Overheating 1990 SE
Discussion
The fans work but they only come on when the A/C is turned on. When the temp guage needle rises to the danger zone with the A/C off, the fans don't do diddly. I tried looking up a sending unit in the service manual but it isn't where the book says it should be. Has anyone else tackled this one before and might be able to provide some guidance?
I had a bit of a similar problem with my '89 non-SE. My fans would stay on all the time. As it turned out it was my ECM slowly going bad.
But for your problem there are two temperature switches on your car. The one that sends a signal to the gauge comes from the air intake manifold and is on the top of the manifold, can't miss it. The one that turns on your fans comes from a preset switch that sits just aft of the thermostat housing. VERY tough to see. I changed mine thinking that was why my fans were always on. But, Noooooo.
It is cheap anyway. But if the fans are not on, it may be the mainfold temperature sending unit is bad and the temp is okay. Does the temp come down when you activate the A/C? Regardless, the fans should come on at 92.5 F by the other switch and then shut off at about 88 F.
Hope this helps.
Bob Kumse '89 non-SE
But for your problem there are two temperature switches on your car. The one that sends a signal to the gauge comes from the air intake manifold and is on the top of the manifold, can't miss it. The one that turns on your fans comes from a preset switch that sits just aft of the thermostat housing. VERY tough to see. I changed mine thinking that was why my fans were always on. But, Noooooo.
It is cheap anyway. But if the fans are not on, it may be the mainfold temperature sending unit is bad and the temp is okay. Does the temp come down when you activate the A/C? Regardless, the fans should come on at 92.5 F by the other switch and then shut off at about 88 F.
Hope this helps.
Bob Kumse '89 non-SE
The fans work but they only come on when the A/C is turned on. When the temp guage needle rises to the danger zone with the A/C off, the fans don't do diddly. I tried looking up a sending unit in the service manual but it isn't where the book says it should be. Has anyone else tackled this one before and might be able to provide some guidance?
Check fuse 13 on the front bulkhead, along with the Radiator Fan Control relay. This is located on the front relay mounting bracket, I think it's the fourth location from the bulkhead, towards the outside. You should probably double check this, but here's what it should look like, starting from the front:
Empty-Relay-Relay-Fuses(6)-RADIATOR RELAY-Relay-Empty- Relay
Cheers,
Sanj
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