Temp Sensor

I replaced thermostat, temp sensor and temp sender. The fan never came on befrore and now it comes on way too soon. In fact when I shorted the code reader leads to check codes the fan came on immediately. The engine coolant temp seems to be fine and the car is not overheating but every time the fan comes on the service engine soon light also comes on and stays on till I shut the engine off. By the way this is a 95 saturn SL-1. Temp guage is beetween 1/4 1nd 1/2 when engine is hot. Also compression is good as well and I'm not using coolant or oil.

if your comp is obd i and not obd ii
shorting pin a to b puts in diagnostic mode and mandates fan coming on

1/4 to 1/2 of temp guage is normal on a 95 so far as i know
the 91-93 wouldn't come on until between 1/2 and 3/4 reading on temp guage


sounds like you have normal readings
what are your SES codes?? if you can flash them on the SES light then you are on OBD I and the pin shorting turns on the fan as diagnostic

if your comp is obd i and not obd ii
shorting pin a to b puts in diagnostic mode and mandates fan coming on

1/4 to 1/2 of temp guage is normal on a 95 so far as i know
the 91-93 wouldn't come on until between 1/2 and 3/4 reading on temp guage


sounds like you have normal readings
what are your SES codes?? if you can flash them on the SES light then you are on OBD I and the pin shorting turns on the fan as diagnostic


reread your post, i think you're in OBD II and the shorting might cause same diagnostic fan on mode there as well


also, readings on your temp guage internally might be different due to replacing temp sensor

i presume you replaced the ECTS as i believe you have only 1 sensor
91-94 models had a ENG TEMP SENSOR and a ELECT COOLANT TEMP SENSOR

if your comp is obd i and not obd ii
shorting pin a to b puts in diagnostic mode and mandates fan coming on

1/4 to 1/2 of temp guage is normal on a 95 so far as i know
the 91-93 wouldn't come on until between 1/2 and 3/4 reading on temp guage


sounds like you have normal readings
what are your SES codes?? if you can flash them on the SES light then you are on OBD I and the pin shorting turns on the fan as diagnostic

Not sure of code. After the initial flashing it then gave me 1 flash and 5 quick flashes.

reread your post, i think you're in OBD II and the shorting might cause same diagnostic fan on mode there as well


also, readings on your temp guage internally might be different due to replacing temp sensor

i presume you replaced the ECTS as i believe you have only 1 sensor
91-94 models had a ENG TEMP SENSOR and a ELECT COOLANT TEMP SENSOR

Correct. It took me a while to realize the sensor is below the sender. I am a little concerned that I may have gotten the wrong sensor. I told the guy it was a 95 but I forgot my daughter blew the original engine and I'm not sure what year this one is as I had it done by a friend of a friend. The colors of the ones the parts guy gave me were a grey for the sender and black for the sender. That wasn't exactly what I took out. I took out a beige and a sort of blue.

Correct. It took me a while to realize the sensor is below the sender. I am a little concerned that I may have gotten the wrong sensor. I told the guy it was a 95 but I forgot my daughter blew the original engine and I'm not sure what year this one is as I had it done by a friend of a friend. The colors of the ones the parts guy gave me were a grey for the sender and black for the sender. That wasn't exactly what I took out. I took out a beige and a sort of blue.
By the way. Thanks alot. You've already given me some ideas.

Correct. It took me a while to realize the sensor is below the sender. I am a little concerned that I may have gotten the wrong sensor. I told the guy it was a 95 but I forgot my daughter blew the original engine and I'm not sure what year this one is as I had it done by a friend of a friend. The colors of the ones the parts guy gave me were a grey for the sender and black for the sender. That wasn't exactly what I took out. I took out a beige and a sort of blue.


goto Saturnfans.com when the site is back up
look in forums for a how-to

there is a post by wolfman on changing the ECTS, its text only
but several pages downward another poster placed all his pics on there
step by step and done on a dual i believe 95 or 96
it would be very helpful
i would have found it for you but their site is dead right now
not sure when its gonna be back up or even why its down

goodluck

91-95s have 2 sensors. one for pcm and one for fan. now the 95 year is odd. some were obd 2 and others were obd 1. if you jumped an obd 2 system you probably ruined the diagnostics and maybe the pcm. obd1 are the only ones you can jump.