Shop Discount Radiators

I have no idea if that is your problem or not because I'm not the one there to check it. I'm just giving you logical things to check. If you just replaced the radiator, make sure you put the wires back on the switch.

Well thats the first time you've said that. and it didnt help, becuz ive already stated that ive already replaced that and that all the wires were connected right.

You see the thing about HT is, you've got a good tech here, who will take you all the way to the end on this but he's kinda got his own system of checking things and you have to go from A to B to C.

You're sorta jumping around and haven't really answered his 1st question ( I actually counted 4 times...) and no.... The coolant temp & rad fan switch aren't the same thing.

This system has 3 different power sources & 3 different relays for the cooling fans. I see where he's going with this.

Going off what you've posted I would start at the fan switch as well. 1st, making sure it's connect correctly and no bent pins ( like he's already asked a few times and the rad switch, not the ECT) then probably ground the brown & red wire to see if that makes them come on but it gets confusing on problems like this when more than one person is helping so I figured I'd just offer you this advise to help things along........

So i found the bad relay. (it was fan relay 3). Should that fix my problem?? I had to special order one so i wont have it until 2 business days.

But i also have a question about the lower radiator hose. Should it always be fairly cool, or is it suppose to get as hot is the top radiator hose??

How did you determine the relay was bad?

The way that rad switch works is when it hits a certain temp it grounds the system & turns the fans on. I would have to look at a diagram but since those fans were coming on with the a/c, then a lot of system is good...

I believe it's the brown & red wire coming off the switch but if you ground that wire and the fans come on, then everything is good and you're looking at a bad rad switch or ground wire.........

The lower hose should be cooler than the top hose, the rad cools the water as if flow thru it. Now if it's ice cold then you have a flow problem, which would account for your fan problem since the fan switch would never reach the temp it needed to be at to ground the system...............

Well i tested all 3 relays for continuity with a multimeter. and i checked all the fuses as well. everything checked out except for the fan relay 3.

so i assumed thats where the problem lied. But i wont know until i pick up the relay. So i think i checked the fan switch, but it may have been the temp sensor, so i'll double check it tomorrow. Thank you sir.

OK....I'm assuming you just had continuity on pins #85 & 86 of the good relays and nothing on the #3 relay because if you had continuity on 85 & 86 AND 30 & 87 while out of the car then the relay is stuck closed........

Yup, thats exactly what happened.

But someone was telling me that fan relay 3 is only for AC purposes, and it may not solve my problem. But i wont know until it gets here

Haven't read this monster totally but if that relay was working then when asking for A/C fan would be forced ON if all else was right,

T

Well i just rechecked all the relays, did an AC test. and everything worked this time. So all relays work. But im still having the same problem.

I cant seem to find that 'radiator fan switch' Hammer Time was talking about. Only switch i can find connected to the radiator is the coolant sensor, and sense you're telling me those are 2 differenet things. Im lost.

Your 1st post was a bit confusing so correct me if I'm wrong, I think I had it backwards at 1st........

You 1st started to have this cooling problem and THEN replaced the rad, t stat, cooling fan switch and flushed the system? Not the other way around, getting the problem after the work....

I think you need to find out if you have an electrical problem or system problem.... The sensor on the radiator is for the fans, it should have a brown/red & white/black wire going to it. With the engine running, jump the connector, if the fans come on, the system is ok and either you have a bad sensor or your problem is in the cooling system. A temp reading of the radiator would help, if it's not getting up to 195° by the sensor, then the fans won't come on no matter how hot the engine gets...

You've already replaced a lot of stuff so just the water pump, restriction in the block or defective new part is left but lets not get ahead of ourselves run those tests 1st....

One sidenote, if it was an electrical problem, turning on the a/c should make the engine run at close to a normal temp & not overheat.......(as long as the fans are on)

No actually one day, the fans stopped kicking in when the temp was at normal. I usually heard them come on when the car was in Park in my driveway. But i stopped hearing them come on. So i brought to the auto shop. And they told me i needed a new radiator and that the fans came on around 200 degrees. Which i later found out was a lie. They told me it would be $500 to replace the radiator. So i did it myself.

But the problem still remained. I checked all the fuses and relays and found nothing wrong with them. Applied 12V to where the relays should be and the fans came on just fine. Im in the process of checking out those sensors/switches the other guy was talking about. And if its not the switches it must be the water pump?

What are your ambient temperatures right now and when testing/observing this? Does the temp gauge fluctuate at all now?

T

Alright sir, i see what you're saying. And i thought i answered his question awhile back.

But im still in the process of checking relays and fan switch. so i'll get back to you guys in a few days if im still having troubles.

If this car has a petcock, it will be a major surprise to me. I can't see/find it, and I've moved everything but the trunk lock.

I flushed it the long hard way, but it's cleaner'n the day it came off the line.'

Thanks.

It definitely has a petcock but it is difficult to see, even with the car in the air. It's on the lower left and it sits back, hidden inside the radiator support, almost impossible to get your hand to. I use a special socked with a 3" extension to reach it from underneath.

HT; Funny you should mention that. One of my guys, just yesterday, mentioned a petcock socket. Never seen one. Seems that it would be fairly easy to make one out of an old socket?

Just take a 17mm socket and grind a slot into it. They make a 1/4"drive for it but you can make one easily. This petcock is a flat blade (mohawk) head on a threaded plug.

That was my 'mental' picture. Kind of like a small tie rod socket.

You can probably buy the real thing at AutoZone or the like for under $5

Oh, but that would be too easy.

The drain is located on the left (driver's) side tank, near the bottom, facing the rear. It is pretty hard to see and access.