86 century, electric radiater fan fails to operate

[FarmerFred]

I have an '86 buick century and my car overheats due to the fact that the electric radiator fan will not turn on. I have replaced the electric fan motor, the cooling fan relay and am in the process of replacing the temperature sensor on the engine block, but I cannot find it. Where would it be located? I also checked the fuse panel in the glove compartment and all fuses are good. What else could it be? If I cannot find the problem I will probably just wire the new motor to the battery and put a switch inside the car so I can turn it on and off myself. I would appreciate any input, thank you.

[carguyinok]

in the process of replacing the temperature sensor on the engine block, but I cannot find it. Where would it be located? I also checked the fuse panel in the glove compartment and all fuses are good. What else could it be? If I cannot find the problem I will probably just wire the new motor to the battery and put a switch inside the car so I can turn it on and off myself. I would appreciate any input, thank you.

Wish I could say where the sensor is but I dont know. Anyway on the running the fan on a switch. You are much better off finding a power wire under the hood that gose hot with the key on and cold with key off. This way you never need to remember to turn it on or off.
I am one that dosnt like shortcuts but know how it gose for cars that are just for getting from a-b. Good luck & hope it works out for yah.
PS try and keep the wires as short as you can and I would install like a 20 amp inline fuse near the wire you tap into.

[RABarrett]

As I recall, the coolant temp sensor sends a signal to the ECM, the ECM then uses this info to operate the fan relays. If these units are original, you might expect to replace them. Look for voltage and ground on the appropriate wiring, at the time when you would expect to see the fans run. If the ground is missing, repair this; if the voltage is missing, more troubleshooting is necessary. You could also try bypassing the control circuits and apply voltage to the hot terminal; if the fan does not run, it is the issue. One caveat... the motor will draw a lot of current on start up. Expect to need wire larger than 14 gauge, something like 12. Ray