Hi everyone! Yesterday I went to replace the thermostat in my firebird and i pulled out the old one and saw that it was a 195*. Was this the cause of the car overheating quickly? It would overheat after 5 minutes of idling, without the fan running. BTW, i put in a 180* one. I havent installed it yet because the idiots at Autozone gave me the wrong size gasket.... Thanks.

P.S. I had to take out the air plenum and i looked inside and the interior sides had all black dirt. Should I clean this? If so, how should I? THANKS

 

I would almost say for sure that, no. The 195* thermostat was not the cause of overheating. If the fan is not switching on before 220* than you most likely have either a bad fan motor, or fan switch. If you've overheated in the past - it's very likely you toasted the fan switch and wires.

If you car has working a/c you can try switching the selector to 'max'. This will turn your fan(s) on - ruling out the possibility of the fan(s) being wired incorrectly or not working.

 

Ahh thanks for the reply...Yeah, i know that that relay connector for the cooling fan is toast. Im still trying to find a replacement. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...connector.html

Here is my post about that problem. Maybe I should somehow modify so it can run all the time or install a manual switch. The fan was working though, so the motor should still be good.

 

Try TPI Parts they've got a lot of the pigtails for these cars.

 

Yeah, i went on their site, they have one for a 305 TPI. Would that work for my 2.8 v6? I asked them but they didnt know. Thanks.

 

You'll have to compare the two. I've seen some pigtails with the wires in different order/places, but as long as the larger guage wire is in the correct position it should work.

 

Update: I replaced the connector and relay, but the fan still doesnt turn on. Only a buzzing sound is heard from somewhere in the engine with the ignition on and aldl connector jumped. Im guesssing now that its a bad fan motor. Good thing is that the car doesnt overheat when idling for 3 minutes lol Shall I get a replacement motor or do other tests? Thanks.

 

Check the fan relay, they will sometimes buzz when going bad. You can test the fan motor by jumping a hot lead to it from the battery. Just use a large guage wire or even a jumper cable.

 

I changed the relay and the socket it connects to. The buzzing is coming from the middle of the engine. Anyway, i think i found the problem. The fan override switch, which is located on the passenger side of the engine looks melted and u can see the wire inside. This could be what i was looking for. Now, how in the world do i change that? I tried taking it out but its hard since its buried in the back. Also, I cant get to the wire itself since it goes to the back of the engine. Is this a pigtail connector? If I cant change this switch, whats another way to get the fan running? Thanks.

 

bump