Hello all,

I recently purchased my car and am doing as many repairs as budget will permit right away. I found out quickly that I had a leak some where in the radiator, so I replaced the radiator.

The electric fan seem to work fine until the next day and then stopped working. I don't have any power going to the fan itself and thats about as far as I have gotten on troubleshooting it. I used the search feature and found a lot of info on sensors and relays that could be the culprit (4 I think).

My question: Is there any way to hotwire the fan to just be on all the time while the car is on? Just to get me by until I figure out which way I will be going on an aftermarket setup.

And also, If I go with an aftermarket electric fan with its own thermostat, can I bypass all the stock relays and sensors? And if I do that will that effect the way the car runs or does it have to be hooked in line with the stock wiring?

for any info you can offer,

 

First running the fan all the time won't hurt anything except you shorten the life of the fan motor.And you have the constant draw on the alternator with it running which kind of defeats one of the advantages of having electric fans.You still need to run the fan through a relay that's controlled by a switched power source so it cuts off when you cut the car off.
Does your car have single or dual fans?On the fan not working have you run power directly to the fan motor to see if the motor is bad.If the fan works then you could have a bad/loose connection,faulty relay(s) or a bad temp sensor.
https://www.thirdgen.org/cool
https://www.thirdgen.org/overheating
Om my '83 Z28 I installed the factory dual fans and have them controlled by Hayden thermostats that use the probe inserted thru the radiator fins.I've adjusted the thermostats with my DM/thermocouple with them staggered as to them coming on.

 

1st off thanks coolram62 for the info and advice.

2nd I went ahead and replaced the Fan Switch with a new one but this did not solve the problem.

By the way it is the single fan setup and it does come on when I turn on my A/C. So, I guess its onto relays and such next. This is sorta why I was thinking of going to aftermarket, to bypass all of these possibilities of fan switches, relays and such. But now that I have started with them I am assuming that replacing the relay would be next?

Thanks again,

 

The fan relay is on the firewall next to the brake booster. If you find the grn/wht wire and cut it and ground the side going to the relay the fan should come on with the ignition key.

 

O.K. here is my latest update, So the fan is only working when I turn on the A/C, I replaced the Fan switch, which did not change anything. So, I went out and grabbed a fan relay, got home and by the time I got home I would say the car had gotten up to about 240 deg and when I popped the hood this is what I found, Coolant coming out of the top hole of the water pump.

Does this mean the water pump is bad?


I then moved the car to a spot to cool down to replace the relay and when I turned the key to the on position, the fan kicked in with out the A/C being on. So, I guess I will just hold off on the relay until it stops working again.

Ringo---Thanks for the location and the tip to make it come on at all times.

Thanks for all the help,

 

when coolant leaks from water pump,
its a sign that it needs replacement.

UNLESS its leaking out of a gasket, then
thats just a poor gasket seal.

but i've studied about water pump
and when the shaft in the middle of the pump
is going weak or something then it starts to leak out,
im not sure from where but thats the sign of needing replacement.

 

Well, heres where I stand at the moment. I swapped in the new relay and it didn't kick the fan on still and of course it appears that I need to replace my waterpump since when it gets hot I have coolant bubbling out of the weep hole in large amounts. Also, after trying out the new relay and switching back and forth between the new relay and the old one, NOW, the car won't even start, it turns over fine, but just doesn't start up.


Its obvious that I am the opposite of King Midas, everything I touch turns to crap.......

Not sure what I did, but I will dig into it tommorow, if anyone has any suggestions I am all ears.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

 

The hole the coolant is seeping from is the weep hole and it means the seal is gone which means a new water pump.Make sure if your car has the serpentine belt drive that you get the correct rotation,reverse,water pump.

On the relay make sure you have the correct one.The fuel pump relay is on the firewall too,but i don't know the wiring color/code for your year.I know on my '83 Z28 the fuel pump and the hood airdoor relay are interchangeable and mounted next to each other.It's easy to have be checking the wrong one(which is the symptom your'e having turns over but won't start).

