here, mine is doing the same thing, except that I don't have the auto climate control. If I put the heater control on high,,it will blow hot air,,,crank it down to outside air only,,,still blows VERY warm air,,,car has only 545 miles on it. What gives.....???? Unfortunately out of town on business with the car,,,sooooo I guess I have to have it set on air to keep it comfortable.....then take it to the delaer,,,,,another wasted day. Too bad this isn't a shirt,,,,I would take it back and get my money..!!


My LS with the manual climate controls does this too. If I start off the drive with the motor cold and the temp knob turned all the way down it blows cool outside air. But if I try to turn down the temp after running the heat the air remains warm for a really long time before it cools down. The A/C is powerful enough that it overcomes the warm air if I engage it but that costs me fuel economy when the weather is mild.

It's like the damper door doesn't close tight or there's some kind of slack in the system. Or maybe the control software is jacked. I read somewhere the Cruze has an HVAC system that's different than most other vehicles but I don't know exactly how it (doesn't) work.


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## buckeyewalt (Mar 10, 2012)

Dale_K said:


> My LS with the manual climate controls does this too. If I start off the drive with the motor cold and the temp knob turned all the way down it blows cool outside air. But if I try to turn down the temp after running the heat the air remains warm for a really long time before it cools down. The A/C is powerful enough that it overcomes the warm air if I engage it but that costs me fuel economy when the weather is mild.
> 
> It's like the damper door doesn't close tight or there's some kind of slack in the system. Or maybe the control software is jacked. I read somewhere the Cruze has an HVAC system that's different than most other vehicles but I don't know exactly how it (doesn't) work.


Yep,,,,,,exactly like mine,,,,,exactly


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## cruzeman (Mar 13, 2011)

buckeyewalt said:


> Yep,,,,,,exactly like mine,,,,,exactly


Ditto


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## rayw (Mar 7, 2012)

Came up with a Mickey mouse fix for heater problem, looks like **** but seems to work.I cut a smsll piece of black paper and covered the top of light sensor, just the top. Dont cover the eye for automatic headlights. You may have toplay with position of paper, but so far its worked on my LTZ. Chevy needs to come with a proper fix. I still have to go to dealer and show them what I did.Hope this helps Ray


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## gregh2000 (Oct 13, 2011)

Mine was doing this too it would blast the ac when sunny. Night time no problems. I put some tape on the sensor and fixed for a temporary fix. I had it in to the dealer they replaced the sun sensor and it didn't do anything. Just today they fixed it for good now. There was a software update that just came out April 5th or something that fixes it. Mine works perfectly now yay!


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## crmcknight (Feb 25, 2012)

Yes - anyone who has the Auto Climate Control - there is a Service Bulletin on this issue - contact your dealer for reprogramming of the unit. Im going to call my dealer in the morning. It is Service Bulletin number PI0714


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## CruzeLTZRS (Apr 14, 2012)

I was having the same problem since I bought my Cruze LTZ in Feburary. I took it to 2 dealers and they reset the temp gates and the climate control system. I spent 2 hours with the shop foreman driving my Cruze with the computer plugged into the OBD II and the computer said it was functioning properly. He contacted Chevy and explained what was going on with the climate control. Hopefully this Service Bulletin number PI0714 is the fix.


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## gregh2000 (Oct 13, 2011)

Worked for me, weird thing is my old Cruze LTZ didn't have this problem. Same car, same year, lol. It had other issues which is why I have a new one. Anyway the fix worked great and I have not had any problems since they updated the software yay!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

CruzeLTZRS said:


> I was having the same problem since I bought my Cruze LTZ in Feburary. I took it to 2 dealers and they reset the temp gates and the climate control system. I spent 2 hours with the shop foreman driving my Cruze with the computer plugged into the OBD II and the computer said it was functioning properly. He contacted Chevy and explained what was going on with the climate control. Hopefully this Service Bulletin number PI0714 is the fix.





CruzeLTZRS,
I hope that this fix works for your vehicle as well. I would like you to keep me posted on this. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## Zanderdee (Dec 1, 2012)

I just purchased a 2011 Cruze LT on Friday. I've had to stop at the dealer twice and it's only Tuesday and I have had it 5 days. Yesterday the Bluetooth was in some continuous loop of calling the same number for several tries and fails then just got stuck. Today, it is the heat blowing extremely hot even when turned down into the blue and off. The vents themselves get extremely hot to the touch and the steering wheel also does. Tried the AC and that doesn't even come on. It also smells of burning plastic. Unfortunately, they can't look at it until Thursday. Any suggestions, anyone else having this problem?


