Fun fact ..... I just did a little research the set point for the Sonic Cruze thermostat to open is 103 Celsius or 217 degrees Fahrenheit usually the fan is in slow mode cooling from 209 down to 189 but if it goes over 213 degrees it will go on in high mode, first time this summer I ever new the fan had two speeds . 217 is hot 🔥 also I heard for the first time some are using a thermostat from a Chevy Volt since it has a opening point at 176 degrees F not sure how this is working out but maybe good if you live in a desert like area always in the 100"s ..
It will run Hot even in 20/30 degree whether they programmed the computer from the factory that way the hotter in runs the more effective better gas milage etc although it's hard on everything else rubber and plastic parts .
They have so many out now that gauge I bought in the 90"s they have gauges out now that will show you everything with a heads up display but they all just plug into the plug under the dash they call it a OBD port that means on board diagnostic it's connected to the computer ..
My 2015 sonic got the engine temperature light come on. I have an OBD2 device and it said engine temperature going up a hill was 243 which is way high. That’s why the light came on. It’s at the dealer right now having a diagnostic done hopefully it’s just a Water pump over thermostat or temperature sensor that’s causing the water not to flow through the engine to cool it off
Hopefully that is it I ha mine get that high as well up in the mountains in the summer climbing hills I did that Chevy volt thermostat modification , that's were you take apart a Chevy volt thermostat and put it in a Sonic housing it's a 179 degrees the Sonic is a 220 degrees there's a you tube video on it that might help I run around now at 179 and the hottest it gets is around 215
Car required a new radiator, thermostat and oil pan gasket. still temps in the 220 range when going up a hill. Doesn't get over 230 except a couple of times and then the fan turns on the radiator. Temp before went over 240 F and engine light came on dash. Luckily, I bought extended warranty from the dealer I bought car from. Cost over $2300 to fix but my cost was $300 Drove a couple of times to Las Vegas since repair done no issues
I'm at about 50k miles never overheated but before I did that Chevy volt thermostat mod I was in the 230 range under load too going up to the mountains. Alot of people have done the mod if it becomes a problem you might consider it . It's just taking the actual thermostat piece out of a Chevy volt housing and putting it in a Chevy Sonic housing it's a 179 degree the Sonic I believe is 217 or 220 that's why it's always hot by the time the thermostat opens your already 220 degrees . I run around at 180 degrees all day it only gets to around 200 before it kicks back down 👇 .
The bypass is done by plugging off a hose that comes from the bypass line of the turbo there's a solinoid on that actually leaks boost back into the intake at WOT so you don't overboost the engine . That's for gas milage and emissions reasons your basically bypassing the elec solinoid . At WOT you will notice the difference but normal driving no, I have a tune called turbo advantage mainly a trans tune I'm in Cali very strict emmisions laws here , cold air intake had one no performance gain but you here the swoosh of the turbo ...resonator delete thats it Google search solinoid bypass it will come up
@@TheThirdWheel618 why not just shorten the wastegate actuator length and then you will boost up faster? Every full turn on the road length to shorten it increases your boost longer,?
@@dakota47v8 Ok I see yeah no one really discussed this on any Sonic forums I read up on , I might try it I will mark the rod and try 1 turn at a time ...no more than 3 total ...
Get rid of that damn car! Shame on Chevy for making a car without a temprature guage on the instrument panel. What the hell are the engineers & the president of GM are they thinking? Stupidity! This is the reason why they make substandard cars!
Yep the first gen Sonic was basically a import from Korea , then the made it here but still kept alot of the Korean styling and design ? . Someone once told me you don't have a Chevy you have a rebadged Daewoo lol 😂 . They eventually stopped making them since they had so many problems I was getting lemon law letter ads for about 2 years a invite to jump on the lawsuit train of all those who sued GM , so far I've had replaced a coil , changed the 221 degree thermostat to a 179 degree from a Chevy volt , replaced the purge evap solenoid , the water outlet neck on motor , water reservoir plastic bottle . I have 49k miles
I just replace the water reservoir for coolant very easy $30 for the container five minutes to install now just waiting to find out why my car is running too hot
@pcmacbob. Make sure you use the Chevy antifreeze coolant. Chevy coolant are specifically designed for Chevy vehicles. Why the over heating after you changed the antifreeze? Either you didn't belch the cooling system( you can see it done here on UA-cam), you used 100% antifreeze(it needs to be diluted with distilled water NOT THE WATER FROM YOUR HOUSE. HOME WATER HAS IONS WHICH WILL RUST OR DETRIORATE COOLING SYSTEM). If you bought full strength antifreeze it needs to be diluted with 50% distilled water. You can buy distilled water from any market in the bottle water section of the store. Bottle water must say DISTILLED. DONT USE DRINKING WATER! Then belch the cooling system.
