1998 Grand Voyager - now it's overheating?

OK...so we have solved the stalling problem.

I'm at 103000 miles now, and on my way home from work the other day, i notice that the AC starts to smell a little odd. I checked everything, and it all appeared to be OK, so I figured I might be getting close to the time for a recharge...

I stopped at a light, and I hear a warning signal, and I look up...SERVICE ENGINE SOON!!! Then...a second warning signal...the thermostat light!

Temp gauge PEGGED on H...I immediately turn off the A/C, and the light turns green. I pull ahead SLOWLY, heading for the Walgreen's parking lot, when the temp starts to head back down a bit. I was just around the corner from the house, and so I got home and checked it out.

Coolant was OK, oil was OK, but it's overheating. Nothing blocking the radiator...

I had this problem once before at about 75,000 miles, and it was a blown head gasket. Coolant all over the place, etc...But that's not the case this time.

I'm thinking that the water pump might be going south? Is that something that's pretty easy to fix, or am I in for spending somes $? (3.3L engine)

Edit: After a couple hours, I got back out and drove it around, to see if it would cool OK. No overheating, but the Service Engine Light is still on. I'm out of town until tomorrow, so it's sitting at home in the drive until I get home to check the codes. I'll post them when I get them.

Radiator cooling fans both running? I would change out the thermostat before going for more expensive stuff first. Of course, don't let it get that hot again.

Check to see if your electric cooling fans are working. Start the engine, turn on the A/C and wait to see whether the fans start or it starts to overheat. The overheating scenario you just described was my first clue the fans stopped working in our van. The culprit was a blown fan relay.

Be sure you know what is broken first, before you start replacing everything under the hood.

Let us know what you find.

I'll check into these things as well...I'll post back with my results!

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I have a silly question here...

Could my AC be causing the overheating? I would think that the cooling system would STILL cool things properly, but here's what I noticed on Sunday when I fired it up cold.

When the AC was on, the RPM's fluctuated between 1100 and 1300, up and down at about a 1 second interval. When I turned the AC off, it idled normally at about 600 RPM's. it makes a whining sound when the AC is running, but sounds like a dream when it's off.

Do I actually have 2 problems? Is my AC going out, AND something is wrong with my cooling system?

I have a silly question here...

Could my AC be causing the overheating? I would think that the cooling system would STILL cool things properly, but here's what I noticed on Sunday when I fired it up cold.

When the AC was on, the RPM's fluctuated between 1100 and 1300, up and down at about a 1 second interval. When I turned the AC off, it idled normally at about 600 RPM's. it makes a whining sound when the AC is running, but sounds like a dream when it's off.

Do I actually have 2 problems? Is my AC going out, AND something is wrong with my cooling system?
If everything is working then the ac would not cause any overheating obviously . When the ac is on the rpms will fluctuate a little as the compressor cycles on and off and you should see the fans cycle on and off when the compressor kicks on and off . Coolant temp is governed on cold startup by the thermostat , all the stat does is to get the engine warmer faster , after it opens it should have no bearing on the engine temp which then governed by the ambient air temp and the cooling fans . If it is overheating right from startup then the stat could be sticking closed . If the fans are working correctly it should not overheat . I would check to see if they are coming on , they should kick on at about midway on or slightly above on your temp guage , if not probably a bad fan relay which were notoriously bad during that era and even had a mandatory recall on these .

OK...I have figured out that I am having an intermittent problem with the fans on and off (obviously more off than on).

When I dropped off my carpool at the park and ride today, it was fine, had been driving for a while in traffic (Houston ALWAYS has traffic)...I checked the fans, and they were blowing just fine.

I was JUST around the corner from the house, and the temp gauge started going up again. I pulled over, and popped the hood, and sure enough, fans were dead.

I checked the fuse, and it's OK, so I'm guessing it's the relay. I'll call the dealer, and have them check my VIN to see if I qualify for that recall.

Any idea how much those relays cost? do they pop in and out like fuses?

There are 2 relays...

1 of them is in the PDC Module, runs about $9 US, and is swappable with the relay for the horn. I swapped them out, and this did not fix the problem.

The other one is underneath the van, and mounts on the side near the radiator. It's a slight pain in the butt, but I swapped it out in about 20 minutes with not much problem.

Radiator fans are spinning like mad now, and everything appears to be just fine. A few days of commuting to work should verify that.

