vetmancolumbus

Anyone have anything like this happen or thoughts?

We have a 2016 Z51 with 4000 miles had oil changed at local dealership on 8/24/17. We had scheduled to be serviced by there "Corvette specialist" but when we got there they said specialist was out due to an emergency and another tech would have no problem doing our service.

We drive home which is about 10 miles from dealership, temp stays fine around 200, parked the car in garage and coolant was coming out of overflow. Assumed that the dealer over filled the antifreeze (coolant). We could tell someone checked it because there was oil on the cap.

Started the car the next day (Friday 8/25/17), let it idle for 45 minutes. No leaks, fans were on. We thought problem was solved. Drove the car 25'ish miles did not notice any problems, then was out of the car for coolant was spewing again from over flow.

Saturday 8/26/17 took car out and watched for any over heating, didn't notice anything. Drove 25 miles and when we parked car no warning lights, temp read about 200 but we did hear that the fan was still running for a while after car was shut off. We did smell coolant though. We were not at a place that we could crawl under or check out anything because it was dark out. We was out of car for about 2 hours. Got back in car and drove about 5 minutes. 5 minutes on the freeway car got hot, Car gave warning ACTION REQUIRED- Engine Overheating, Idle engine. We were unable to pull off for about 3-4 minutes due to location of freeway, we tried turning the heat on in the car to help lower temp. but heater inside car would not turn on. We finally were able to get car to a save parked location and noticed a trail of coolant coming into parking spot but nothing overflowing at that time.

Any thoughts? Any one else experience anything like this? What concerns would you have short & long term. My thoughts are all this happened after dealership messed with the computer for the airbag recall and having oil changed.

Gamble52

I had an issue like this recently. I'm still pondering what's wrong with my car. Mine is a 2014 with 28k miles. My car overheated (260 temp) on the freeway as well and the action warning came on as well. I pulled over, the car was spouting out coolant from the overflow. Eventually i made it to a place where i could purchase coolant. After waiting a long time for the pressurized tank to cool and be safe enough to open, i added coolant. That seemed to help and i was able to make it home.

Now 2 weeks later, everything is running fine. Went out for a spirited canyon run, stuck in stop and go traffic for about 30 minutes and the car's temp held fine in the middle at 220. 1 mile from home, my temp starts to go up to 240. I'm at a stop light and i see it going up and up. Then the light turns green and while i'm going through the city, i notice the temp coming back down. Strange because it's just city driving and not going no where fast enough for it to drastically cool.

I get onto my drive way, and sit there while it idles. The temp starts to rise and i pop the hood and just observe. I notice the fan isn't kicking on. I shut the car off and still no fan. Then i start the car again and viola, the fan kicks on and my temp starts to level back off at 220. My car is out of bumper to bumper warranty but i have 100k drivetrain warranty. Going to take the car into the dealership since this is the second time. Will keep you updated.

LT4CMG

Check the oil dipstick. Any hint of coolant mixing with oil? Hell, any oil? Maybe he forgot about the oil.

edved

My first inclination. Check the oil.

NSC5

It makes no sense that the coolant cap was taken off during an oil service because if it was low that would be visible via the tank and if it was low the "tech" should have noted it on the service printout. Neither a normal oil change nor the computer update would cause this overheating.

I would question what he was doing or if he knew what he was doing. Unless your car was parked at the dealer for quite some time that tank would have been under pressure. Perhaps the "tech?" opened the cap and let quite a bit of coolant escape during service. Is the cap itself seated and sealing properly?

If it has the proper level of coolant with a cap that is seated and sealing properly then I would suspect a small leak somewhere (water pump?), a sticking thermostat, or last and definitely not likely a combustion leak into the cooling system. I would get this back to the dealer promptly.

Gamble52

I dropped my car off at the dealer today and they will have it for the next week to try and replicate the problem. I have a feeling they won't be able to. In my situation, i'm out of warranty. I have 28k miles on the car and it's a 2014 (3 yr or 36k miles, i reached the 3 year). My dealer told me it wouldn't be covered under warranty and i was charge 190 for a diagnostic fee.

I called GM and they opened up a claim and someone that handles the California market will give me a call probably Tuesday. I think i'm screwed because of the out of warranty thing. After doing some research, a lot of others have reported that the fan doesn't kick on and they would turn the car off/on and the fan will kick back. The car's temp would go back down to normal operating temps.

