1995 camaro overheating

[jonblair]

I have a 1995 camaro v6 plain jane. Anyways my car is over heating. Sometimes I can run it with the a/c on full blast and it wont overheat. Now the other day it rained so I turned the defroster on and it over heated. Earlier I went to pick up my brother and I had the a/c on full blast and it over heated so I looked under the hood and my reserve top had popped off sending rust colored coolant everywhere. Also I went out there a few minutes ago and turned it on for a few, turned th a/c on full blast and checked under the hood to see if the fan was on but it wasnt. I am at a complete loss. I heard that if you mix red and green that it will cause things to gunk up. I dont know if this has anything to do with it but when i try to turn the car on it wont start the first time but when I try again it turns right on. I dont see any leaks and there are no signs of coolant or water in the oil so I dont think its a blown head gasket. The guy I bought it from put a jumper in the fuse box for the relay and he said it worked fine than but I looked and its kind of melted. I cna see the metal prongs so I think the sensor is making a conection. I dont know ifits good or not. If i hooked the fan up to run any time the car is on would that help? if so how do I do that? I'm limited on cash so if anyone could lend some info I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thanks!

[97cavalier]

how manny miles are on it? Did you ever flush the cooling system or change the thermostat? Are the fans kicking on?

[jonblair]

I just bought the car not to long ago so I personally never flushed it or changed the thermostat. The car has 89,000 miles on it. I don't think the fan is. I turned the a/c on and it didn't.

[97cavalier]

by the way, welcome to AF. You should start with the simple stuff first. drain all the fluid out of the raditor and replace it with new fluid. There is a drain plug at the bottom of it. Then change your thermostat. And also makes shure your fans are comming on.

[wrightz28]

You need to get the mickey mouse jumper wire fixed and get your fans working normally as they should. These cars are geared to run hot and there isn't much room for error.

Your car should use Dexcool that has a rustic orange appearence to it. Definately at any cost, backflush and replace the fluid. Once completely drained, you can use the good old green goo.

Note, since it's been overheated, check your trans fluid it's probably burnt up as it does not dissipate heat well and will shorten the life of your trans.

Oh, and welcome to AF

[jonblair]

Whats a mickey mouse jumper wire and where is it located? Is that it's real name?

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by jonblair

The guy I bought it from put a jumper in the fuse box for the relay and he said it worked fine than but I looked and its kind of melted. !

That mickey mouse jumper

[jackmalone2001]

Welcome Jon,

I agree with everything said above, but offer this in addition to what the others have recommended.

The fan is supposed to come on when you turn the AC on or if the temp. sending unit tells the BCM that the coolant is getting hot. The temp sending unit (on the 94 3.4l v-6) is right above the power steering pump under the coil pack. Now if the guy you bought it from had issue with the temp (due to a bad temp sensor and instead of replacing it for under $10) he could have "mickey mouse'd" it to run continuously (hense burning the motor--which explains why it wont come on when you turn the AC on). So my advice is to perform all the flushing and checking recommended, but also, return the car to the way it is supposed to be wiring wise, buy a new fan and temp sending switch, and fix the problem. You should be able to get away with the job costing less than $50.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Jack

[jonblair]

thanks for all the help. the soonest i can do this is sat. so ill kepp yall posted if you can think of anything else please let me know. thanks again