[SaturnNorth]

So we had a nice heat wave in Montreal in the last three days. It was a record 34C outdoors but should this affect the Outlook? To my surprise, I had a over heated engine after 30min of city use. The thermostat reached the max temp allowed at 125. I had multiple warning lights come on the dash :help:..oil life 0% :help:...stabitrak shut down :help:...a/c shut down :help:...One by one the computer was shutting everything down. The engine was automatically set at a maximum allowed speed. Lucky for me I was able to crawl off the highway to the nearest exit ramp. I parked the SUV and waited 10min to start. I had to do this the rest of the way home cause the temp kept reaching the max after a few kilometers. I just had a filter and oil change done 3 weeks ago. I must 've drove no more than 1500km on the new oil. The last I checked before all this happened was my oil life was around 85%. It was so unbearably hot in the SUV that I thought it might catch on fire. The heat was coming out of the vents and I can tell you folks it was more than the 31C allowed by the heater controls. Warranty expired at 60000km. Going in this friday and lets see what excuse we have this time around :banghead:

 

[rbarrios]

did you check your coolant level?

it sounds like the engine overheated (for whatever reason)-
the car (As per the owners manual) shows you warning signs on the dash)
and then goes into Limp mode...
they call it something else-- but it turns off a bunch of the cylinders- so as to keep from overheating even more--
it also says that at this point the oil takes a beating (because if you did lose coolant) the oil was now the only thing keeping the engine cool
(oil also serves as a coolant)... but the oil took a nice beating- thus the 0%

 

[khansen30]

If you've got that many miles you may have lost your water pump, as many others have. Please update your signature so that we know what kind of Vehicle you have.

 

[tsc1969]

Things that would cause that are low coolant, internally broken water pump, missing drive belt, thermostat stuck or cooling fan malfunction.
Tim C.

 

[BigTallV]

Let's not forget about the possibility of a head gasket failure.

 

[SaturnNorth]

Well, here's the verdict...I brought it in early and told them to do a tune up and mentioned the overheating. I also told them I had an oil change 3 weeks ago. 8 hrs later I get a call and they told me they couldn't find anything wrong with the suv. The only thing they said was the coolant level was low by 4 liters. They inspected for leaks and did a pressure test and found nothing wrong. Total costs after taxes...$408.22. So all they did was take a look here and there, measured the tired treads, looked at the brakes. They didn't even bother looking or changing the oil (since they said I've already done it). The said the air filter was good but the mechanic that did my oil change 3 weeks ago said its time to change it! So that means $100 per liter of coolant for a top up :banghead: The last tune up was last fall by the same dealership. Aren't they suppose to make sure everything was topped up? Where did it evaporate too? I guess it sucks coolant like it sucks gas...yeah, yeah, on the highway everything looks good Not to mention the power steering fluid. Let this be a $400 lesson to every owner. Make sure your fluids are more than topped up. I think they miscalculated the fluid requirements. I haven't repaired the flickering HID beams yet. They're asking $600. I've already ordered my part on ebay for $19.

 

[rbarrios]

I would change oil myself.
you may want to take an oil sample and send it off to get analyzed--- they can tell you if they find coolant in the oil...
if not- maybe a small leak in the water pump that only appears when engine is hot.

 

[jpsbeer]

I has a similar problem develop last summer, and it turned out to be the thermostat/thermostat housing which was replaced under warranty. My symptoms included the engine temperature fluctuating rapidly and widely for a few days before eventually overheating as you did. Also, check out your low beams, see the other threads on this site... there is a problem with the wiring harness which starts by having an intermittently operating headlight.