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Zanderdee said:


> I just purchased a 2011 Cruze LT on Friday. I've had to stop at the dealer twice and it's only Tuesday and I have had it 5 days. Yesterday the Bluetooth was in some continuous loop of calling the same number for several tries and fails then just got stuck. Today, it is the heat blowing extremely hot even when turned down into the blue and off. The vents themselves get extremely hot to the touch and the steering wheel also does. Tried the AC and that doesn't even come on. It also smells of burning plastic. Unfortunately, they can't look at it until Thursday. Any suggestions, anyone else having this problem?



Zanderdee,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you are experiencing with your Cruze. I understand your frustrations with this. I would like you to keep me posted on the progress with your dealer. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## RS LTZ (Jan 5, 2011)

Well this happened to me this morning on my commute to work, about fried my eyeballs. Absolutely no temp adjustment, and on auto, it blows on the highest setting. So I got the terrible end of both worlds. I'll have to call Chevy @ lunch to ask about the SB PI0714, I'm not sure if my car already received it or not.

I just turned over 45,000 miles this week in just under two years of ownership. Bought the car with 43 miles (yes I do a lot of driving)


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

RS LTZ said:


> Well this happened to me this morning on my commute to work, about fried my eyeballs. Absolutely no temp adjustment, and on auto, it blows on the highest setting. So I got the terrible end of both worlds. I'll have to call Chevy @ lunch to ask about the SB PI0714, I'm not sure if my car already received it or not.
> 
> I just turned over 45,000 miles this week in just under two years of ownership. Bought the car with 43 miles (yes I do a lot of driving)



RS LTZ,
I would like to apologize for the issues you are having with your Cruze. I would recommend that you have your dealer look into this for you. Please keep me posted on the progress and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

OK, I'm the new owner of a 2012 Chevrolet LTZ (RS) Cruze, I bought it used at a Chevrolet dealer, with 28,000 miles on it, I've had it about a week now. I first noticed what appeared to be cold air blowing out when I had the temp set at 75 degrees. I didn't think too much about it at the time, but then a few days later, my wife and I went for drive of about 100 miles or so, on the way home my wife complaining of being cold, we turn the heat up to 80F, and switch the mode to blow air out the dash vents as well as the floor and window. I still felt like cold air was blowing out, but wasn't like freezing either. 

Later I go for a drive by myself, to see if I can figure if this is a real problem or if I'm just not understanding how the climate controls work on this car that's very new to me... 

Here are the conditions... about 40F degrees outside, February in southeastern Michigan, a little sun, a little clouds... I typically have things set to have air blowing on the window and under the dash , but not out of the dash vents ( I don't really like air blowing on my face/upper body). At first things seem pretty normal, relatively comfortable with temp setting at 78, I took a thermometer with me , sat it in the front passenger seat, it's still like at 64F, but I'm relatively comfortable. After about 30 minutes of driving down some winding country roads(having fun enjoying the handling of the Cruze LTZ) I decide that maybe I should try a drive on the highway and do so... by this time the cabin has warmed up nicely, so I adjust the temp down to 75, the air blowing out gets cooler, but not exactly cold. I keep driving... the sun is sort of shinning, on the dash... air blowing a bit cooler now, thermometer in passenger seat reading 67, I'm at a OK temperature, but can feel the cool air blowing off the window on my face a little, and when I reach to feel the air coming out of the vents blowing up at the windshield it's cool. 

Long story shorter.... I does seem like when the sun is shining on the dash, the air blowing out of the vents is cooler then it should probably be. I have not 100% verified that this does or does not happen in night, but it sure seems like it's at least partially related to sun shining on the dash.

Apparently there is some service bulletin related to this type of issue (PI0714 ? ) can someone give more information about this? Has GM really managed to fix the problem and/or does this service bulletin really apply to a 2012 model Cruze? Can someone actually confirm that there problem of this sort has actually been fixed?


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Well, I have now confirmed the problem of blowing cold air when it shouldn't is limited to when the sun is shining... Funny, this TSB PI-0714 is somewhat elusive... If you search on several of the web sites that supposedly list TSBs, this PI-0714 doesn't really show up. 

Today when driving south into bright sun, outdoor temp of 21F, having the climate control set at anything less then 86F yielded nothing but cool air, at times even 86F setting yielded cool air, setting to HI would be HOT air, little or no in between. Driving at night 21F outdoor, 73F climate control setting yielded nice comfortable warm air, cranking up higher yielded progressively warmer air, just like you'd expect... 

Wish me luck with my trip to the dealer tomorrow...


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## rpcraft (Jan 12, 2013)

rayw said:


> Came up with a Mickey mouse fix for heater problem, looks like **** but seems to work.I cut a smsll piece of black paper and covered the top of light sensor, just the top. Dont cover the eye for automatic headlights. You may have toplay with position of paper, but so far its worked on my LTZ. Chevy needs to come with a proper fix. I still have to go to dealer and show them what I did.Hope this helps Ray


I know its a little late for this but do you happen to have a picture of your fix???????? Just curious.... I can probably check the dealership and see if they can resolve it. I noticed mine seems to blow cool until you turn it up to 80 or so....


