I'm working on cleaning up my engine bay and have discovered a relay that's been disconnected. I bought this car used of course and have no history on the car. The only thing I do know about it is that the A/C has been removed, the car sat for almost 2 years and that the previous owner apparently didnt take very good care of the car. Here is the relay in question on the right with the blue butt connectors:



There is also a single wire that leads up along the driver side fender that is disconnected that I assume went to the A/C unit, here's that pic also just in case it belongs to that relay.

 

nobody? hmmm, interesting.

 

I'm not familiar with your car - but it might be fuel pump relay, or electric cooling fan relay.

 

I dont think it's either because my fuel pump and fan run fine. The car is a daily driver. Guess I'll have to write down the #'s on the relay when the better half gets home in the morning and see what info I can get on it, if any.

 

I just can't think of anything else that has a relay.

Here's wiring diags for most all 3rd gens - maybe will help:

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=19

 

Well this is interesting, I entered the #'s on the top of the relay into google and found that it is indeed the radiator fan relay. BUT what makes me wonder even more is the fact that it's listed for 82' thru 84' models and my car is a 86'. Also what has me wondering is if this is indeed the radiator fan relay, why am I not having an over heat issue? How long should the car run until the fan typically turns on if I let it idle? I now have a sneaking suspicion that when I bought this car, I bought it with no thermo installed. I've had this car 2 years now and now that I'm finally tearing into it to fix things, the more I'm wanting to hunt down the old owner and slap them....UGH!

 

Just an update, I am now 100% sure that relay is for the rad fan. I called my local GM dealer and they confirmed it. So, I decided to go outside and check my fan to see when it kicked on. Needless to say, I didnt have to wait long. The previous owner has it hot wired so that as soon as I turn on the key, the fan turns on also. This brings me to one last question. With my fan running all the time while the key is on, am I running the engine cooler then it should be and does that affect how the car runs? I am trying to get this car back to the way it should be and dont want to do anymore harm then it's already been. Thanks again.

 

You'll be wasting electricity and shortening the life of the fan running it all the time, but the thermostat should still control the minimum temperature.

 

Thanks Apeiron, that's what I was hoping to hear. This poor car has apparently been through enough already, I didnt want to cause it any further harm. My wallet appreciates it also, LOL.

 

The KEY word is SHOULD !!!!!!!!!!!!

The relay or sensor in the head is prob. shot so the previous owner prob.
rigged up the fan to work off the key.
IMO a new fan is cheap.........A cooked/overheated engine is not!