so i went out for late night food last night and noticed that when i was sittin in the drive through my temp gauge started rising up to about 75% of the way, and then i got my food and left, but once i started driving it cooled back down... i think its my fan thats not turning on....how do i check to see if its the fan or the fan sensor or my thermostat ?


Modified by B bOy CrAyOn at 2:09 PM 6/6/2006

 

Turn off the car, let it cool. Turn on the car, open the hood, and wait and watch for the fan to turn on. If it takes more than a few minutes, chances are your thermostat is sticking. Also check your fan fuse to make sure it's not blown.

 

pop the hood and sit and watch it. if the fan turns on, then its something else.
to test the tstat, remove it from the car, put it in a pot and heat up some water to the tstat opening temp and watch for it to open. if it does not, then replace it.
if your fan does not turn on, then you need to first check the fan for operation by unpluging it give it power directly, if it turns, the fan it self is good.
to check the relay, you will need to wait for the car to get warm, when it gets to about 190 degrees or so, the relay should close and power should come out of it to the fan, if it does not, then disconnect the coolant temp sensor for the fan relay and ground the lead that goes to the relay, the fan should turn on. if it does not, you may have a bad relay. if it does turn on, you may have a bad sensor.
have fun.
also check your upper and lower radiator hoses, if they do not feel to be about the same temp, you may have a water pump that is worn.

 

i had the same problem i found out i didnt have a fan relay.. now i dont overheat

 

i just changed the thermostat and i ran power directly to the fan and it works... so in a lil bit ima take the car out... ill make sure to touch both hoses to check if theyre about the same temp.... and also do that stuff to find out about if its the relay or sensor... thanks for the help