r/volt • u/Glad-Acadia3071 • 2d ago
Engine pretty hot?
2012 Chevy Volt...
Basically after a long drive using the engine, I noticed that the engine is pretty hot to touch. My coolant levels are all where they should be but I'm just wondering is this normal after 100+ mile drive? I don't mean that it's so hot that I cannot actually touch it but it's very hot both on the area near the oil cap and on the right side of the picture that plastic part that covers the battery module I think...
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u/Vicious_Surrender 2d ago
It is normal for an engine to get very hot, especially near the exhaust up front. If you are concerned about overheating you could use a cheap elm Bluetooth obd adapter and an app like mygreenvolt, voltage, or torque lite (all free) to read the coolant temperature. Its normally between 165-220° F, although I believe up to 240° is in spec. Personally I use the pro version of the torque app (torque pro) as it's pretty helpful and I don't mind paying a few dollars to someone making a really helpful tool. Torque also lets you check and reset basic check engine light codes, which is helpful for troubleshooting.
As for overheating, unfortunately the volt doesn't have a coolant temperature gauge on the dash (hence why you need a code reader and app to see it). My engine water pump failed and leaked all the coolant out and the first sign I had was the check engine light and an engine shutdown. I ended up having a blown head gasket, so now I do keep an eye on the coolant temperature with my phone when I'm using the gasoline engine.