86IROC_stick

I have a 86 iroc 305 TBI and the cars runs hot and the fan does not kick in until i turn on the A/C then the fan kicks in what should i do?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Define "runs hot".

The fan should turn on at about 235°F. Not hot at all; WAY WAY WAY cooler than the boiling point of coolant in a cooling system. What temp does your car reach before it turns on?

Is the switch hooked up?

Ozz1967

iTrader: (4)

The fan switch is in the passenger side head, just forward of the dip stick. There should be a wire coming off of it. Is it hooked up?

Since the fan comes on with the AC, then we know two things. 1. The fan works. 2. The overall circuit is good.

That leaves us with four possible culprits.

1. The wire melted off/broke.
2. The relay by the firewall is bad.
3. The switch itself is bad.
4. Combination of the above 3.

Start with the wire, if it's there, find the relay. Jumper the fat power lead from the car side to the fan side, by passing the relay. does the fan come on? If it does, the relay is bad. If not, then it could be the switch, but doing this does not rule out the relay also being bad.

The switch, when it gets to temp, sends a ground signal through the wire to the relay, energizing it and allowing the fan to turn on. THE AC circuit bypasses the relay so far as I've been able to tell. Sofa might know more than I do.

One thing else to know, it's possible the connector going to the relay is loose, push al the wires up good and snug making sure they have a good connection. This was an issue on mine. Still is, but I don't feel like re-wiring that connector so I just push all the wires up tight.