After coming VERY close to overheating several times today, I suspected that the fans probably weren't working. This is true, the temp must have been over 250 when I checked and neither one was on. AC doesn't turn them on either. The radiator is brand new and the fans *are* plugged in. The primary I believe is ECM controlled (89 TPI Iroc w/ AC) and secondary uses the TTA fan switch, so it definitely should have come on. Does anyone have any quick and dirty tests to determine what's wrong? Does this sound like classic relay failure? The Helm procedures look very involved so educated guesses would really help.

Another oddity - when cruising on the expressway I cooled the car back to normal, however later when doing it again the heat continued to rise and actually pegged the needle! At 75mph it just got hotter and hotter. After letting the car sit for about 1/2 hour I had it back under control but a brand new rad. should have been able to cool it at 75 right?! Thanks in advance.

 

Replace BOTH fan relays, 89 used the oval ones. They did not hold up well. Get the NAPA or latest GM version from the delaer. They look the same but are different internally. NAPA # AR-279.

 

If both are out check the fuse. One fuse runs both 20a.
Hard to believe that both relays would go at the same time.

 

Actually I checked the fuses while waiting for it to cool down yesterday. I guess one of the next steps is to check the fan motors...

The relay by the battery is replaced, and next time I go out to the car I'm changing the other one as well. With just the one replaced the car wouldn't get above 220 idling even though no fans came on. Friday I hit the highway and Sat morning I'll have enough daylight to really test out the fans. Thanks for the replies.

 

***Cash Reward***

I'll send a cashier's check for $20 to whoever has the answer for this - getting the fans to work again. I don't have the time to properly troubleshoot so...

Known facts:

Fan relays are brand new
Radiator is brand new
Water pump works fine
All fuses are good

Unknowns:

Not sure on the thermostat, but the car will cool to normal temperature after extended freeway driving. The car has gotten so hot recently that it will stumble on acceleration as if the timing is off or the cat is clogged, but the timing is fine and the cat doesn't exist so...

Miscellaneous:

Keep getting code 33 after changing the relays and the car wants to die at idle - I changed the one near the battery and of the three on the pass side firewall I changed the middle one. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I'm starting to think that the car got so hot that other things were damaged, hopefully not gaskets. Could the thermostat or water pump etc have been fragged by high temps?

 

You changed a MAF power or MAF burnoff relay if its by the firewall. Fan relays for 89 were as follows, one behind the rad and down a little from the cap and the other should be on the pass side inner fender near the battery. If you changed a relay by the firewall and then you got a code throw it away-its bad. Fan relays and MAF relays are the same. And, it will do exactly what you say-it won't idle. Do this test, verify you have the fan relay , pull the plug and jump the 2 heavy guage wires with a jumper of about the same wire size. The fan should come on even with the key off. Be careful, don't jump the other lighter guage wires. If the fan still doesn't run either the wiring, fan motor or fusible link is bad. Fusible links are not in the fuse panel so you really can't check them. It's a simple circuit, and yes ONE link runs both fans.

 

I jumped the relays and the fans did not turn on. I used a jumper that was I think 12 guage and looked to be the same thickness as the relay wires. I just stripped the ends and stuffed them into the contacts though - hopefully there's no margin for error there. I'm going to go test the fans now...

 

run a wire from the bat or better yet, an ignitition switched fuse.. (shove wire in with fuse.. on fused side.. ) and then to the fan.. just shove wire in with plug.. On mine .. (89 gta) the drivers side fan, the right wire in the connector was + but you should confirm this.. that should turn your fan on.. if not.. look at the gnd for fan and then the fan itself.. but don't leave it in this state.

 

I rock i had the same problem with my GTA... i found a wire that connects directly at the bat. that powers the fan relays. after a while i guess the wire burned from constant current draw. i spliced in a new high current crimp and bingo got fans back on. then a year later it did it again, i went to the fan relays near the charcoal canister, i peeled back the wireloom and found another weak corroded worn connection. replaced it, and bingo fans back on. i used a test light every few inches to see where the 12v stopped and i found both problems. this is assuming that direct current to the fans determine that the fans r ok ... hope this helps

 

I think code 33 is MAF relay voltage low, so you did replace the wrong relay and with a bad one at that. I'm sure you've put the old one back on by now.
Make sure you are jumping the right wires it should be the orange and the black with red stripe. The latter of the two is the power wire to the fans. If you open the harness by the fans you'll see it. If you are jumping the right wires then follow the harness with a test light and find where is stops. If you have power all the way to the fans then check the ground coming from the fans that goes to the same place as the relays are and if that's good then motors are bad. But if no voltage is coming out of the black/red wire coming from the relays then you have a bad wire somewhere before the relays, check the harness with the test light.
Good luck...

 

Ok here's what happened:

When I changed the radiator a few weeks ago, the rubber on the driver's side had deteriorated to the point where the rad. was not securely held, plus the fan shroud was missing the rubber bracket on the driver's side also. This caused the fan to rub up against the radiator and destroy itself. It also burnt out its relay. (the one next to the rad.) Because of this (we think) the other relay was not getting power so the passenger side fan was not coming on. So I'm going to have a radiator shop replace the rubber and make sure the rad. is secure.

For now I just unplugged the relays and jumped the pass side relay. This way the pass side fan runs whenever the key is on and still has fused power via the fuse block. Danno - where should I send a check?

 

One other question if anyone knows - how do you actually remove the cooling fans? I couldn't keep a socket on the lower bolts because the swaybar/centerlink are in the way. Thanks again.

 

Mine came ok no problem, and I have the 36mm swaybar, just a combination of different sockets and extentions.