ok i have 3.1L 92 with a really big problem i live in NJ and the temp have start to hit 90+ and my car may not survive on to the winter the car almost overheated but lucky i watch my gauges more then the road 3 different times two in traffic and the other in a drive through now the fan came on earlier that day and then once the temp hit 230 the fan just cuts off and i have to turn the car off and start it back to get the fan started again now i need help on this ASAP because i want this car to last to winter.

now how can i keep the car cool in traffic plz list all and any ideas


new rad, after market fan motor that all the changes i made

 

I don't have a wiring diagram for 87 & up f-bodies but it would seem the likely candidate would be a failing relay. Often times aftermarket fans are only good for about 2-3 years also. Relays have a tendency to work properly cold and once heat soaked, they distort on the inside and the switch points will lose contact until the relay cools off.

 

Could be your relay. I was never able to get mine off so I just grounded the fan to the firewall and its always on with the car so I never have to worry about it.

 

You could just hook it up through a switch and add a relay for that switch so you don't burn it up.
Another thing that helped my car because I had the same problem and the single fan wasn't doing very good of a job(even with it constantly on), especially in this Texas heat was I put LS1 dual fans in my car. You don't have to have LS1 fans, I know the LT1 fans fit, hell even intrepid fans work(don't ask me how, my friend modified them to fit.) Not only does it keep the car at around 180-190 but if it does somehow get at 220 or even 240, I flip the switch and it brings the temp back down in less than a minute.

 

well even time i was suck in traffic i had to change the relay right after that so i got a 10 pak of them and the after market fan motor spins a hell of alot faster but i order a stock one just in case any other idea its a 102 to day and my car is crying lol had to park in the garage the heat peeled the rear view mirror off yes that hot
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O.o thats what im talking about man get your friend on here now! and tell me how **** that the kind of temps i like

 

Of what i know of the 3.1, especially as it gets higher miles, they hate heat. It was on a different model, but I had a 3.1 crack its block in about 92 degrees (and it only had 37,000 miles in it). I was told I wasn't supposed to run A/C in that type of heat. This posed the obvious question of what is A/C for if not in 90+ degree heat....

 

No A/C in 92*+ HEAT?????? That's a late spring day in Texas, never mind summer!!!! The only V6 I ever owned was a '98 camaro and I bought it brand new, traded it in a couple of years later with 65K miles on it and one of my neighbors went to the dealer and bought it the next day, financing deal I wanted to sell it to him but the finance company had to involve a legitamate seller in their mind. Anyway I was talking to him last weekend and he mentioned that he just rolled 175k miles on the motor at the end of May and the car is still running as good as it was the day he bought it, with just routine maintenance and a couple of batteries. I don't belive he ever even thinks twice about wether or not to run the A/C until January!

 

I have run without AC for the majority of 4 years, going on 5 in the N Florida heat and humidity. I don't think its that bad.

 

So in your opinion should your block and heads be able to support a correctly functioning A/C, in that climate, or do your just drive around with it usually off because you think the block will crack?( My guess is that its an entirely different reason.)- Not to come off like a smarty pants.
Oh yeah, by the way I've been driving my '84 around here without A/C since '93.

 

I had the same problem today, here in Windsor, they decided to rip apart all the roads at the same time, so on my way home from school I hit one of these construction sites.. Car got passed 105* Celcius and I was starting to feel it inside the car.. So I turned around and booted it down a country road, seemed fine after that..

 

guys wire ur fans to come on with they key, alls u have to do is take the wire from the sensor tothe realy and cut it,then ground the relay side of the wire.then the fan will be on anytime u have the key on,that coupled with a 160* stat should keep u guys around 180-190*'s in traffic.

another mod for u camaro guys is to replace the rs bumper insert with one from a z28 or iroc those allow more air in threw the front opening

 

Yes, you could wire the fan to be on all the time while the key is on, but it will burn out the fan motor much quicker. I would suggest reading this:

https://www.thirdgen.org/electric_coolant_fan_spec_mod_single

 

ive had my fan motor wired to be one with the key at all times for almost 4 years now never had a problem

 

I'm gonna get a higher performance fan, these intense humid southern Canadian summers are getting rough..

