# AC off due to high engine temp



## yanufayi (Aug 13, 2021)

I have a 2012 Cruze. The dumb part of this is that I can’t remember what warning I originally received from my car, but it made me check the coolant level. It was extremely low so I topped it off when the car was cold. It was fine for a while. A couple days later, my coolant was low again so I topped it off again and had a mechanic look at it. The mechanic said he put air on everything and couldn’t find a leak (he did find a transmission leak but that’s most likely a separate issue). Also the oil in my car is clean so the transmission fluid wasn’t going in there.

Fast forward 3 months and now my car is fine with the coolant levels (as far as I know ha) but when I have the air conditioning on, my temperature gauge will go past half (3/4), my air turns off, then I get an error that says “AC off due to high engine temp”. This happens at any speed (has happened at 40 mph, 65 mph, etc). Also it doesn’t always do it. I just sent this car to the same mechanic hoping that he’d find something but he drove it in the morning when it was 70 out and then in the evening when it was 90 out and didn’t encounter a problem. I drove it the next morning and it was fine, but later that day I drove it and it went past half, did the error message, but this time my air stayed on and my engine corrected itself. Nothing sounds loud in my car, unless it is actually a cooling fan and it’s super quiet. Could it be a temperature sensor? And why was my coolant leaking and now it’s not? The mechanic has good ratings and I don’t want to take it a huge corporate mechanic and get charged a ridiculous amount.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Search the forum.

There's a million threads with the same title.


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## Manmad3malfunctions2021 (Aug 14, 2021)

yanufayi said:


> I have a 2012 Cruze. The dumb part of this is that I can’t remember what warning I originally received from my car, but it made me check the coolant level. It was extremely low so I topped it off when the car was cold. It was fine for a while. A couple days later, my coolant was low again so I topped it off again and had a mechanic look at it. The mechanic said he put air on everything and couldn’t find a leak (he did find a transmission leak but that’s most likely a separate issue). Also the oil in my car is clean so the transmission fluid wasn’t going in there.
> 
> Fast forward 3 months and now my car is fine with the coolant levels (as far as I know ha) but when I have the air conditioning on, my temperature gauge will go past half (3/4), my air turns off, then I get an error that says “AC off due to high engine temp”. This happens at any speed (has happened at 40 mph, 65 mph, etc). Also it doesn’t always do it. I just sent this car to the same mechanic hoping that he’d find something but he drove it in the morning when it was 70 out and then in the evening when it was 90 out and didn’t encounter a problem. I drove it the next morning and it was fine, but later that day I drove it and it went past half, did the error message, but this time my air stayed on and my engine corrected itself. Nothing sounds loud in my car, unless it is actually a cooling fan and it’s super quiet. Could it be a temperature sensor? And why was my coolant leaking and now it’s not? The mechanic has good ratings and I don’t want to take it a huge corporate mechanic and get charged a ridiculous amount.


I just started having this problem 2 day ago! Turned my A/C off immediately. Looked it up on YouTube and found that it was most likely the coolant temperature sensor. But the guy on the YouTube video failed to mention that you have 2 on my chevy cruise 2014. So, I purchased 2 for $13 a piece. Hopefully I can get them replaced tomorrow and see what happens 🙏🏽


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

yanufayi said:


> I have a 2012 Cruze. The dumb part of this is that I can’t remember what warning I originally received from my car, but it made me check the coolant level. It was extremely low so I topped it off when the car was cold. It was fine for a while. A couple days later, my coolant was low again so I topped it off again and had a mechanic look at it. The mechanic said he put air on everything and couldn’t find a leak (he did find a transmission leak but that’s most likely a separate issue). Also the oil in my car is clean so the transmission fluid wasn’t going in there.
> 
> Fast forward 3 months and now my car is fine with the coolant levels (as far as I know ha) but when I have the air conditioning on, my temperature gauge will go past half (3/4), my air turns off, then I get an error that says “AC off due to high engine temp”. This happens at any speed (has happened at 40 mph, 65 mph, etc). Also it doesn’t always do it. I just sent this car to the same mechanic hoping that he’d find something but he drove it in the morning when it was 70 out and then in the evening when it was 90 out and didn’t encounter a problem. I drove it the next morning and it was fine, but later that day I drove it and it went past half, did the error message, but this time my air stayed on and my engine corrected itself. Nothing sounds loud in my car, unless it is actually a cooling fan and it’s super quiet. Could it be a temperature sensor? And why was my coolant leaking and now it’s not? The mechanic has good ratings and I don’t want to take it a huge corporate mechanic and get charged a ridiculous amount.


