Thermostat Issues

[ndsustudent]

I have a base model 2012 cruze and I am starting to think my thermostat is not operating properly. I live in northern minnesota and we are in a bit of a cold snap, currently -18F in my town. But my car will not get up to temp when idling or when I am driving it for 20 minutes. Most of the time it will barley leave the Cold area of the gague. I saw there is a recall of some sort for the 2011's in regards to the thermostat, has anyone had this issue with the 2012's? I am thinking of bringing it into the dealership so I hope it is covered by the warranty.

Thanks in advance!

[GoldenCruze]

A twenty minute time to full warm up when the outside temps are below freezing is normal for the Cruze. The fact that your local weather is lot colder than that seems to be the reason it takes longer to warm up.

[jdubb11]

just search this site for thermostat threads, there are lots. i live in mpls. i have had both cruzes ive owned in for this. "car is working as designed" aka nothing we can do to help you. nature of this small motor. DO NOT USE FAN SPEED 4, car will never warm up. **** mine doesnt warm up on speed 3 when its 10 degrees or less. good luck

[ndsustudent]

Thanks for the input guys. I dropped it off at the dealership this morning, the service tech seemed to agree that it should be warmer than it was which was 2 notches below cold after running for 30 minutes. They just called me back and they said that its operating normally and that there aren't any engine codes but if it continues to happen they offered to replace the thermostat.

I understand that the car will be cold when driving down the highway with the wind through the radiator but what I don't understand is why it won't get up to temp when idling in the driveway with no wind what so ever. Every other car I've owned had no issues getting to temp when idling at least. I am starting to wonder if the recall from this past summer where they trimmed the splash guard has anything to do with this. Maybe the engine is too exposed to get up to temp? Very frustrating to say the least.

[spacedout]

mine doesnt warm up on speed 3 when its 10 degrees or less. good luck

Just wait until the car is warmed up before you turn the fan speed up past 2, you will have no issues with the car cooling down at that point(enough heat is built up). I also just use the cold/hot at the 1 o'clock position & the controls set on defrost only(no feet).

My car warms in under 10 minutes this way, once warm I turn the fan to 3 & defroster to also give the floor some heat. I still leave the cold/hot dial in the 1 o'clock position, otherwise within 20minties of driving it gets so hot I could peel my skin off like bacon.

[GoldenCruze]

Idle speed will not fully warm a cold 1.4T engine. My experience is that it will get to about 130 degrees after ten minutes on idle from a remote start. That gets me cabin heat, which is the purpose of doing a remote start. The engine will come up to temperature at freeway speeds when the outside temps are below freezing. The normal gauge reading is one tick before center when the engine is at full temperature.

Stop chasing the thermostat. It's not the problem. Keep the heater fan speed set at less than the highest setting while the engine is warming up. Use recirculate so that the cabin warms up faster, which helps the engine also.

I still have the splash guard. It makes no difference on engine temperatures, still takes a good twenty minutes to warm up. Don't chase that either.

[spacedout]

I still have the splash guard. It makes no difference on engine temperatures, still takes a good twenty minutes to warm up.

I have had my splash shield cut, but my car is always up to temp within 15minutes of driving. I posted info about my warm up time yesterday on another topic, even when it was 2 degrees yesterday I was fully warmed up in under 10 minutes(including 1 minute remote start). It might be the all the hills around here helping build heat(increased load).

Here is a link to my post yesterday.
2 Stuck thermostats in a row????

[jdubb11]

Just wait until the car is warmed up before you turn the fan speed up past 2, you will have no issues with the car cooling down at that point(enough heat is built up). I also just use the cold/hot at the 1 o'clock position & the controls set on defrost only(no feet).

My car warms in under 10 minutes this way, once warm I turn the fan to 3 & defroster to also give the floor some heat. I still leave the cold/hot dial in the 1 o'clock position, otherwise within 20minties of driving it gets so hot I could peel my skin off like bacon.

no dissrespect but im tired of hearing "wait for the car to warm up". IT DOES NOT WARM UP IN CITY DRIVING. i would never turn my heat on or past number two on the fan and we all know how much air blows on 1 and 2...next to nothing. i need defrost and 2 wont cut it. i have a 8 month old in the back seat and 2 wont cut it. its 0 today and i work in a hr, i will try to take pics or a vid of the temp needle. it wont go past 1/4 or just a tic or two more and if it does and i go to speed 3 or god forbid 4, the temp will crash back down. its a 2012 car. you should be able to use your fn heater how ever you want and not 1)drive in m mode for higher rpms. 2) not use 6th gear. 3) not use more then fan speed 3 at any time. my first car with rs and its worthless as the car doesnt warm up at idle anyways. the wifes car gets to almost full op temp after 5 min of idling!! i know its a differnent car(09 malibu) but its not unheard of for a car to warm up at idle or get to or stay at op temp in 10 degree or less weather.
now, highway driving is another thing. the car will get to op temp and stay there while driving. if though you stop and a light or get off the highway, temp begins to fall right away. my dealer went through the car multiple times and they contacted gm. car is "working as designed" aka worthless

[silverram323]

I'm in Minnesota also, I found if i use fan speeds above level 2 to soon it takes a while to warm up, So i leave it on 2 till it reaches 180 mark, It was -14 this morning and i tried this -- once on the freeway @ cruising speed, i manually shifted it to 5th gear (more rpms) and it seemed to warm up faster, how ever at 65 mpg it was reading 36-38 mpg in 6th and it dropped to 30 mpg in 5th gear. Give and take.

my .o2

P.S. I wonder if we can block off the radiator? I do this in my dodge ram Cummins diesel pickup as that could run 8 hrs a day and not get about 160.

[upstater]

how about this question.... why is the thermostat opening early? if your gage does not move, or like mine goes backwards at times, then cold coolant is being introduced too early. seems like an ECM programming issue?