Hey all, My name is Ian, and I just found this forum... Glad I did too, as I have a problem that I hope to recieve some advice on?

My 1992 rs camaro (3.1 V6) is overheating all the time. I have had this camaro for going on 13 years now. I bought it used with just 5,000 miles on it back when I was 16 years old. It currently has just 76,000 original miles on it. I have always kept very good care of this car, as I really like it! It's never given me any troubles before, besides for the muffler needing to be replaced & a total brake system replacement as well (Ohio snow and salt). Well, thats my introduction... Thank you in advance for any advice & responses to this post.

Here is the problem: Overheats anytime the car is not in motion. I did search all 37 pages of this forum, and realize that this is a common problem for this third gen camaro. I'd like to tell you what I know & my opinions of where the problem does/does not lay..

Since it stays within decent temp ranges when driving, I know that the air-dam is not clogged, and is functioning as it should (I took a look too). Second, I squeezed the radiator hoses when it was still cool, and then again after the temps reached 225... and they do firm up real good after 225 degrees. This leads me to believe that the problem is not with either the thermostat, or with the water pump operation. There is no air in the system, and the hoses & radiator cap are in good working order as well. The coolant is also at the correct dilution.

Here is the problem as I'v observed it: My coolant fan does not ever turn on. Even when I turn on the air-conditioning, the still does not turn on (I read that it should be operating whenever the A/C is on)... The temps go up to red-zone on the instrument panel guage, and still no fan! It just never ever turns on...

How can I diagnose this problem? Where do I start? I'v checked ALL of the fuses, and they are all OK. I can see the wired connector hooked up to the middle of the fan. I checked it, and it is as clean as a whistle, and properly hooked up.

I'v read that if I ground some wire, and the fan turns on (and stays on), then the problem lies within the coolant switch? What wire do I ground, and where is it located..to set the fan to 'always on' mode (so long as the car is on)?

What 'switches' and 'sensors' and 'sending unit' do I need to check, and where are they located?

I'm going to go pick up a Chiltin manual, I guess... Hopefully the library has one? Is there a better manual to use? Does anyone have any pictures , or diagrams of where these things that I need to check are located? Or, could someone give me a good description?

Does anyone think they know what I need to do first.. to solve the coolant fan problem? Help?

Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to be really as descriptive as I could. I really appreciate all of your help! If I solve this problem, I'd gladly post a how-to with photo's...

Thanks again, and please let me know what you think I should do? Whats the logical next step for me to take?

Ian

 

Help!

 

Get yourself the Chiltons Total Car Care manual (#28282) They look to be a reprint of the Helm factory manuals and are around $20. I have this manual and it has exelent flow charts and wiring diagrams.
Good luck

 

first make sure the fan motor hasn't siezed. take the old finger and give it a spin. if it doesn't you need a new fan. if it does you can skin the wires back just a little and run a hot wire to it and see if it runs. if it doesn't you need a new fan. if it does you have a sensor problem. you can very easily run a hot wire to make the fan work when the key is on, but that isn't very practical. i'm not real big on sensors so after you've checked those two things out post again there are plenty of folks here that can help you track it down. good luck. sick

 

One more item, Check the fuseable links down by the starter. Dont just look but pull a little on them. One of them sends power to a relay. Check for power at the relay. And then you have a coolant sensor on the intake that sends a signal to the computer. posibly the sensor went bad. The sensor should have a black and a yellow wire on it.
hope this helps

 

Thanks Sick & MadMikeZ28,

The fan motor has not siezed..as the fan blades do turn around when I give it a whirl, as I manually spin it with my hands. Good thing to think of checking!

As for the fuseable links, I did look at them, and gave them a decent tug too. Nothing seems abnormal. If they were abnormal, would they just pull apart? Those fuseable links have that clear/whitish tinted plastic cylindrical thing in the middle of the wire's, right? If they went bad, would they look burnt, or come apart or something? They seem fine to me?

I am going to go and attempt to hot-wire the fan now... I can just run a wire from the battery to do that, right? A + lead, and a ground is needed? Or, just the + wire to the fan, because it should have a ground somewhere already? Could anyone be very desciptive, and give a very precise detailed way to hot-wire my fan? I don't want to do this wrong & mess anything up...

Once the fan gets hot-wired (I'll let you know if it spins/works or not), provided that it results in an operational fan, then... Then, I should probably pull & replace the 'coolant sensor' on the intake (the one with a yellow & black wire) as my next course of action huh?

I'll keep you all informed as to what I find out, in hopes of getting more guidance, and getting to the root of this irritating problem, and fixing it...

One quick question though... Since the fan does not come on at all, even when the air-conditioning is turned on. Does that mean that when I get my fan working properly again, that I'll have cold A/C again? As the A/C in my camaro has always been good and cold, but isn't very cold at all anymore...since the overheating problem began, and the fan no longer operates.

Thanks, and thanks for the Chilton total car care manual number too.

Later

 

when you do that hot wiring job, and the fan turns on, try changing the fan switch. it is near the manifold. this tells your fan when to turn on at the set temperature on the computer. this was the problem on my 89 v6

 

Yes when the fan works your a/c should get cold again as it did before. And looking back at since your fan wont work with the a/c switched on and fusable links are good Check the relay before replacing the temp switch.

 

OK, I didn't hot wire it... But, I pulled the coolant sensor on the intake (the one with a yellow & black wire going to it), and then started the camaro up. The fan was on! Thats good... I know it is not the fan motor then. The fan works!

So, knowing that... Does this indicate something? Does this mean that the coolant sensor was working properly, because if it wasn't, then the fan would have autopmatically entered safe zone & turned itself on? Or, could the coolant sensor still have been faulty?
Does what I did rule anything out?

I have purchased the relay. Only thing is, I don't know where it goes? There are three relays on the driver side & one relay on the passenger side (both near the firewall)... Which one do I replace?

I also bought a tempeture sending unit. Where exactly is that located?

I appreciate all of your help. I'm happy that I at least found out something... That the fan does work!

Where is the fan switch located by the way?

Thanks, Ian

 

Unplugging that sensor probly gave you a check engine light now. It put the computer in a safe type of mode and told the fan to work thinking the sensor was bad.