 

wow this is a really big problem i guess mmmm so the V6 models weren't built for AC in 89+ degrees and also the single fan setup weren't made for 100+ weather wtf.

 

omg u will not crack the block or anything like that by using ur ac in the summer.the single fan setup is more then enough to keep the car cool,except for the fact the factory set to come on at 220*,with everything working properly there is no issue running the ac at all no matter how it it is outside

 

I never said every person is going to have the block crack at high temps. Also notice I said it was on a differant car. Your experience with the 3.1 in a F-body may be totally differant than mine with it in a Grand Am and in an Olds.

But the obvious theme of this thread seems to be that the 3.1 needs at least some sort of minor mods (maybe a thermostat or a fan upgrade).

Yes, some of you have done just great without any mods at all. But enough people, including the author have problems enough with the 3.1 to consider some suggestions on how to make it better handle heat.

I also agree that the mechanic who told me that you aren't supposed to run A/C in the summer is a moron, that's simply part of a slightly entertaining story.

So for the author: fan relay, thermostat upgrade, maybe a fan upgrade? Anyone else have ideas on how to cool down his overheating motor?

 

ok i just ordered a temp sensor, a 180 thermostat now i have a two wire sensor does one wire do to the gauge and the other to the ECM right? im also get a two 16inch fans for the condenser now how can i hook that to come on with the AC i know i need a relay but after the 12v power and the ground what else do of can i connect it to

 

Flushing out his coolant system and adding 50/50 water/Dex Cool with some Water Wetter (pink stuff, made a difference on our show car)

 

for the love of god, dont use dex cool,or if you really want to, dont tell anyone else that it's a good idea. Orange crud buildup _everywhere_. You'd do your engine a favor and cool it with pancake syrup. Flushing wont get that crap out. Seriously, before you pay for dexcool, punch yourself in the testes, then think if it's worth punching yourself again for the dexcool, cuz after you use it and a couple months later when you look under your radiator cap and find that it and everything else is caked with an orange buildup and the coolant has floating chunks in it, you'll want to punch yourself in the nuts again.

My engine block switch went a long time ago, and they're not really cheap to replace. So, i just wired up a little toggle switch to the fan relay and installed the switch in an unused port area near the steering wheel. Looks stock.

Cooler thermostats may give you issues when you try to pass emissions, it'll also seriously weaken your heater/defrost when winter comes back. 180 isn't as bad as 160 though, so it'll probably be fine.

 

another thing with the dex cool is if u dont get out all the green antifreeze and u put dex cool in it turns to like jello u cant mix the stuff

the simplest thing would be to wire in a fan switch but leave the stock sensor connected, this way u only have the fan running all the time when u have to,and if u ever forget to turn the switch on the sensor will still do it at 220*

 

Damn, good thing I've been using the cheap stuff...

 

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but this is very important. this is what dex-cool will do to every piece of your coolant system where it is allowed to vapor off. That's not rust btw.



It forms little particles that clump together. You can only imagine what the engine looks like, and the lower parts of the radiator. It's quite expensive to get cleaned and simple flushing wont do much to get rid of the baked in film.

 

Wow, didn't know Dexcool would do that. Glad I haven't invested much in my cooling system yet.

On my 305, simply flushing the radiator out helped alot. There was alot of rust and junk in there, somehow I got gravel out... and the motor doesn't wander up so high in the temp range anymore.

My whole cooling system got an unintended flushing when the heater control valve cracked open bad, and i was filling it with gallon after gallon of water to get home. That seemed to help in the end too.

 

One thing that happens on the 3rd gen's with A/C: debris builds up between the A/C condensor and the radiator. These cars are bottom feeders when it comes to radiator air. The air dam scoops up air from below and up to the front of the condensor.

The issue is that there is a wide gap between the top of the condensor and the upper plate (or whatever it is called). This allows leaves, grass clippings, styrofoam cups, pieces of paper, etc. to fill the area between the condensor and radiator.

Unbolt the upper radiator mounting plate and remove. Look down between the rad and condensor. I've seen them 2/3rd's of the way filled up. Completely removing the rad is the best approach. However, can also clean that area out by lifting and blocking up the rad an inch or two. Then blow the stuff out with an air hose or with a garden hose.

