Alright so I was wondering what is the quickest way to lower engine temp in traffic? Does turning max A/C on or turning the heater on work best? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Not sure what the problem is, but if there is a fan control problem but turning on the A/C turns on the fans, well then there you go. If the engine is overheating, full heat will provide a little boost in cooling.

In the long run, you will want to find and fix the problem.

 

It is really only a problem in traffic, I have had the car for about a year now and Ive been putting all of my money into it. I haven't had it in traffic since I put a new oil sending unit in but it is holding oil pressure better now. Hopefully that does the trick.

 

Theres also a way to hook up the fan(s) to a switch you mount below the cig lighter, so you can flip n the fans whenever you want. Id like to do this, but its not on the top of my "to-do" list...

My cars been wired so if the keys are in the on position the fans are on, constantly. I dont personaly like it, takes the car too long to warm up, but it was that way when i got it. But i will be doing the fan switch thing soon hopefully. If your interested theres a FAQ on it i believe. It didnt sound too difficult.

 

Electric fans provide airflow across the rad when the vehicle is operating at low speeds. Typically, above 30 mph and there's enough air flow to provide enough cooling. Third gens have very little frontal area so the bottom feed spoiler is required.

Since you're not getting enough air flow while sitting in traffic, it could be something as simple as a fan switch not coming on soon enough. If the fan(s) are coming on early but it's still overheating, the rad core may be partially plugged and you're not getting enough coolant flow through it to dissipate the heat.

Is there a thermostat in the engine? The purpose of the thermostat is to retain heat in the engine until it reaches operating temperature. Once it's wide open, it won't keep the engine from overheating however if you run without one, the coolant flow can travel through the rad too quickly to dissipate the heat. There's also a possibility that it's not opening all the way.

If you turn on the AC, the fans will come on to lower the head pressure. If the fans are already on because the engine is too hot, turning the AC on won't gain anything. Turning the heater on full heat will help a little but the tiny heater core won't do a good job of lowering the engine temperature and you'll roast while sitting in traffic even with the windows open, t-tops off etc.

Many dual fan systems will operate off separate circuits. A primary fan comes on when the engine starts to get too hot. The auxiliary fan comes on at a higher temperature or when the AC comes on. It doesn't take much to install an override switch to manually turn on the aux fan. You could also install a lower temperature sending unit to have it come on earlier.

Since none of this stuff is required to maintain the temperature when the car left the factory, there's probably something wrong causing it to overheat in traffic.

 

i had my ac on all the time... i got down and dirty and saw the switch... but the wire is missing... only wire i could find was a white one... but its cut... is this the one.. if so where do i find the connector