I wish i (or the dealer) could figure out what part is faulty, even out of warranty i would replace the part myself if i knew exactly what needed replacing. At this point i wonder if i can hook up a manual system somehow for the fan. I thought about doing a breakout sensor piggy backing off the thermostat to a relay operating the fan manually that's connected to a direct 12volt, or even just adding a toggle switch to manually turn the fan on. I hope the dealer and GM can help me out. Good luck OP.

Kracka

2014 powertrain warranty coverage is 5 years/100k miles.

DAFFYDRUNK

That's what I wa thinking. If the OP cannot check the oil themselves, I'd have someone else check the car other than the dealer who did the oil change. That way they can't cover up that they forgot to add oil. It can happen. The doctor neighbor when I was a kid had a 90s ZR1 and the dealer forgot to put oil back in it. ZR1 was driven 7 miles home and back to the dealer without oil.

LT4CMG

Just happened this week Daffy. I was waiting for a client Thursday evening. She called me panicked on the side of the road as the tow truck driver was loading her brand new Ford onto the flatbed. She had gone to the dealership the day before for her first oil change. Tow truck driver told her there was NO hint of oil on the dipstick.
Not to preach, I feel horrible for the OP, but if I'm not standing there watching, no one touches my car. The only solution I have ever come up with that works. The hell with free oil changes, they can keep them.

CGZO6

Coolant cap may not be sealing properly. Have read about a coolant reservoir that had a warped cap receptacle. If cap is not sealing properly, coolant will boil.

Gamble52

unfortunately my dealer is telling me that cooling system isn't covered under powertrain warranty and it falls under bumper to bumper 3 years/36k miles. but you are right i still have my 5 years/100k miles powertrain warranty.

snomuncher

Also, check to see if the coolant reservoir cap is installed properly. On some other GM cars, the cap may appear to be tight but is not properly threaded onto the plastic threads and therefore is not seated/sealed. Some GM reservoir caps also have a rubber seal that can go bad. A new cap solves that issue.

NSC5

If it is the water pump or thermostat it is covered under the GM powertrain warranty so it MIGHT be covered depending upon the problem.

Quoted from the Chevrolet warranty information on their website: "Coverage on the engine cooling system begins at the inlet to the water pump and ends with the thermostat housing and/or outlet that attaches to the return hose. "

TEXHAWK0

As suggested, go ahead and replace coolant reservoir cap. It may not be holding correct pressure on the system.

Lxvett

Please update your post to let us know your status. I have the same issues with my 2014 and I was considering the manual fan switch approach - simple , foolproof. I don't think you mentioned your A/C. With the fan off and the engine temp high, you lost your A/C - correct?

Gamble52

my claim with GM was closed because a dealership could not replicate the problem. Video evidence will not suffice. What they are basically telling me is when the car starts to overheat, find a dealer and take it to them right away. Leave the car on and have a tech look at it. I was trying to argue with the GM person on what if my engine blows because a tech isn't available and I'm sitting there in the service line with the car on. GM couldn't say they would replace the engine, etc. So I got no where.


Anyways, the manual override switch is not as easy as I thought it would be. Everything goes through the ECM. The ECM sends out a low voltage pulse to the radiator relay which indicates the fan should be on. I can't replicate that low voltage pulse to the relay for a manual switch (yet). There is enough room in there for a separate auxiliary fan(s) maybe 4 mini ones, like you said foolproof, running straight from the battery or through the relay box/aux ignition, but I haven't thought about anything yet.


You are correct. When I do spirited driving through the canyons and what not; actually normal driving with the fan off too, I notice that's when the issue comes up. My A/C, heater, etc. is all off and I'm just driving normally with the windows down then I get the overheating indicator to pull over and let idle. Well letting it idle won't do anything if the fan isn't on. I read on the forum that turning the A/C on will automatically kick on the fan. Well I tried that one time and I didn't have A/C and my fan didn't kick on. I was in my garage, popped the hood, and the fan was not on. Luckily my car was just only climbing in temperature (past the 240 mark) and I was able to try everything. I even grabbed the fan blade and tried to kick start the motor like a prop plane, but nope! Turned the car off, and 5 seconds later, turned it back on and the fan kicked on like normal. I've done the shutdown/restart twice now on the freeway (you hear that GM!!! Lawsuit waiting to happen...) but luckily I was in stop and go traffic. If it happens during normal freeway speeds i'll pull over/exit the freeway and perform a restart.


