Check engine light, overheating

[oa12]

I drive a 2012 Sonic 1.4 liter turbo.

Sunday night i was driving and i noticed the heat wasn't working in the cabin, i start up a hill and the overheating light comes on and i pull over and get towed by triple A home, the next day we figured it was the thermostat so we bought a $80 replacement and put it in. The car seemed to run better but still no heat, i got up this morning and was driving and the check engine light came back on followed by a overheating warning so I pulled over and parked.

We ran a diagnostic before we replaced the thermostat and it said low coolant levels. We filled it back up after replacing the thermostat.

I have not done another run on the check engine light yet but I noticed on my Chevrolet that i had a limited water pump warranty, could that be the problem? I may take it to a Chevrolet dealer soon if i can determine this is a possible cause.

 

[Stew]

Yeah no heat from the heater is a sign that you're out of coolant and better stop quick. After you replaced the thermostat and filled it back up and then got the second overheat was there still coolant in it or was the reservoir empty again?

I replaced my radiator not long ago and when going on the test drive the temp started going up up so I pulled over and popped the hood to see if maybe I forgot to put a hose clamp back on or something and lost all my coolant.

Coolant was full, no leaks so after waiting a few minutes I started it up and watched the coolant temp on the Ultragauge. It settled back to normal and it hasn't gotten hot again, best I can figure is there was an air bubble somewhere after refilling the coolant that had worked itself out after pulling over.

Now if you're out of coolant again it's going somewhere and figuring out where is the next challenge.

 

[gnonne]

Could be air in the system. Had a similar problem with an Italian MC I had a while back. Changed some coolant hoses and got air in the head. Warning light came on quickly, then went off and temp went right back to normal range after I found the bleed valve on the head. Not sure how the 1.4L is set up, but there may be bleeder.

 

[JeremyD]

I drive a 2012 Sonic 1.4 liter turbo.

Sunday night i was driving and i noticed the heat wasn't working in the cabin, i start up a hill and the overheating light comes on and i pull over and get towed by triple A home, the next day we figured it was the thermostat so we bought a $80 replacement and put it in. The car seemed to run better but still no heat, i got up this morning and was driving and the check engine light came back on followed by a overheating warning so I pulled over and parked.

We ran a diagnostic before we replaced the thermostat and it said low coolant levels. We filled it back up after replacing the thermostat.

I have not done another run on the check engine light yet but I noticed on my Chevrolet that i had a limited water pump warranty, could that be the problem? I may take it to a Chevrolet dealer soon if i can determine this is a possible cause.

I had a very similar issue this weekend, no cabin heat followed by coolant temperature light and audible signal. Pulled over, put water in it to get home where I could take a closer look. Found a pinhole leak in a heater hose. The puncture is caused by a pointed protrusion on the back side of the intake manifold. I can't take pictures of the intake manifold, but was able to take photos of the puncture in the hose. This vehicle has 104506 miles on it when the issue occurred. Hopefully this helps folks and gives something to look for as they do regular maintenance.

 

[douglasskemp]

On my car (2015 LTZ 1.4T 6spd auto) the A/C wasn't working right. Took it to the maintenance place the dealer works with (was a non make used car dealership) and while they were working on the A/C, they noticed that the water pump was leaking from the bleed hole (bearing leak.) They told the dealer about it and the dealer said that since we were still under warranty, it had to be done by Chevy. Took it to O'Reilly Chevrolet here in Tucson and they had to keep it overnight. Loaner car was a 4wd 4 door Silverado. MUCH bigger than the Sonic, but not too bad since it had the backup camera. Just wanted to let you know about this since for us it STILL was covered by the factory warranty.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[BigLee]

Did you follow the proper coolant refill procedure?
There is a plastic air purge screw just above the upper radiator hose on the drivers side of the radiator.
That must be opened after filling of the resivoir, until coolant pours out.

I also refill the resivoir, then take it loose from the radiator support, and turn the resivoir on its side (cap at the top)
And let coolant cover and drain into the engine through the small vent hose. This will just about empty the resivoir, and fill into the cylinder head.
Just be sure not to strain the small hose where it attaches to the coolant outlet, or the fitting could break.
You also have to run the engine to 2500 rpm for 30 seconds after filling the system.

 

[SourKandi]

I drive a 2012 Sonic 1.4 liter turbo.



Sunday night i was driving and i noticed the heat wasn't working in the cabin, i start up a hill and the overheating light comes on and i pull over and get towed by triple A home, the next day we figured it was the thermostat so we bought a $80 replacement and put it in. The car seemed to run better but still no heat, i got up this morning and was driving and the check engine light came back on followed by a overheating warning so I pulled over and parked.



We ran a diagnostic before we replaced the thermostat and it said low coolant levels. We filled it back up after replacing the thermostat.



I have not done another run on the check engine light yet but I noticed on my Chevrolet that i had a limited water pump warranty, could that be the problem? I may take it to a Chevrolet dealer soon if i can determine this is a possible cause.

If you never had the recall on the water pump done then you best get them to do it!

I had no cel but on the last legs of a 500 mile trip in the winter, my heater stopped putting out heat. Ended up being a bad water pump which dealer replaced. Mine is a ‘13 1.4T currently at 80K- my water pump was replaced at about 20K when it failed.

 

[boostiboo]

i had a similar issue, no temp warnings or anyhting but my heater was getting hot as hell even on its lower setting and i started noticing a burning coolant smell, pulled into a walmart parking lot (just in case my fear was confirmed (which it was) popped the hood, no coolant in reservoir, and there was a massive coolant explosion on the passenger side of the car, the a/c compressor and radiator were drenched, and i tracked it to where the thermostat meets the pump, filled it back up and started it and it went from a trickle to it puking coolant. just something else to keep an eye on. ill be replacing thermostat and water pump when the parts get here. just more crap to ad to the grocery list of stuff wrong with my car.