You will find an engine coolant temperature gage on the instrument panel cluster. For pickup models, the ENGINE OVERHEATED message may appear in the Driver Information Center (DIC). See your owner's manual for more information.

Caution: Steam from an overheated engine can burn you badly, even if you just open the hood. Stay away from the engine if you see or hear steam coming from it. Just turn it off and get everyone away from the vehicle until it cools down. Wait until there is no sign of steam or coolant before you open the hood.

Notice: If the engine catches fire because of being driven with no coolant, your vehicle can be badly damaged. The costly repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty.

The ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE, or ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE Driver Information Center (DIC) message, along with a low coolant condition can indicate a serious problem.

If you get an engine overheat warning and do not have a low coolant condition, but see or hear no steam, the problem may not be too serious. Sometimes the engine can get a little too hot when you:

If you get the ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE, or ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE Driver Information Center (DIC) message with no sign of steam, try this for a minute or so:

1. In heavy traffic, let the engine idle in N (Neutral) while stopped. If it is safe to do so, pull off the road, shift to P (Park) or N (Neutral) and let the engine idle.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan speed and open the window as necessary.

If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about 10 minutes. If the warning does not come back on, you can drive normally.

If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your vehicle right away.

If there is still no sign of steam and your vehicle is equipped with an engine driven cooling fan, push down the accelerator until the engine speed is about twice as fast as normal idle speed for at least five minutes while you are parked. If you still have the warning, turn off the engine and get everyone out of the vehicle until it cools down.

You may decide not to lift the hood but to get service help right away.

If the vehicle has the DURAMAX® Diesel engine, see the DURAMAX® Diesel manual for more information.

The vehicle has several indicators to warn of engine overheating.

You will find a coolant temperature gage on the vehicle's instrument panel. See Engine Coolant Temperature Gage.

In addition, you will find ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE, ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE, and ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED messages in the Driver Information Center (DIC) on the instrument panel. See DIC Warnings and Messages.

You may decide not to lift the hood when this warning appears, but instead get service help right away. See Roadside Assistance Program.

If you do decide to lift the hood , make sure the vehicle is parked on a level surface.

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

Notice: Engine damage from running your engine without coolant is not covered by your warranty. See Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode for information on driving to a safe place in an emergency.

Notice: If the engine catches fire while driving with no coolant, the vehicle can be badly damaged. The costly repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. See Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode for information on driving to a safe place in an emergency.

Caution: Steam from an overheated engine can burn you badly, even if you just open the hood. Stay away from the engine if you see or hear steam coming from it. Turn it off and get everyone away from the vehicle until it cools down. Wait until there is no sign of steam or coolant before you open the hood.

The ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE or the ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE message, along with a low coolant condition, can indicate a serious problem.

If you get an engine overheat warning, but see or hear no steam, the problem may not be too serious. Sometimes the engine can get a little too hot when you:

If you get the ENGINE OVERHEATED STOP ENGINE or the ENGINE OVERHEATED IDLE ENGINE message with no sign of steam, try this for a minute or so:

1. Turn the air conditioning off.
2. Turn the heater on to the highest temperature and to the highest fan speed. Open the windows as necessary.
3. If you are stopped in a traffic jam, apply the brake, shift to N (Neutral); otherwise, shift to the highest gear while driving -- D (Drive) or 3 (Third).

If the temperature overheat gage is no longer in the overheat zone or an overheat warning no longer displays, the vehicle can be driven. Continue to drive the vehicle slow for about 10 minutes. Keep a safe vehicle distance from the car in front of you. If the warning does not come back on, continue to drive normally.

If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park the vehicle right away.

If there is no sign of steam, idle the engine for five minutes while parked. If the warning is still displayed, turn off the engine until it cools down. Also, see "Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode" later in this section.