I have a 1988 Camaro Iroc Z28 5.7 TPI, and my fans quit coming on. When I purchased the car the previous owner had obviously did a little "wiring" to make the fans come on with the ignition switch, which I had no issues with as it kept the car cool all the time. However, I let my GF take the car to the store and she came back saying the car was overheating, upon my inspection I saw that the fans were not turning on.I replaced the primary cooling relay to no positive outcome, and inspected the wiring for loose connections and such. A little guidance will be greatly appreciated guys!ThanksChris

 

DO a little reading chris.. there's lots to learn on this board...!!!!!

2 things: do the fans come on with the A/C turned on????
that will tell you if the ECM is calling for fan, and if the motors of the fans are ok... unlikely they both failed at the same time (possible, not probable)

second, there is a switch (coolant fan switch) located between spark plug 6 and 8.... this closes the loop to ground and the fans turn on once it hits max operating temp (design is like 220+)... it fails pretty often...take a jumper wire with alligator clips (aka roach clips) and bite in at the switch (green/white i think) and run the other end to ground and bypass the fan switch in the head and see if the fans come on.

aside from those two not turning the fans on, sounds lke you have a 12v+ problem somewhere and will need to trace through that side. I just upgraded to dual fans and had to learn all that good stuff from the amazing:::::


If the prev. owner bypassed all of that and went straight to the ignition coil 12+, you'll have to trace through and see what the heck is going on there. Like mine, the mad butcher got his hands on the harness and had a good time.

 

Wow I suck at this, my fans are still not working at all. After reading some on here I found out that the wiring that the previous owner did was to ground the green/white wires coming from both relays inturn turning the fans on with the ignition. I busted out the multi-meter and am getting 12+volts to the fans, so powering the fans isn't the problem. I also took out the fans and gave them a power source other than what the car is equipped with, which they came on instantly, so the fan motors are good. When I turn on the AC my fans have never came on? Does this mean I have a ECM issue? How do I resolve my issues?

Thanks
Chris

 

if you have bat+ at the fans it sounds like a ground problem make sure the ground wire is hooked up and not corroded or broken

 

i think one should be running all time with the car running,and the other runs off a relay/switch should kick in about 230ish.the left one runs of the ecm if im not mistaking so check the fan/wiring on that.the right one check the relay and like said fan switch..

 

one does NOT run all the time (by design). temp switch in the pass head turns one on at 237 or so, second one is ecm controlled if you're still getting hot (first fan fails to engage), but primarily when a/c is on, and that's only if the car is doing like 40 mph or less. there's a pressure switch involved in that circuit, so if your freon is low, pressure will be low and never close that loop, same thing if that same switch is bad. man, i love having indicator lites on my dash. i can see at a glance when my fan(s) are on/off...

 

well for some reason mine does the left one runs all the time while the engine is running.and other fan kicks in i think 235 but it never does since my car never reaches that point anymore..

 

My 89 has one that works off the fan sensor, the other should work with the ac on. The previous owner had wired in a switch to the fan sensor, which allows the fan to turn on. I was thinking that both fans came on when the switch was on. But since my HSR only one comes on. Is my thinking correct on one being ecm controlled and the other the sensor. Or do both fans come on when the fan sensor turns them on... At this time the a/c is unhooked so that may be the problem I am having

Thanks..

 

LOL. My right one stays on all the time and my left one never comes on (a/c doesn't work).

 

Hmmm, I am having the same issue. My passenger side fan does run but my drivers side fan does not turn on at all. I have completely removed my A/C Unit many years ago. Just yesterday I was driving up a long steep hill and the Iroc started to overheat which is unusual so I pulled over and noticed that only the passenger side fan was running and the indicator on the guage was just pulling in the the red... I waited a couple of minutes and with the one fan running it did start to cool off quickly but the second fan never came on...
Looking for some guidance on why the second fan did not come on... My Iroc never overheats and nothing has been rewired or changed as I have kept my numbers matching 88 Iroc convertible original. Perhaps I have just not paid attention all these years... By the way I had just flushed out the coolant and replaced the coolant and insured no air bubbles over the next couple of days but again when going up this steep hill a week later it began to overheat...looking for some help

Fivestar

 

Run power to the fan to see if the motor is Burned up. Let us know how it turns out. More troubleshooting once we know the fan is good or not.

 

Well after I wrote my problem I found that after my morning drive today I stopped my car and immediatley opend the hood and found the drivers side fan was running and actually was coming to a stop as the passenger side continued to run... so I started the Iroc and both fans turned right on and when I turned of the car once again the drivers side fan came to a stop and the passenger side continued to run. I am stumped why my car was beginning to overheat going up a steep hill and the fan/or fans did not cool it down and again when I turned off the car after going up the long hill only the passenger side fan was runningg??? very strange.

 

The shroud design on 3rd gens are absolutely horrid. I can't see how the fans keep these motors even moderately cool.

 

i dont even turn my fans on most of the time, unless i am in town. i just have the v6 width(not depth) rad. the big thing is having the black deal under the car directing air into the front of the rad if this is messed up it will overheat in a short time

 

I'm not saying that this is your problem but this is a typical symptom of a partially plugged radiator.

At road speeds above 35mph or so, there should be enough ram air effect through the radiator to keep things close to normal operating temperatures.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Found OI jsut had a little air left in the system and now it is burped out. I had thought about a plugged radiator too. Was doing flush and hose replacement (a couple of hose had some minor leaks so I chose to replace them and flush the system) and I found everything running clear and clean-I had replaced the radiator a couple of years ago. So now that the system has been burped I drove it up Pikes Peak again and no problems...Wooohooo!