So I purchased an 89 Camaro about 4 weeks ago. I had to replace the starter and when I went under I found out the fan wire wasn't connected to anything. Im guessing it goes to a sensor but I have no idea where. Also I think the engine may be overheating. The coolant has boiled over and spit out a lot of anti freeze twice in the past 3 weeks and had to refill it once.

 

Do you have an airdam on the car? Is it in good shape? Is this a single or dual fan? Is the fan itself plugged into a harness? There should be a plug on the fan connected to a wiring harness.

Does the fan(s) come on when you turn on the Airconditioning?

 

I did but just took it off yesterday because on side snapped and was just dragging. It's a dual fan. There is a harness connected to each fan but there is a wire hanging in front of the starter and when power is givin to it the fans turn on

 

You NEED that lower air damn in place to help force air up into the front of the engine. W/O it you will overheat for sure. Especially on the Firebirds.

As for the fan wiring, both fans should be wired into their own relay which is mounted on the firewall on the side of the brake booster. The ECM tells the fans to turn on based off of readings from the fan switch located on the passenger side head. it should be in line with the plugs.

 

Well I took it off after it overheated so thats obviously not the issue. I may have found where that wire go. Theres a bolt above the starter which im guessing is the sensor since theres something sticking out meant for a wire to plug into and when i un bolted it radiator fluid came out. Tomorrow ill plug it into it and see if the fans kick on if not ill be back to ask more. Thank you for the reply.

 

What do you mean by a bolt above the starter? I think you are very confused as to what you are looking at and describing back to us here. What I think you are talking about is NOT a bolt above the starter but rather the knock sensor in the engine block just above the area where the starter is. There will also be a cooling fan sensor on the same side of the engine just a bit further forward. It should be a dull goldish colored brass sensor. Make sure there is a wiring harness connected to it.

As for the plastic air damn, I would highly suggest putting it back on or replacing it ASAP.

 

The fan sensor on that side of the block, on the dual fan cars, is the secondary sensor. The ECM tells the primary fan to kick on at whatever pre-programmed temp is in it. The primary fan will also come on with the AC regardless of the engines operating temp. The second fan then kicks on with the AC AND/OR when the temp on that temp sensor tells it to turn on. If you just put power to that wire and the fans turn on, i'd suggest you've got bad relays. Either that or the previous owner buggered up the wiring.

 

Neither of the fans turned on before and I managed to plug the wiring harness back into the temp sensor. The left fan now turns on after it idles for about 5-10 minutes when the engine heats up enough but the second fan doesnt work. Either its a totally different problem or could the sensor be the issue?

 

Does the second fan turn on when you turn the AC on?

Swap leads between the fan relays if there is enough room. Alternately, swap the plugs at the fan to see if the second fan will come on at all. This will tell you if the second fan is dead or not.

At the very least, now your car shouldn't over heat, unless you're running stop and go traffic in 100 degree temps, then your one fan may have trouble keeping up.

 

The fan does nothing whether I turn the A/C on or off but at the same time I have no refrigerant left in the system so that might have something to do with that. The second fan turns on when I switched the relays. I plugged it back into the original relay and it turn on only for about 30 seconds.

Does the second fan only turn on at a higher temp than the first. I would think theyd both turn on.

 

So we know the second fan works, and it's not the fan.

The first fan, on the drivers side, is the primary fan. THat comes on first. There is a pre-set temp in the ECm that controls when that fan comes on. That can will also come on when you turn the AC on regardless of the temp of the motor.

The second fan ONly comes on when the engine temp hits the temp that the sensor (the one you found disconnected) reaches its temp. This should be about 10-20* higher than the first one. This one also comes on with the AC regardless of the engine temp.

So, with the AC running, both fans should be running. If the engine temp gets upwards of 220*, both fans should be running.

Since we know the fan works, we have to work backwards. I would start with a new relay. I think they run about 10 bucks and replace the secondary fan relay.

If that doesn't fix it, then you've got another problem that will require some troubleshooting. Still, I think you'll be ok for now since you have the one fan running when it's supposed to. Just make sure you get that AIRDAM back on. Classic Industries has them for sale as does Hawks 3rd Gen. Hawks is a sponsor here so I'd buy from them first. They run about $50.00 or so before shipping. Having the airdam installed is the only way you'll keep the motor cool on the highway above 40mph.