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Heater quit working

2846 Views 18 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  TheStig
My wife took the car to work today, and called me about 10 minutes into the drive, and the heater hadn't started working yet. Vehicle temperature was good, but it wasn't blowing hot air. While I was on the phone with her, it started working. When she got to work and parked, "code 4" came up. Any ideas as to what this is?
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Here's a picture of the code on the display.

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Your engine temperature is too high - check the coolant levels ASAP. Low coolant will cause both your wife's report of no heat and at the same time excessive engine temperatures.
That was my first thought when she called. Coolant. But when I saw the picture, I didn't think that was overly hot.
I guess I'm too used to big engines that can hold up to heat quite well.
Is there a recommended Coolant for the 1.4?
Was curious as to what these codes are that can pop up in the DIC, not in the owners manual, and if in the shop manual, may have to start at page one and go through all three manuals.

Only two instances of Code 4 on this board, one dealer claims the coolant temperature is defective, but know seems to know exactly what this code 4 is, is there also a code, 1,2,3, or 5?

See your temperature gauge is reading high, plus the check engine light is on, helpful that you posted a photo. With a scanned, should know exactly what the problem is. Least they list CEL codes.

In regards to common problems, the water pump may have developed a leak and will only get worse, recovery tank coolant level will be low. Could also even be some hose or the thermostat that is the problem. But one thing for sure, its a problem. Ha, even the coolant temperature sensor.

All of the climate controls fed into the BCM, if this shuts down the MVAC controls, good question, manual doesn't even explain this, all it does explain is how to change parts. And the way these parts prices are going, may be cheaper to replace the entire vehicle.

Knowing the CEL light would help, but with coolant problems, could crack that aluminum head in these engines, so best to call your dealer and have it trucked over.

Chevy did warranty the water pump for 150,00 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first.

Dex-cool is the only coolant to use.
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Thanks for the info. My father in law has a scanner, and we'll go from there.
TheStig has a Canadian Cruze. The errors are numeric instead of text. As far as I can tell it's so GM doesn't have to generate both English and French language versions of the text along with the associated support for changing languages.
TheStig has a Canadian Cruze. The errors are numeric instead of text. As far as I can tell it's so GM doesn't have to generate both English and French language versions of the text along with the associated support for changing languages.
Learned something, so one would require a Canadian shop manual? Does that code move to the left for digits higher than 9?

Hey Stig, check your coolant levels first.
Yeah, I'm going to run into town and get some coolant and Timmies, and go see if I can remedy it.
Code 4 is suppose to be for Canadian vehicles. It means "Air Conditioner off due to high engine temperature"
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Here is a list of possible codes:
On the Canadian base level cluster, vehicle messages appear as code numbers.
4 Air Conditioner off due to high engine temperature
25 Left front turn indicator failure
26 Left rear turn indicator failure
27 Right front turn indicator failure
28 Right rear turn indicator failure
35 Replace battery in radio remote control
53 Tighten gas cap
65 Theft attempted
68 Service power steering
75 Service air conditioner
82Change engine oil soon
84Engine power is reduced
95Service airbag
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Code 4 is suppose to be for Canadian vehicles. It means "Air Conditioner off due to high engine temperature"
Thank you sir. Hopefully it just needs some coolant, and isn't leaking somewhere.
Here is a list of possible codes:
On the Canadian base level cluster, vehicle messages appear as code numbers.
4 Air Conditioner off due to high engine temperature
25 Left front turn indicator failure
26 Left rear turn indicator failure
27 Right front turn indicator failure
28 Right rear turn indicator failure
35 Replace battery in radio remote control
53 Tighten gas cap
65 Theft attempted
68 Service power steering
75 Service air conditioner
82Change engine oil soon
84Engine power is reduced
95Service airbag
Copied and saved for future reference.
Topped up the coolant, cleared the code (low coolant flow code) and all is well on the Stigs test track.

Thanks guys.
How low was the coolant? If it was below the top of the lower hose you may have air in the system that will need to work its way out. Keep an eye on your coolant level regardless.
It was just below the lower hose. Got all the air out of the system.
It was just below the lower hose. Got all the air out of the system.
Kind of what I expected with the original symptoms. There will be some air caught in the radiator - it will burp out over the next few thousand miles. Keep an eye on it as I think you have more than the usual seep/loss of coolant.
Ha, I am going to wear out my hood release the number of time I open it to check fluids. So we have a plastic recovery tank, with a plastic cap with an O-Ring around it. My peanut butter jar has a much better cap than this. And my peanut butter jar does not have 20 psi of pressure behind this cap.

Constantly tightening this cap, why does it keep getting loose? And why put that O'Ring on the very coarse threads on this cap? Couldn't have picked a worse spot, it binds when you screw it in. Adding some silicone grease does help. If they had any brains, would have used a neoprene gasket under the cap for a far superior grip. But brains are becoming history.



And should have used finer threads. When they did have brains, the recovery tank just took the overflow when using a properly designed radiator cap that took years to develop. No pressure in that reservoir plastic tank as it was called. And since its just taking the overflow, the coolant nearly isn't as hot.

So beside having cooling system leaks, this cap is the problem, Has to have a very good seal, Coolant is a 50-50 mix of water and Dex-cool, engine operating temperature is above 212*F where the water can boil off. Not anything new, called distilling that dates back over 4,000 years.

So you are wondering why we are having problems? These are the reasons. Always a reason. Watch your coolant levels like a hawk.

What else is missing is a low level coolant sensor to at least give you a warning.
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Put coolant in it a couple times again, and finally got it to the dealer today. Turns out my water pump has a small leak. Didn't have a water pump in stock, so waiting for that to come in. Until then, keeping extra coolant with me at all times.
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