This second relay is about $45 US (of course it's the more expensive one), but it was WAY cheaper than replacing the water pump, that's for sure!

thanks to everyone for your suggestions...i can always count on this forum to lead me to my problem!!! With this forum, I'm guessing I'll get another 100K out of this van!





This just in...the transmission pan gets HOT!!!! Holy *!*&#$^*&(#$^*(!&^# DOES IT GET HOT!!!
I now have a nice little red dot on the left side of my forehead thanks to that pan. :D

Check this site it may give you some information on cost: http://www.autozone.com/R,APP1328407/vehicleId,2384003/initialAction,partProductDetail/store,1991/partType,01337/shopping/partProductDetail.htm

Hope this helps

man...I got the same part at O'Reilly's (made by Borg Warner) for $45.99 + tax. Autozone is WAY overpriced...

Thanks for the heads up, though!

hi,
I'm a newb. I have the same problem. My 95 Voyager overheats in traffic, and my fans are not working. When I turn on the AC still no fans. Please can someone tell me exactly where these relays are?

hi,
I'm a newb. I have the same problem. My 95 Voyager overheats in traffic, and my fans are not working. When I turn on the AC still no fans. Please can someone tell me exactly where these relays are?

Read post #8 in this post it may help you.

Read post #8 in this post it may help you.

Thanks for that. I have another symptom. The heat does not work. I turned the heat on to max and its blowing cold air. Would that also be because of the relay and the temp sensor ??:banghead:

Thanks for that. I have another symptom. The heat does not work. I turned the heat on to max and its blowing cold air. Would that also be because of the relay and the temp sensor ??:banghead:


You might have better luck posting that symptom into a new thread rather than pirating this one. Guess since you're new we'll let it slide this time. ;o)

You might have better luck posting that symptom into a new thread rather than pirating this one. Guess since you're new we'll let it slide this time. ;o)
resurrecting an old thread...for an old problem.

OK...my Service Engine Soon light is back on. Code 1491 again, and the relay is faulty.

I climbed back underneath, and pulled the relay so that I can turn it in for a warranty replacement, and when I took the relay off, the connector on the wiring harness dumped out a lot of gritty dirt (almost like sand).

I didn't think much of it, until I noticed that one of the connections inside the harness is burned. Now...this could very well be a result of the last time the relay went bad, and be just fine, but it leaves me to wonder...

does anyone know if this wiring harness is easy to replace? It comes out of a larger group of wires almost immediately, so tracing it back isn't something that I think that I can do quickly.

Just wanted to see if anyone knew anything about it. I'm going to go get a new relay, and see if I just got a bad one the last time around.

Dealer, internet, junkyard for the connector? Before this is over make sure neither of the fans is binding in any way. They could be blowing your relay. I've read of the wire harness chaffing and shorting under or near the battery.

Dealer, internet, junkyard for the connector? Before this is over make sure neither of the fans is binding in any way. They could be blowing your relay. I've read of the wire harness chaffing and shorting under or near the battery.
The fans appear to be working just fine when the relay is working properly...i don't see any binding, but i'll spin them by hand and see what I can see.

*edit* I spun them by hand...and they both turn smoothly, but the one on the left sounds like the freewheel on a bike. I can definitely hear the bearings turning inside there, but as far as operation goes, it does spin freely.

There are 4 wires on this connector, one is power from the battery, (2) wires to/from the fans, and the 4th is a ground.

The connection that I have that is burned up is the gray line, which is the power coming in from the battery, which goes through a 40A fuse in the PDC. Fuse looks fine, isn't blow/but still shorting...

Man, this sucks. We're supposed to go on vacation in a couple weeks, and now I'm considering renting a van for the trip.

Unless, that is...I can jumper this switch so that the fans just run constantly?!?!? :confused: Or is that a big :nono:???

Can I just change that connector? I'm going back out to take a look at it. LOL.

this was interesting.

I called the dealer and ordered the wiring harness. It was < $30 U.S. and was basically a connector kit, complete with rubber sealing sleeves and new wires.

Since I had one burned up, I knew I was going to have to change this connector, so I went ahead and brought it home, and replaced it. Just for fun, I plugged the relay back in, and fired it up, with the AC blasting.

The relay was fine...it was my burned up connector that was the culprit.

Back up and running, and ready for the Christmas trip home to Indiana.

Thanks again for everyone's replies.