[Jerry&Denise]

So...my g/f picked me up from work on Monday in her '16 SS. As she was sitting outside for about 30 minutes with the air conditioner on, the air conditioner stopped working (all hot air) and the display said "idle overheating". Obviously a car will overheat when idling in 95 degree weather, for a long a period of time, but it just seemed odd on a NEWER car. So, I popped the hood and waited for the engine to cool down...it was 260+ degrees. Since then the a/c has been acting really odd.
Any thoughts? Comments?

[vtirocz]

The car should not be overheating in 95F ambient conditions. I suspect the fans are not coming on for some reason.

[fastball]

You should NEVER idle a car that long, especially in that heat, with the air on!!!! EVER!!!!!

Even brand new cars aren't meant to idle that long. Good grief!

Now, what SPECIFICALLY is going on with the A/C? "Acting odd" doesn't help troubleshooting. What EXACTLY is the A/C doing now that it didn't do before this?

She should take it to the dealer and have them check everything out. Hopefully if there's any problems they'll cover it under warranty.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by vtirocz

The car should not be overheating in 95F ambient conditions. I suspect the fans are not coming on for some reason.

If it was sitting and idling for a half hour with the air on? The cooling system can only do so much to keep it cool without some air blowing through.

Never idle a car with the air on for more than a couple minutes. Even a brand new one.

[Jerry&Denise]

Originally Posted by fastball

You should NEVER idle a car that long, especially in that heat, with the air on!!!! EVER!!!!!

Even brand new cars aren't meant to idle that long. Good grief!

Now, what SPECIFICALLY is going on with the A/C? "Acting odd" doesn't help troubleshooting. What EXACTLY is the A/C doing now that it didn't do before this?

She should take it to the dealer and have them check everything out. Hopefully if there's any problems they'll cover it under warranty.

The plan is to take it to the dealer. The air works, then doesn't...then does etc...

[Jerry&Denise]

Originally Posted by fastball

If it was sitting and idling for a half hour with the air on? The cooling system can only do so much to keep it cool without some air blowing through.

That's kinda what I was thinking.

[Marty McFlew]

Originally Posted by Jerry&Denise

So...my g/f picked me up from work on Monday in her '16 SS. As she was sitting outside for about 30 minutes with the air conditioner on, the air conditioner stopped working (all hot air) and the display said "idle overheating". Obviously a car will overheat when idling in 95 degree weather, for a long a period of time, but it just seemed odd on a NEWER car. So, I popped the hood and waited for the engine to cool down...it was 260+ degrees. Since then the a/c has been acting really odd.
Any thoughts? Comments?

Its got 3 radiators, don't think should be overheating. Fan should keep it cool.

[jaysonstuart]

They'll idle with the AC on in temps over a 100F and never overheat if the cooling system is working properly.

Something is probably wrong with the car, if they overheated that easily the foilks in AZ would be having issues constantly.

[trboxman]

Originally Posted by jaysonstuart

They'll idle with the AC on in temps over a 100F and never overheat if the cooling system is working properly.

Something is probably wrong with the car, if they overheated that easily the foilks in AZ would be having issues constantly.

^^^ this

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by fastball

If it was sitting and idling for a half hour with the air on? The cooling system can only do so much to keep it cool without some air blowing through.

Never idle a car with the air on for more than a couple minutes. Even a brand new one.

Sorry but I kind of have to disagree with this.

The cooling fans should be more than enough to keep the radiator cool in idle conditions, ambient temps of 95 degrees is childsplay in comparison to the operating temperature of an engine (which is well over 100 degrees higher) can't get by the laws of physics, the outside ambient air is much cooler than the engine temperatures, car should stay cool up until a point where the temperatures between the outside air and engine temperature are so close that heat transfer does not happen fast enough to cool the motor, but at over an 100 degrees difference, especially with the help of cooling fans, there should be no issues. Even if it were 115 / 120 we still have right around a 100 degree difference which is more than enough for sufficient heat transfer.

Something is definitely wrong, if it can't idle at 95 degrees with the A/C on there's no way these cars would make it in the desert states, or places like Florida or South Texas.

[CamaroNorth2017]

New vehicles are tested rigorously in extreme temperatures, certainly much hotter than 95F. The car should not overheat idling by itself in 95F ambient temperature.

People will say oh its not good to idle for that long with the AC on, blah blah. The bottom line is the car should not overheat by itself while idling within design basis temperatures.

Go to the dealer and get it checked out- could be a fan issue.

[vtirocz]

Originally Posted by fastball

If it was sitting and idling for a half hour with the air on? The cooling system can only do so much to keep it cool without some air blowing through.

Never idle a car with the air on for more than a couple minutes. Even a brand new one.

What you are saying is not correct. The cooling package, especially on an SS, is more than sufficient to idle for a full tank of fuel without overheating in the ambient temps in question (95F). I would expect it to be robust to at least 120F ambient temperatures. The fan is operating closed loop to keep coolant out temp under control.

Something is not operating correctly for the original poster and needs to be fixed.

[BahamaTodd]

I used to work at a tier 1 powertrain cooling supplier to the major OEMs. I wasn't on the design or testing side but I remember they had a test that was conducted to verify the vehicle could handle idling in high ambient temperatures. They would drive the vehicle hard in 100°+ ambient temp with the AC on full blast then park it in front of a wall to ensure there was no external air flow and the vehicle would have to be able to idle with the AC for a specific amount of time. I can't remember what the time was, but it had to be more than 20-30 minutes.

For the OP, you should have left it idling with the heater on full blast to help it cool faster.

[Jerry&Denise]

thanks for all of the input, folks. Since it's not the first or only time the car has sat for a bit with the air on, I figured it was an issue. We'll be making an appointment with the dealer, for sure.