Matthewstorm

I was in a parking lot today when suddenly an overheating alarm went off and the temp guage zoomed to 260. I immediately shut off the car and opened the hood. There was a black hose under and next to the fuse box spewing hot water all over. Luckily, I was not on the freeway. Any idea what may have happened? Had it towed to the dealer.

TNSQUIRE

That's the overflow hose. What year is your C7

Matthewstorm

TNSQUIRE

There have been a number of cases, including my 2014, where the cooling fans are not running at the time the car overheats. Once you turn the car off and back on, it corrects itself. No codes so the dealer can't easily diagnose. They never did resolve the issue on mine before I traded it.

Matthewstorm

TNSQUIRE

Happened 3 times. They never fixed it. I ended up trading the car. The fan needs to be replaced but you will probably have to pay for it. Several people have upgraded to the Z06 fan which runs about $300.

Matthewstorm

TNSQUIRE

The Z06 fan does seem to resolve the issue. I was already in the market for a new Grand Sport so I went ahead and traded mine.

PatternDayTrader

Just be mindful of the temp gauge.
The fans come on if you turn the air conditioning on.

Jaykoh-Z51

I had a few times....rogue temp spikes. But NEVER got any other warning. Just the analog needle spiking...waaaay up there. Dealership looked at it a few times.

Hasn't happened in over a year. I guess just a lost electron wandering around in there? Was so bizarre. Never had fluid spewing though.

Matthewstorm

Yeah, but I haven't had the A/C on in a long time.

PatternDayTrader

So next time the temp gauge is creeping up past where it normally runs, turn on the ac and listen for the fans.

Steve_R

Do you have your climate control system in Auto mode? If so, you've had the AC on a lot more than you think.

Har-ray

Matthewstorm

No, climate control set to off. Not running.

Matthewstorm

That may prove a tad difficult as coolant is spewing everywhere and my main concern is frying my engine.

TNSQUIRE

When mine overheated, the car turned the AC off on its own. I popped the hood and the fans were not on. I restarted the car, the fans came on and the temp dropped to normal.

PatternDayTrader

So I can see this might not work out here.
The point is if the temp gauge is moving up into the abnormal range, then turn on the ac, if the fans come on then its likely no further action will be required. If the fans don't come on and temp continues to climb, then shut the car off so you don't fry the engine, using your description.

PatternDayTrader

If the fans are not on then it will overheat. If it overheats, then turning the ac off reduces the load on the engine.

TNSQUIRE

Exactly the problem I kept having but the dealer could never diagnose why the fans were shutting off so they never solved the problem. It was under warranty but they would not replace the fan unless they could actually see that they weren't running. It was a random problem.