I put in a 160 thermostat awhile back and just recently my electric fans have stoped working. Would the thermostat have anything to do with this??

 

only reason I can think of why that would happen is if the car was no longer reaching the fan turn on temp because of the colder stat

 

Well when I first noticed that the fans wern't working it got all the way up to 220.

 

unless you have changed your chip or gone with some kind of aftermarket sensor gizmo the stock turn on temp for the fans is between 230 and 235 degrees, I dont remember what temp they cycle off at. If you are unsure if your fan works, try turning your a/c on, the fan should come on immediately

 

yeah the one fan does work when I turn on the a/c. I have to do that so it doesn't overheat in town.

 

ok then your fan is working...now by overheat are you seeing steam or getting boil over? if not then nothing is wrong factory settings for these cars are intended for them to run around 210-220 degrees, the stock thermostat is 195 and the fan doesnt come on till the 230-235 range. many, me included are not comfortable with that high of an operating temperature, but its the way GM designed it. there are ways to change that too.

 

this is how they work factory wise

 

WITH A STOCK 305 TBI IS THERE ANY REASON I WOULD WANT TO GET A LOWER THERMOSTAT. I HAVE A STOCK ONE IN THERE NOW, BUT SEE THAT PEOPLE ON THIS FORUM HAVE CHANGED THEM OUT. DONT KNOW WHY....

 

Leave it alone. There is no reason thats beneficial to run it at 160 because it will never run right. At 195 the engine will run the most efficient. The only reason I would even consider running a lower stat was if the average ambient temp was over 90 degrees all the time and you spent a lot of time idling in traffic. This subject always generates differing opinions but you will see a drop in fuel economy and possibly fail an emission test if you run it that cold.

 

If the fan turns on when you turn on the a/c then it could be the sencor on the block going bad. There is a relay on the firewall driver side. THat is for the A/C. The sensor that turns on the fan via the computer is on the driver side of the block. And by the way the temp gague and the ECM sensor are on two different sides. One can go bad and the other can still be good.

 

I had this problem when I got my car for a little while. But now I have a bigger problem. The fan doesn't turn on at all anymore. The AC trick just randomly stopped working.

On top of that, I recently discovered that one of the hoses coming off my radiator is spliced and plugged with a bolt. For G0D knows what reason. On top of THAT, none of the climate controls work. I can hear the vaccuum (?) when I change settings (AC to Defrost, for example), but no air comes out. Any tips for a cooling newb on where to start with this?

 

Does your blower work? what hose is spliced and plugged? Is it the heater core hose? Do you have a/c? Did it work before?

For the original post.... it could also be your relay(s) are going/have gone out. Each fan has its own relay (if stock anyway). See the wiring diagram above and trace the problem back from the fans to the switches.

 

AHHHH so many questions! I said NEWB not MECHANIC. hehehe The hose that's spliced is coming off the top passenger side of the radiator. I don't know if I have AC, I'm not sure what the compressor looks like or where it would be. Same with the blower. When I got the car, nothing worked except turning on the radiator fan with the AC switch. Aside from opening the vent doors with the vaccuum, it did nothing else.

 

When you turn your heat/ac on, is there a fan in your dash that runs to blow the air out the vents? Thats the blower fan. (unless you have a supercharger, then we can talk semantics about what is or isnt a blower ).
What size hose? A fairly big one (for a car that is, about 3-4 inches diameter) or about the size of a garden hose? The garden hose size one is supposed to go to the heater core (which heats the air when you turn your heat on) and the bigger one goes to your engine to cool it.
By your earlier comments I will take it that your car originally came with ac. The compressor is a cylindrical object on the drivers side that has a couple of garden hose side high pressure hoses attached to it.

 

The hose is about the size of a garden hose, yes. I don't hear any blower fan working when I turn on any climate control (but would be cool to route the air to the intake... mwahahahaha!). I'll have to take a look at everything this weekend (while rebuilding a carb... yeesh). I'm not so worried about the AC, but I would like some heat in the car. And for the radiator fan to work the way it should. I'm pretty damn lucky it's 30 degrees every day now, otherwise I would've had a dead car a week ago.