cooling problem. PLEASE PLEASE HELP

Hey everyone. I'm new and had a pretty important question. i just recently purchased a 91 camaro z28 350. it was overheating and i got an estimate from Midas advising me to replace my thermostat and d/s engine cooling fan. they've been replaced..and if you can believe this..after 2 days and a few hundred dollars..my car is actually running worse. before i could at least run it with the heat on full blast without the temperature going up over 220. now it just redlines after about 10 miles regardless of anything i do. i took it back today and they're looking at it now but i wanted some other advice since they seem to be a bit incompetent. as i said i replaced the fan and motor and thermostat. now, neither fan is working. its not getting any power for some reason. i'm thinkin something with the relay? wiring? i dont know. if anyone has experienced anything like this PLEASE let me know. thanks

There's a 'fan switch' on the right side of the motor between the 6 and 8 cylinder that the wriring could be burnt or cut or the switch is bad, very common on these cars and alot of poeple bypass them and put a manual switch on it. Could also be a relay.

oh and welcome to AF.

thanks man, i appreciate it. i'll look into that

no power points to the relay tho, it's under the hood on the driver side firewall, there's 2 of them there, i don't recall which one is for the fan tho.

whoa, geno, no power points to the relay?

A relay transforms low power circuit to high power circuit does it not? So one side of the switched power normally has what 5V to cross over and tap the 12V main or am I ALL wrong here?

no power to the fan, i'm pretty sure it'd be the relay, mainly cuz of personaly experience and how common of an issue it is, same with the sensor in the head, i'd go ahead and just do both to eliminate any possible future issues with either or.

okay, maybe I misread ya, but tha way I took it is that you have no main power pointing to the relay, where the relay is a switching source for min. power to battery power.

on a side note, why are they busting on this chick on unique whips?

this is why i dpnt come here at night, to drunk to care what's going on, but seriously geno, unless I masively misread ya, that satement didnt' come out right

yea, i need to learn to punctuate better, shoulda been like this...

"no power to the fan, points to the relay probably being bad"

Alrighty then Mr. President!

alright, another dumb question or 2. so please don't ream me for this, lol
i've currently got a direct wire from the ignition to the fan. it's not redlining but its still running way to hot, so maybe that wasnt the greatest of ideas. i just ordered an engine thermostat switch and ive got the dual fan setup so...and forgive me again if this sound ridiculous. since ive got the dual fan setup do i need two switches?
also, i'm thinking i might need a new wiring harness all together but i really don't have the money so i'm just going to replace the relay. does anyone know a good site to get one or should i just order from a dealership? i don't have any experience with wiring so i'm going to get it done at some auto shop, any idea how much it might cost to get this done? thanks again for any feedback.

Just a question, are you sure that water is getting TO the engine? maybe your radiator needs to be cleaned out or flushed.. also what kind of water/antifreeze mix you using?

is there any white smoke coming out when its running? like out the exhaust. also is your radiator full and you might need a new radiator cap....seriously, the cap might be the problem

Your more then likely not overheating like you think..I had the same problem heres are check list: make sure you have no leaks, then make sure the radiator is good and has a proper 50/50 mixture, fix your fans and make sure they come on...I know I went 2 yrs without a stat thinking I was overheating but really wasnt when my car is warming up it goes all the way over to 260 then after like 5 mins goes back under 220.

Third gen gauges are NOTORIOUSLY inaccurate. Especially the temp gauge. Ever notice how it jumps all the way when you roll the starter over? And no doubt you have seen atleast one that's jumped so badly it's stuck in the pod bezel. There is a sensor on the left side of the motor right inbetween cyls 1 and 3 with I believe a green wire. That sensor is for the gauge. Sometimes the wire shielding gets chaffed and grounds the wire which casues the gauge to read hot, or vice versa creates an open circuit and the gauge never moves.

That said, you need to give the whole cooling system a once over. And if it's been over 2 years since the last time it was checked, I'd do as mentioned replace the thermostat and cap, thoroughly check all the hoses, examine the water pump for weeping coolant or bearing problems and back flush the system. Also check and make sure the air dam is in place and that leaves and other junk are not hiding inbetween the radiator and a/c condensor.

you guys are awesome, thanks so much for all yur help. yea i definetly notice how much the gauge jumps on start up and the rest of the time. but i'm 99 percent sure it's still running real hot. call it a gut feeling? i dont think theres anything wrong with the temperature sending unit, like i said i replaced the thermostat and fans so i'm really not to sure. and no, no white smoke or anything. but yea ill definetly check the hoses and radiator. thanks again

btw, this is carrie. pride, joy, and stress.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/skyluslondon/39_1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/skyluslondon/ed_4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/skyluslondon/a5_1.jpg

Your more then likely not overheating like you think..I had the same problem heres are check list: make sure you have no leaks, then make sure the radiator is good and has a proper 50/50 mixture, fix your fans and make sure they come on...I know I went 2 yrs without a stat thinking I was overheating but really wasnt when my car is warming up it goes all the way over to 260 then after like 5 mins goes back und0er 220.

im really curious about this now. whats the ideal engine temp? it gets alot more highway miles than anything. with the dual fan setup, my d/s fan stays on, and it doesn't look like the p/s fan is kicking in at all. not to sure about that. i'm having it looked at tomorrow so..we'll see.

Nice looking car, btw.. funny my 3rd gen is my pride, joy, and stress too.

thanks man. shes a bitch to keep clean even garage kept but.. worth it of course.

Factory temp is 220 ish. The primary fan normally dosen't even kick on until around 230 to 235.

i hate to sound so naive but are you serious? its normal to be running that hot? i dont know..i guess its possible it might not even be overheating but it just seems like its running too hot.

Dead serious. I hate it too, but to apease the EPA tree huggers, these suckers run hot by design.

As stated, you can get a lower temp stat and a lower temp/adjustable fan switch and cool her down. Ever notice how power FALLS off once it get's over 210*? Bypassing the throttle body coolant hoses and that problem is solved :thumbsup:

Nice car tho, i see someone else pulled the same as my cars previous owner and painted black over the turqoise blue :lol: Keep ALOT of polish on the bumpers, the paint starts to peel really quick off of them. :thumbsup:

Oh, an dmine is Cammie.

lol. cant seem to hide that blue. and yur not lyin abou the paint peeling on the back, already happening. im gunna take it down to the primer and go black again eventually cause he didn't get the greatest job on it. Im gunna replace the relay, flush the radiator, and probably get a new cap just in case. Nothing wrong with having some new parts I guess. But I feel a lot better about it now, I had no idea they ran that hot. I appreciate the help.

just to let you guys know. it was a blown fuse somewhere. the computers fine. get this..i may have messed it up a bit more by hotwiring the d/s fan straight to the ignition. lol.. ah well. the wirings back to original now. no more overheating. thanks for all the help

didnt want to make a new thread for this. just a quick question. my primary fan is coming on at 260, should be coming on around 220. im going to replace the fan switch between the 6 and 8 cylinder. do i need to drain the antifreeze before doing this? not sure..thanks

nah. Just don't do it when she's hot. :thumbsup: