[freakdog]

It's been really hot these last few days, in San Diego. Yesterday, while driving inland, in mountain mode, for about 12 miles at 107 degrees, this message came on "ENGINE OVERHEATED - REDUCE SPEED" -- The check engine light remained on. Today while driving up hill in gas mode (charge depleted) for about 15 miles, it happened again after braking all the way to the bottom of the hill -- it was 109 degrees at the time.

Is this a normal condition when taxing the engine up large hills in 105 degree+ weather or is indicative of an issue with the vehicle?

Thanks!
Larry

 

[Steverino]

If it had happened to me I would have pulled over, popped the hood and checked my engine coolant tank.

 

[scottf200]

It's been really hot these last few days, in San Diego. Yesterday, while driving inland, in mountain mode, for about 12 miles at 107 degrees, this message came on "ENGINE OVERHEATED - REDUCE SPEED" -- The check engine light remained on. Today while driving up hill in gas mode (charge depleted) for about 15 miles, it happened again after braking all the way to the bottom of the hill -- it was 109 degrees at the time.

Is this a normal condition when taxing the engine up large hills in 105 degree+ weather or is indicative of an issue with the vehicle?

Thanks!
Larry

Your thread was in a 'moderated' status still so I just approved it. Perhaps you will get more answers.

I'm surprised about the message because there are plenty of Volts in AZ, TX, etc where temperatures get hotter than that.

Perhaps it was being taxed since you said you were 'driving up hill' but that was your 2nd example. Your 1st example was while driving on flat land?

Check your coolant levels for sure.

I didn't find an answer but best way to search is with google site keyword: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Agm-volt.com+ENGINE+OVERHEATED+-+REDUCE+SPEED

 

[Upper5Percent]

It's been really hot these last few days, in San Diego. Yesterday, while driving inland, in mountain mode, for about 12 miles at 107 degrees, this message came on "ENGINE OVERHEATED - REDUCE SPEED" -- The check engine light remained on. Today while driving up hill in gas mode (charge depleted) for about 15 miles, it happened again after braking all the way to the bottom of the hill -- it was 109 degrees at the time.

Is this a normal condition when taxing the engine up large hills in 105 degree+ weather or is indicative of an issue with the vehicle?

Thanks!
Larry

If it had happened to me I would have pulled over, popped the hood and checked my engine coolant tank.

Well, Steve gave you the answer on the first thing to do...SO what are your coolant tank levels??

The vehicle has an indicator to warn of engine overheating.

If the decision is made not to lift the hood when this warning appears, get service help right away.

If the decision is made to lift the hood, make sure the vehicle is parked on a level surface.

Then check to see if the engine cooling fan is running. If the engine is overheating, the fan should be running. If it is not, do not continue to run the vehicle, and have the vehicle serviced.

 

[freshcut]

If you're reasonably savvy with a smartphone and have access to a bluetooth OBD2 dongle (under $20 on amazon), you could use any number of apps to monitor your engine temp through the OBD2 signal. I usually have mine running either mygreenvolt or Torque (lite). It allows me to watch various aspects of the vehicle. I usually always have one of those apps running when I'm driving out of town. I know when I take the 5 south to LA I have quite a climb to get out of the central valley on my drive and although the engine is running quite hard, I've not seen the coolant temp really exceed 200F under normal conditions and if I recall correctly, even during the middle of summer, 210 was about the most I saw. If you are getting high enough temps to offer that sort of warning, it sounds like you definitely have a low coolant condition or other more serious issue that may warrant a trip to the dealership.

 

[BAZINGA]

It should have generate some error codes, I would have called OnStar to get a read out of what the car was reporting. The overheat was the last condition, but what other symptoms were occurring to cause the o/h?

 

[TheBlueFlash]

Check your coolant levels. What year Volt do you have? Have you flushed and filled your coolant lately? If you have a 2011 or 2012 you're overdue for a coolant system flush and fill. If you have a 2013 check your build date, you may need it or not. If you're 2014 or newer, then your coolant is probably fine unless you're over 100,000 miles in which case, get it done.

There have been a couple of ICE overheat issues reported lately with older and/or higher mileage gen 1's. I thought the ICE's in them were fairly bullet proof. I wonder if folks are neglecting to check coolant levels (may have an unknown leak) or putting off the coolant flush/fill service?