@macbob. Many years ago, say back in 1979 when I was a young pup, my dad gave my his 71 Chevy pick up. I changed the water in the radiator, yes I said water. Dad didn't know any better. Anyway, I cleaned out the cooling system and added Prestone antifreeze. I didn't know at the time that full strength antifreeze had to be diluted 50% with distilled water. I noticed that it was running much hotter than usual. I changed everything in the cooling system and it still ran hotter than usual. Well to make a long story short, I was running my truck on full strength antifreeze instead of diluting it. If by any chance your temperature gauge is fluctuating in temperature that means you have air in the system and need to belch the air out.
I did the same a few months back I should had flipped the cash for the aluminum reservoir they make , I just installed the aluminum water neck / port whatever it's called they started making them in aluminum ZZP performance has them . There's a lot of upgrades that people have done to prevent future problems on the Sonic like the PCV upgrade , especially the Chevy Volt Thermostat swap 179 degrees instead of 221 . Also I agree that if there's air in the system the fan won't come on or it will come on when the engines cold or of and on at weird times , they use that dexcool because it has a boiling point of 250 degrees and they run the car at 205 to 217 target range with a thermostat at 221 then it kicks it back to 205 . If you live in a cold state in the winter hook up a gauge and it could be 25 degrees outside and that engine will still run at 205 I seen it on my gauges in the snow with the guy putting salt on the ground 205 ??? Anyway everytime I drain and fill coolant I bought that tool that sucks air out it has a rubber seal that goes on the radiator cap and you hook it up to a air compressor it sucks all the air out of the system then you turn a valve it has a hose that goes into the jug of antifreeze and it puts it in without air I bought it on Amazon use it all the time .
I just messed with Texas 🤕....I actually did the Chevy Volt Swap that's is taking a 179 degree thermostat out of a Chevy volt housing and putting it in a Chevy Sonic housing 😉👍. Now I can sit in Texas Style heat and my engine would be at 180 degrees instead of 220 ...
Fun fact ..... I just did a little research the set point for the Sonic Cruze thermostat to open is 103 Celsius or 217 degrees Fahrenheit usually the fan is in slow mode cooling from 209 down to 189 but if it goes over 213 degrees it will go on in high mode, first time this summer I ever new the fan had two speeds .
217 is hot 🔥 also I heard for the first time some are using a thermostat from a Chevy Volt since it has a opening point at 176 degrees F not sure how this is working out but maybe good if you live in a desert like area always in the 100"s ..
Agree 💯% needs more gauges
I have notice your right about the temperature on this vehicle it will run hot because of the temperature outside
It will run Hot even in 20/30 degree whether they programmed the computer from the factory that way the hotter in runs the more effective better gas milage etc although it's hard on everything else rubber and plastic parts .
If I were to buy one would I just have to plug into my car or do I have to download something from the website
They have so many out now that gauge I bought in the 90"s they have gauges out now that will show you everything with a heads up display but they all just plug into the plug under the dash they call it a OBD port that means on board diagnostic it's connected to the computer ..
My 2015 sonic got the engine temperature light come on. I have an OBD2 device and it said engine temperature going up a hill was 243 which is way high. That’s why the light came on. It’s at the dealer right now having a diagnostic done hopefully it’s just a Water pump over thermostat or temperature sensor that’s causing the water not to flow through the engine to cool it off
Hopefully that is it I ha mine get that high as well up in the mountains in the summer climbing hills I did that Chevy volt thermostat modification , that's were you take apart a Chevy volt thermostat and put it in a Sonic housing it's a 179 degrees the Sonic is a 220 degrees there's a you tube video on it that might help I run around now at 179 and the hottest it gets is around 215
Car required a new radiator, thermostat and oil pan gasket. still temps in the 220 range when going up a hill. Doesn't get over 230 except a couple of times and then the fan turns on the radiator. Temp before went over 240 F and engine light came on dash. Luckily, I bought extended warranty from the dealer I bought car from. Cost over $2300 to fix but my cost was $300 Drove a couple of times to Las Vegas since repair done no issues
I'm at about 50k miles never overheated but before I did that Chevy volt thermostat mod I was in the 230 range under load too going up to the mountains.
Alot of people have done the mod if it becomes a problem you might consider it . It's just taking the actual thermostat piece out of a Chevy volt housing and putting it in a Chevy Sonic housing it's a 179 degree the Sonic I believe is 217 or 220 that's why it's always hot by the time the thermostat opens your already 220 degrees .
I run around at 180 degrees all day it only gets to around 200 before it kicks back down 👇 .
Question how did you do a solenoid bypass? Also do u have a cold air intake or a tune on your car or any aftermarket parts??
The bypass is done by plugging off a hose that comes from the bypass line of the turbo there's a solinoid on that actually leaks boost back into the intake at WOT so you don't overboost the engine .