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

iggy said:


> Well, I have now confirmed the problem of blowing cold air when it shouldn't is limited to when the sun is shining... Funny, this TSB PI-0714 is somewhat elusive... If you search on several of the web sites that supposedly list TSBs, this PI-0714 doesn't really show up.
> 
> Today when driving south into bright sun, outdoor temp of 21F, having the climate control set at anything less then 86F yielded nothing but cool air, at times even 86F setting yielded cool air, setting to HI would be HOT air, little or no in between. Driving at night 21F outdoor, 73F climate control setting yielded nice comfortable warm air, cranking up higher yielded progressively warmer air, just like you'd expect...
> 
> Wish me luck with my trip to the dealer tomorrow...


Iggy - this tells me you have a temperature sensor problem somewhere. Either the one in the left front fog lamp cover or the one on your dash is misreading.


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Took my Cruze into the dealer that I bought it from, told them that the heater works at night, but not when the sun is shining on the dash, etc.. even told them about there being a TSB out about the issue. Had one other issue related to glass on the car, that I wanted looked at as well. Car is still on the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper factory warranty. After 2 hours and 45 minutes in the waiting room I decided to go see what the status was, I was told they were waiting to hear from a glass supplier about getting that issue fixed, but that they had replaced some coolant return piece, that they could see was leaking, they said this was the cause of my heating problems. I told them, that there was no way my heating problems are the result of lost coolant (still had good levels of coolant in the return reservoir, and I know that the heater worked just fine on HIGH, as well as working fine at night), I explained I know there is a service bulletin that describes pretty much exactly the type of problem I'm experiencing , and gave them the PI-0714 number. They eventually looked up the service bulletin , said he was going to look up if my build date was included in the time frame related to the bulletin, and was told that it was... So now I am still waiting, as they 're-program' my car's HVAC system computer code.

Errgh... It's really annoying when you have to hold a dealer's hand and/or tell them how to do their job. 

The good news and/or bad news is that I'm now got a dealer record of them fixing part of the engine's cooling system that was leaking . I had some very faint smells of antifreeze smell under the hood prior to all this, and had been reading about that issue. At this point I don't know that I do actually have any significant antifreeze/leak/smell issues, but I sure as heck want it fixed if it does become a serious issue for me. 

Seems I should know in a hour or two if the re-programing has actually fixed my heater issues. ( the service manager himself apparently is doing the re-programing as I type )


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Given the outdoor conditions have not been as cool and bright as they had been, it's impossible to know for sure based on this afternoon's drive, but I do think that my climate control system is working better now. Today the weather was a bit warmer (47F) and not quite as bright as it was this past weekend. Even so, after the work done today, it seems I have more control over the temperature coming out of the vents on my Cruze. That is, rather then going from cold to HOT in the course of one 'click' of the temperature setting, I get a more gradual increase in temperature when adusting the temperature, and I never had to go all the way to HIGH to get warm air. So, tentatively , I say , it seems my HVAC climate controls are working better now.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

iggy said:


> Took my Cruze into the dealer that I bought it from, told them that the heater works at night, but not when the sun is shining on the dash, etc.. even told them about there being a TSB out about the issue. Had one other issue related to glass on the car, that I wanted looked at as well. Car is still on the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper factory warranty. After 2 hours and 45 minutes in the waiting room I decided to go see what the status was, I was told they were waiting to hear from a glass supplier about getting that issue fixed, but that they had replaced some coolant return piece, that they could see was leaking, they said this was the cause of my heating problems. I told them, that there was no way my heating problems are the result of lost coolant (still had good levels of coolant in the return reservoir, and I know that the heater worked just fine on HIGH, as well as working fine at night), I explained I know there is a service bulletin that describes pretty much exactly the type of problem I'm experiencing , and gave them the PI-0714 number. They eventually looked up the service bulletin , said he was going to look up if my build date was included in the time frame related to the bulletin, and was told that it was... So now I am still waiting, as they 're-program' my car's HVAC system computer code.
> 
> Errgh... It's really annoying when you have to hold a dealer's hand and/or tell them how to do their job.
> 
> ...




iggy,
Thank you for the update on this. I am happy to hear that your dealer was able to get this issue taken care of for you. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## joliver (Jun 14, 2012)

I am having this same issue of blowing cold air on a sunny day. The car was at the dealer today and they had no knowledge of this fix and could not locate this service bulletin PI-0714. How can I help my dealer locate this?


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