fan malfunction

I have 1994 saturn sc2. I let it idle it heated up right around the red area.I changed the thermostat no luck.I changed the temp sending unit sensor no luck.The problem is my fan is not kicking on. If i turn the ac on the fan is kicking on. I switched the cooling fan relay with the ac relay they are the same no luck.I unplugged the temp sending unit sensor started the car then plugged the sensor in the fan kicked on. Which i guess tells me the connector is good.I also have a code reading of 26. If you can help i would greatly appreciate it.

here is your same problem:


My fan quit coming on so I had put a jumper with a switch in place of the relay, the relay seemed ok so maybe its the sensor affecting this as well?

BINGO! thats more then i needed to hear. change the ECT.

Code 26 is Quad Driver,

You said you changed the temp sending unit, but there are two, one goes to the PCM -The ECT (Engine Coolant Temp.) Sensor
And the other goes to your dash thermostat

The one you should have changed is the ECT, If you changed the ECTS, make sure you replaced it with the brass tipped one from a saturn dealership, or saturnparts.com ECTS (http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=715&chapter=DP8V00&appSectionid=3&groupid=10046&subgroupid=60344&make=31&model=Sc%20series&year=1994&catalogid=1)

[QUOTE=mysatilac]here is your same problem:
There are two sensors on my saturn one on top that controls the dash temp and the one on the bottom that controls the fan. The one i changed is the one on the bottom that controls the fan. No luck. I am lost. Please help.

Do you think the reason my fan is not kicking is the coolant is not getting ciculated to the sensor? Because over the last year i was leaking coolant so i put quite a bit of stop leak in it. So i dont know if this caused a blockage in the system.

Another problem i have been having is my car stalls. It happened today after about 30 minuted of driving.

back to the sensor problem. I bought the sensor from auto zone. Is it the same sensor from saturn.

I am replying back on the saturn fan problems. My first question is: what is the difference between the quick reply at the bottom or post reply at top? Someone replied back to change the ect sensor. I did replace that one,but i bought it at auto zone. I did not purchase this at saturn. Is this a concern. Over the last year i was leaking coolant. So in the last year i put quite a bit of stop leak in it. Do you think an area might be clogged preventing coolant to get to the sensor?

You're OK for now with the AutoZone one, but it will most likely fail on you again,
With the new one from saturn or saturnparts.com, you should not need to change it again, the stalling could be from the ECT
How long ago was the switch?
If you can afford a new one I'd go for it,

your thermostat can prevent your coolant from circulating but to check for this see if the top radiator hose gets hot showing that coolant is being circulated through the radiator,

As far as the stop leak goes, I was told not to use that stuff unless you're about to sell the car,
You need to find and fix the leak, not just throw stuff in there that coats the inside of everything,

See what other replies you get

* Instead of posting 5 replies within an hour or two, there is an edit button in the bottom right of each reply, you should edit your first reply to include all the additional information/questions,
In the post reply text box you have the option of disabling smilies, automaticaly parsing URLs, uploading images, adding an icon, subscribing to and rating the thread, all the stuff at the bottom of your text box...

I changed the ect two days ago. The manager at auto zone said this was probably the problem. Unless the sensor i got was bad. Do you think the problem points to this sensor? If so i can exchange it and try another.Do you see anything else it could be? Knowing everything else seems to be good.The other sensor on top i unplugged and my temp gauge dropped so that one controls the temp gauge.thanks for your help. Greatly appreciated!

I called the manager at autozone and said i could exchange it for a new one. So I got to thinking the sensor was in wrong. So i turned around the holes. Which was the left hole now right and which was right is now left. The time i got home and let it idle for a few minutes the fan kicked on around 3/4 . So i found my problem.

No problem on the help, thats what makes these forums great,

You changed the position of the ECT and temp sending unit? and this fixed your problem?, a few inches shouldn't have changed much...

Wow, I have the same car, but a year newer, and have the same problem. But I also have a cracked up front bumper and was told the over heating could have something to do w/ not having the front air damn lined up right. But when I'm cruisin down the highway I don't overheat. So I don't think it could be the air dam. Do you guys think that it's my sensor also? Because the thermostat is fine and I'm not leaking coolant or anything. I found that the fan ONLY kicks in when I turn on the AC. Which is wierd, because I've been drivin w/ the heat on to keep from overheating. HELP ME PLZ! :dunno:

ECT sensors as most of you know are notorious for failing and causing all sorts of problems,

Its cheap enough (~$15) that its worth a shot, but most of the time the problem with it is that its cracked, so if you have time, and a small amount of coolant, you can go pull the sensor and keep your finger over the hole, because there is alot of coolant that will drain out otherwise, wait a minute for the sensor to dry off slightly (makes cracks more apparent), and check the sensor good for ANY cracks, splits, otherwise.

If any cracks, etc. is found it is a good bet that replacing your sensor will help you out,

BTW, you can wire the fan up to a manual switch if you want to stop rolling around with your heat on and this doesn't help,

Best of luck to you,
MySatilac

BTW, you can wire the fan up to a manual switch if you want to stop rolling around with your heat on and this doesn't help,


Using the heater doesn't help? Or the manual fan switch doesn't help?

My main question here is if the ECTS is bad, will that be causing the car to over heat? Or is the lack of air flow because my cracked bumper? And if I do replace the ECTS, will my car no longer overheat? Does the fan then kick in before the 3/4 mark, which is too late for it to be kicking in?! I hate this, I want my car fixed.

If you fuses check out ok and relay is fine. It seems to point toward the ect sensor. The problem on mine was it was plugged in the wrong way. Someone told me it should only plug in one way but somehow mine plugged in the wrong way. The sensor cost me $7.99 so its not going to be an expensive check. After i changed the sensor my fan is kicking on right around 3/4 which i guess is normal. The main reason why it is heating up is your fan is not kicking on which is controlled by the ect sensor.

BTW, you can wire the fan up to a manual switch if you want to stop rolling around with your heat on and this doesn't help,


By "this" I meant changing the ECT sensor, my previous suggestion, sorry for any confusion, whatevergoof

If you fuses check out ok and relay is fine. It seems to point toward the ect sensor. The problem on mine was it was plugged in the wrong way. Someone told me it should only plug in one way but somehow mine plugged in the wrong way. The sensor cost me $7.99 so its not going to be an expensive check. After i changed the sensor my fan is kicking on right around 3/4 which i guess is normal. The main reason why it is heating up is your fan is not kicking on which is controlled by the ect sensor.

I'm just so confused, because one day it just started over heating. It's not like it always went up to the 3/4 mark and the fan would kick in. So would the ECTS cause the car to actually over heat? Or is there somethin else wrong?