That's for gas milage and emissions reasons your basically bypassing the elec solinoid .
At WOT you will notice the difference but normal driving no, I have a tune called turbo advantage mainly a trans tune I'm in Cali very strict emmisions laws here , cold air intake had one no performance gain but you here the swoosh of the turbo ...resonator delete thats it Google search solinoid bypass it will come up
@@TheThirdWheel618 why not just shorten the wastegate actuator length and then you will boost up faster? Every full turn on the road length to shorten it increases your boost longer,?
@@dakota47v8
I never tried it, on the forums it's not really talked about so I never thought of doing it you have done this ?
@@TheThirdWheel618 yes .. but only shorten up the actuator rod two or three full turns . Each turn adds 1 more pound of boost
@@dakota47v8
Ok I see yeah no one really discussed this on any Sonic forums I read up on , I might try it I will mark the rod and try 1 turn at a time ...no more than 3 total ...
Thanks
Get rid of that damn car! Shame on Chevy for making a car without a temprature guage on the instrument panel. What the hell are the engineers & the president of GM are they thinking? Stupidity! This is the reason why they make substandard cars!
Yep the first gen Sonic was basically a import from Korea , then the made it here but still kept alot of the Korean styling and design ? .
Someone once told me you don't have a Chevy you have a rebadged Daewoo lol 😂 .
They eventually stopped making them since they had so many problems I was getting lemon law letter ads for about 2 years a invite to jump on the lawsuit train of all those who sued GM , so far I've had replaced a coil , changed the 221 degree thermostat to a 179 degree from a Chevy volt , replaced the purge evap solenoid , the water outlet neck on motor , water reservoir plastic bottle .
I have 49k miles
I just replace the water reservoir for coolant very easy $30 for the container five minutes to install now just waiting to find out why my car is running too hot
@pcmacbob. Make sure you use the Chevy antifreeze coolant. Chevy coolant are specifically designed for Chevy vehicles. Why the over heating after you changed the antifreeze? Either you didn't belch the cooling system( you can see it done here on UA-cam), you used 100% antifreeze(it needs to be diluted with distilled water NOT THE WATER FROM YOUR HOUSE. HOME WATER HAS IONS WHICH WILL RUST OR DETRIORATE COOLING SYSTEM). If you bought full strength antifreeze it needs to be diluted with 50% distilled water. You can buy distilled water from any market in the bottle water section of the store. Bottle water must say DISTILLED. DONT USE DRINKING WATER! Then belch the cooling system.
@macbob. Many years ago, say back in 1979 when I was a young pup, my dad gave my his 71 Chevy pick up. I changed the water in the radiator, yes I said water. Dad didn't know any better. Anyway, I cleaned out the cooling system and added Prestone antifreeze. I didn't know at the time that full strength antifreeze had to be diluted 50% with distilled water. I noticed that it was running much hotter than usual. I changed everything in the cooling system and it still ran hotter than usual. Well to make a long story short, I was running my truck on full strength antifreeze instead of diluting it. If by any chance your temperature gauge is fluctuating in temperature that means you have air in the system and need to belch the air out.
I did the same a few months back I should had flipped the cash for the aluminum reservoir they make , I just installed the aluminum water neck / port whatever it's called they started making them in aluminum ZZP performance has them .
There's a lot of upgrades that people have done to prevent future problems on the Sonic like the PCV upgrade , especially the Chevy Volt Thermostat swap 179 degrees instead of 221 . Also I agree that if there's air in the system the fan won't come on or it will come on when the engines cold or of and on at weird times , they use that dexcool because it has a boiling point of 250 degrees and they run the car at 205 to 217 target range with a thermostat at 221 then it kicks it back to 205 .
If you live in a cold state in the winter hook up a gauge and it could be 25 degrees outside and that engine will still run at 205 I seen it on my gauges in the snow with the guy putting salt on the ground 205 ??? Anyway everytime I drain and fill coolant I bought that tool that sucks air out it has a rubber seal that goes on the radiator cap and you hook it up to a air compressor it sucks all the air out of the system then you turn a valve it has a hose that goes into the jug of antifreeze and it puts it in without air I bought it on Amazon use it all the time .
Weird how chevy's econo cars have no engine temp gauge?
Yeah ....I think the thermo stat is a 220 degree great for emissions and gas mileage terrible for all that plastic and rubber under the hood .
Racing gauges are pretty 🧐
Racers vs Ricers
Bamboozel96 it's that one a racer or a ricer ? 🤗
*90 to 100* then theres texas
I just messed with Texas 🤕....I actually did the Chevy Volt Swap that's is taking a 179 degree thermostat out of a Chevy volt housing and putting it in a Chevy Sonic housing 😉👍.
Now I can sit in Texas Style heat and my engine would be at 180 degrees instead of 220 ...