Be careful to not damge the rad or condensor.

If you have some foam pipe insulation (such as for basement pipes that sweat in the summer) can put a piece of that in the gap above the condensor. It will prevent it from filling up again.

RBob.

 

wtf that dex-cool is a car nightmare lucky i never used it this is great how u learn something everyday

 

Several companies make a dex cool "like product thats labeled as specifically being intended to be "mixable" with the old green stuff. Taking a close look at the label of most major brand dexcool products will show they say "do not mix with regular anti-freeze". I've never changed an older car over but have had cars that used the orange stuff from the factory and never saw the problems pictured on the cap above. An old vehicle just needs to be maintained with what its been getting all these years. Be honest with yourself and look at the fluid in the radiator and decide if its time to get some Preston radiator rust remover or not.

 

I've had a grand am come with the stuff from factory and this happened. Chunked up good. That was a 2001 gagt, leased and serviced only at the dealer. The cap above is actually the "dex-cool-like" stuff which i thought was improved, not GM proper. This stuff does the exact same thing as regular dexcool. All the lawsuits and issues that have come from dexcool have not occurred for 100% of the people where it's used. GM knows it causes problems, and they still have a lot of pending lawsuits stemming from it.

The orange buildup and muck floating in the coolant isn't rust. I had the exact some situation occur with a brand new grand am. We had to go through a lot of crap to get that taken care of back in 2001. That car always had dex-cool, nothing else.

anyways, was just warning people. Google dexcool. Besides, the only real advantage it serves is less "maintanance", just use the green stuff and maybe water wetter, you'll cool just as well and your coolant wont have even a 1% chance of caking everything with a nasty gritty film and chunk up.

 

hey man I live in nj also. I often see a red 92 v6 bird near were i live maybe that is you. But i will give you some input on what I did with my overheating problem. I had serveral problems last summer and i fixed them all. First off my car hit around 230degrees even with the fan on. My thermostat had went bad and got stuck not allowing the collant to flow. I ended up replacing that stock thermostat with a 180 thermostat. That allowed the coolant to flow at a lower temp speed. But i also had other problems. MY radiatior was getting old and had alot of dirt in it. this dirt was affecting the air flow. also many of the fins ( as i call them on the raditor ) had been bent, also affecting air flow. In the end, i had replaced all the coolant, installed a new radiator, new 180 temp thermostat, and I had already installed my vibrant cold air intake. All of this helped my car to fun perfect I rarely see the car go above 180 degrees even in traffic. only time it goes near 195 is when the car is just idiling on a warm day. With the temp running near 180 i also noticed a little improvemnt in power. Also if you end up replacing your radiator be sure to wash out your ac condesor by simply sparying it with water from your garden hose. this helped me get a colder ac temp

P.s. : my radiator i had got through a local auto parts store the guy order it from someguy who builds his own or it was an aftermarket one not sure which. so basically i have an oversized radiator which is a good thing. helps keep thing cool. And it weighs less than the stock one.

 

when is the fan supposed to come on... cause mine came on around 190-210 degrees..?

 

i thought stock fan switches turned them on at around 220-230... at least on the V8's. GM wanted to run them hot to pass lower emissions.

btw, with the 180 degree thermos, how long does it take you to defrost and warm up in the winter time? or do you not take the car out in the winter?

 

if your talking to me im not sure because i just bought it a month an a half ago.

 

Depends on how cold you are talking about but at minimal 5 mins to at least 10 mins to defrost. But other than that the car rarely gets driven in the winter. i think this past winter the car only saw salt once and that was when we had our first little snow. I wouldnt recommend going to a 160 thermo if your gonna drive in the winter. A 180 is fine.

 

yo Da skinny thanks man were u live in NJ i live in Hillisde the weather has just be crazy up here but i change the rad again all black alum and the fan relay i have a 180 stat im about to change it and also i have the fan temp sensor i think mine bugs out when i get to 235 deg it just doesn't turn the fan on after that on also gone the twin 16 fans on my A/c condener so now im about to run super cold