Welcome aboard!

Make sure you have properly "burped" the system. This is a brief How-To care of Dhpnet:

Fill Procedure:
1- close the radiator drain plug.
2- lower the vehicle
3- vehicle should be level
4- Loosen the vent screw on the radiator

(vent screw is located at the top, right (passenger) side of the radiator)

NOTE: Close vent screw when coolant begins to flow from the vent screw.

5- Add a mixture of 50/50 DEX-COOL antifreeze and clean drinkable water to the bottom line of the bleed nozzle on the coolant surge tank. When the coolant level stabilizes, add enough coolant to reach the bottom line of the down pipe hole.
6- Start the engine. After the engine starts, verify that the coolant level reaches the bottom line of the down pipe hole.
7- Install the surge tank cap
8- warm up the engine. Run at 2,500 RPM until the engine cooling fan turns ON.

Note: If the heater core has been replaced, let the engine run for 2 minutes at 2,000-2,500 RPM. This ensures complete venting of the cooling system.

9- Turn the engine OFF and allow the engine to cool down.
10- Remove the surge tank cap.
11- Check the coolant level and fill to the COLD mark if necessary.
12- Inspect the concentration of the engine coolant, using GE-26568 tester.
13- Rinse away any excess coolant from the engine and engine compartment.

NOTE: After a test drive let the engine cool down and check the coolant level again. Adjust the coolant level to the COLD mark if necessary.






If it still is giving issues it is time to check the sensors.

AC off Due to high engine temp links
Troubleshooting temp sensors

more info here:








2012 1.8L Cruze - Loud Fan Noise


I got an issue with my cruze. The fan lets off a jet-like sound ALL THE TIME meaning it will stop only if I turn off the car. The heating works great and I am currently using the heating due to the weather (Below zero temp/snow in Quebec, Canada). One thing I noticed, on a cold start, the car...




www.cruzetalk.com





Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Manmad3malfunctions2021 said:


> I just started having this problem 2 day ago! Turned my A/C off immediately. Looked it up on YouTube and found that it was most likely the coolant temperature sensor. But the guy on the YouTube video failed to mention that you have 2 on my chevy cruise 2014. So, I purchased 2 for $13 a piece. Hopefully I can get them replaced tomorrow and see what happens 🙏🏽


Welcome aboard!

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Maqcro1 (Apr 29, 2019)

Manmad3malfunctions2021 said:


> I just started having this problem 2 day ago! Turned my A/C off immediately. Looked it up on YouTube and found that it was most likely the coolant temperature sensor. But the guy on the YouTube video failed to mention that you have 2 on my chevy cruise 2014. So, I purchased 2 for $13 a piece. Hopefully I can get them replaced tomorrow and see what happens 🙏🏽


One has gold terminals one has tin terminals. Make sure you put them in the right locations. 

Gold terminals - water outlet 
Tin terminals - radiator 

Also worth a check to see if your fan is actually spinning when the a/c is on.


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## Brassrus (Nov 26, 2018)

Just went through this. Replaced the sensor in the Radiator as well as the sensor on the engine and reset the codes. The message popped up later that day again. Replaced the sensor in the thermostat housing and fixed it. Has been about three weeks of driving and no more error. They will tell you to drain the radiator but if your just doing the sensors, if your fast enough, you can pull them out and get the new one back in with extremely small amount of fluid loss.


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