At this point I love my car and I hate it now. I can't rely on it. I'm scared to even take it from the bay area down to LA or to Vegas. I only drive it on the weekends. I owe 30k on the car and thought about trading it in for a 911 Carrera 4s. I held off on the z06 because of the overheating issues and I just don't know if I can trust GM right now in terms of customer service. I get things are faulty and can break, but at least try something more than stating if the dealer can't replicate it, then oh well.

Lxvett

Thanks for the very detailed update. I,have not had the overheat problem as long as you have (only the past three days) and I am traveling today in wife's car for Thanksgiving. I won't see dealer til next week and I appreciate your heads up as to how to expect them to act. My fan has not come back on since the this overheating began. Yesterday I drove about 30 miles in normal urban driving without any problem except for when stopped at traffic lights when temperature would noticeably start to increase, only to drop when moving again. The A/c worked while moving but would stop when not moving at traffic lights.
As a half *** fix I would think a hot wire parallel bypass through a switch from the battery positive to the fan would allow the fan to operate. My understanding is the fan is multiple speed capable;,that adds another complication. I mention all this because I think it is revealing that your fan definitely came on therefore it is intermittent vs mine appears to be permanent.
Thanks again and best of luck getting resolution



JuQUOTE=Gamble52;1596017959]my claim with GM was closed because a dealership could not replicate the problem. Video evidence will not suffice. What they are basically telling me is when the car starts to overheat, find a dealer and take it to them right away. Leave the car on and have a tech look at it. I was trying to argue with the GM person on what if my engine blows because a tech isn't available and I'm sitting there in the service line with the car on. GM couldn't say they would replace the engine, etc. So I got no where.




Anyways, the manual override switch is not as easy as I thought it would be. Everything goes through the ECM. The ECM sends out a low voltage pulse to the radiator relay which indicates the fan should be on. I can't replicate that low voltage pulse to the relay for a manual switch (yet). There is enough room in there for a separate auxiliary fan(s) maybe 4 mini ones, like you said foolproof, running straight from the battery or through the relay box/aux ignition, but I haven't thought about anything yet.


You are correct. When I do spirited driving through the canyons and what not; actually normal driving with the fan off too, I notice that's when the issue comes up. My A/C, heater, etc. is all off and I'm just driving normally with the windows down then I get the overheating indicator to pull over and let idle. Well letting it idle won't do anything if the fan isn't on. I read on the forum that turning the A/C on will automatically kick on the fan. Well I tried that one time and I didn't have A/C and my fan didn't kick on. I was in my garage, popped the hood, and the fan was not on. Luckily my car was just only climbing in temperature (past the 240 mark) and I was able to try everything. I even grabbed the fan blade and tried to kick start the motor like a prop plane, but nope! Turned the car off, and 5 seconds later, turned it back on and the fan kicked on like normal. I've done the shutdown/restart twice now on the freeway (you hear that GM!!! Lawsuit waiting to happen...) but luckily I was in stop and go traffic. If it happens during normal freeway speeds i'll pull over/exit the freeway and perform a restart.


At this point I love my car and I hate it now. I can't rely on it. I'm scared to even take it from the bay area down to LA or to Vegas. I only drive it on the weekends. I owe 30k on the car and thought about trading it in for a 911 Carrera 4s. I held off on the z06 because of the overheating issues and I just don't know if I can trust GM right now in terms of customer service. I get things are faulty and can break, but at least try something more than stating if the dealer can't replicate it, then oh well.[/QUOTE]

Mrc100

If you have not already tried, I would disconnect the battery and let that reset the on-board computers. Sometimes a reboot is necessary to clear.

Lxvett

Thanks. I tried that with no change, but I will try it again after I get back home and try the highway shutdown and restart suggested by another forum member.

brooklync5

Sounds like your in a situation where trading it in might be your best option. If the problem persists and you can’t even get a diagnostic as to what the problem is I wouldn’t keep it. To
Keep the car running while overheating is the worst advice that I have ever heard. I too wouldn’t trust the car at this point for anything more than a few mile drive. Trade in value was very strong in septmember when I traded in my 14 2lt stingray with 15k miles. I got $44,000 on trade. Which was great considering what new Vette’s are selling for. If you can get out of this car without being upside down financially I would.

On the flip side Also keep in mind Chevy techs aren’t the only techs capabale of fixing or diagnosing the issue. You can always go to a reputable performance shop and have them take a lol at it. To me it sounds like it could just be your t-stat acting up which is an easy and cheap fix. I would swap out the thermostat and see what happens before making any other decisions.