 

relay installed on wrong sideways?

if it doesnt start though it gotta be something with the fuelpump..
hopefully u just pulled off the wrong relay,
but in worst case ur fuel pump or something else must have
died on the very bad timing.. good luck man

 

coolram62--Thanks for the info, I guess the waterpump is next after I get her to start up again.

coolram62 and sogabe--I found both of the relays, but I don't know how to identfy each one. So, I am guessing at this point which may have cost me. I have check to make sure I have spark which I do, so im sure you guys are right I messed up my fuel pump connection somehow.

Problem now is how do I troubleshoot the problem, where do I go no.

By the way I ran the codes and I came up with a code 54. Which would indicate you guys are right on the money.

thanks from the resident

 

On the relays - they should be identical relays - one for the fuel pump, one for the fan - just replace both as they are cheap enough.

On the fan, we know the fan motor is good, since it will run. My thought - take the factory fan switch out of the system - I never got any (even expensive Hypertech ones) to work right. Leave the fan controller in the head as a plug, and get a new fan controller, with the probe that sticks in between the radiator fins - they run from $25 to way-too-much. I paid $70 for mine (Flex-a-lite), always works great, is adjustable, only comes on at 60% to start, then goes to 100% if needed, wires into the A/C for normal operation, and can be wired to make a manual override always on/always off switch in the car.

 

Sharkfan,

I just happened to be studying the wireing diagrams for my car this weekend so I looked up the diagram for your car. I see a note by the coolant fan switch that says "Closes above 110 C (238 F) coolant temperature open below 101 C (214 F) Coolant Temperature" .

I think this is saying that the stock fan switch doesn't ground (cut on) until 238 degrees F. I think your fan may be operating as designed. You might want to get the on at 200 and off at 185 switch from Tpi parts.net (board sponsor) for $25.

I believe you can take the wire off of the switch and ground it. This should simulate the switch cutting on. And the fan should come on. ( I'm not positive this will not blow your entire car up, so do it at your own risk)

It looks like the fuel pump relay has 5 wires green/white stripe, grey, black/white, orange, red. On my tpi car, it is the relay on the left (when viewing from the front bumper). I don't know if they will plug in only one way or not, but the writing on the top of the relay can be read if looking at it from the drivers seat. looking at it from the front bumper of the car, the writing will be upside down.

My hypertech fan switch works perfectly. On at 200 and off at 185.

 

camaronewbie--This is sorta what I was thinking about in the beginning, but instead of just getting the fan controller, I was thinking about upgrading my electric fan with one that had a built in controller. I remember purchasing a Hayden aftermarket fan for my last car and it had a built in controller that had the probe that went through the radiator and you just turned a **** to adjust it out to the temp you wanted it to kick in at and it worked great. My only concern with doing it on the camaro was if I did this and bypassed the factory wiring, would it mess with the cars computer in any way.

plndtx--So, according to your findings, I basically fixed something that wasn't broken to begin with until I broke something else and made the whole situation worseand of course now that youv'e pointed this out to me it makes sense because the one time that it kicked in and I thought it was just a fluke, I remember the temp being right around 240. So, now it would appear that it there is nothing wrong with it except for the fact that GM has originally set that too high and dumbasses such as myself don't check into these things until they break something else.

So, it looks like I just need to replace my waterpump which last time it was running lost about a quart of coolant through the weep hole and then figure out why my fuel pump isn't pumping or what I did to stop the pump from working.


I really appreciate all the information you guys have given me, I hope one day I can return the help in some way.

 

I did the same thing a few weeks back. I thought my second fan was broken when my temp got above 220 and it didn't come on. I changed the Coolent Temp Switch thinking it was broken. It turns out it is designed that way.

Try the low temp fan switches, and the 170 or 180 degree t-stat. With this setup, your cooling system can start its job sooner.

One other thing, you might also try a high volume water pump from Jegs, Summit, etc.

 

plndtc--I'm completely with you on the lower thermostat and lower temp switch.

I actually purchased a 180 thermostat the other day and the only thing that has stopped me from installing it is the fact that the housing bolts are extremely tight and it almost feels like I might twist them off, which would just flat out suck and considering the way my luck has been running so far with this,I belive the local Bookies have me at 10-1 favorite to snap a bolt off.

I will check into the higher flow waterpump, since I have to replace mine anyways.

Thanks again for the help,