still overheating and being weird (Page 2/16)
Yellow-88 JUN 09, 10:54 AM
You say "over heating" but what are the symptoms? is it really over heating? The fan turning on or a temp gage reading is not necessarily a symptom of "over heating". Again, what are the "symptoms"?
longjonsilver JUN 09, 01:19 PM

quote
Originally posted by cartercarbaficionado:
also getting a bumperpad air dam to graft to the aero style front end

. Thats what i did, never had a problem.

------------------
Astronomy says we will find a coded signal from outer space. Then we'll KNOW that life exists there, for coded signals aren't by chance.

Biology says there are coded genetic signals in every cell, but we KNOW that no intelligence created life.

I'm the original owner of a white ' 84 2M4 purchased Dec 10, 1983 from Pontiac. Always garaged, no rust, 3800SC, 4-wheel drifts are fun!

cartercarbaficionado JUN 09, 08:18 PM

quote
Originally posted by armos:

I'm trying to understand what does and doesn't work.
When you use the AC switch, does the fan always come on?

When the fan is on, does it keep the car cool?


I understand that the automatic fan switch (based on coolant temperature) doesn't work. But I'm unclear whether anything else is wrong.


the fan may or may not keep the car cool. it only turns on at half speed with the ac switch which will pull air through the rad sometimes but for whatever reason stops pulling through at random and moves 0 air at all. still moving the same way and isn't slipping it just stops moving air. I'm probably going to add hood vents and the larger fan mod to try to alleviate the issue as well as making the stupid fan switch on the engine work again
cartercarbaficionado JUN 09, 08:22 PM

quote
Originally posted by Yellow-88:


What "interesting" noises? What symptom details are you calling "over heating"?


I think it's transmission? just grinding noises at speed and my engine kind of surges when held at one speed (below 1/4 throttle) but the tps and fuel pressure are fine so I can only assume my manifold litterally cracking in half that morning is to blame for the weird running.
the gauge going all the way to red or when sitting still the coolant temp skyrocketing and being able to smell the coolant, as soon as I'm moving above 25 and keeping my rpm low in traffic it's fine but I've checked before when it does this and my fan manages to stop flowing air. rad cap may also be contributing since it's a lever type (only one I could get at the time since the stock one snapped it's spring)
cartercarbaficionado JUN 09, 08:30 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
It's strange to me that it's running as hot as it does... and you're having so many issues with cooling.

If your car is running optimally... as in, totally perfect / new... the radiator fan should essentially never come on. I'll compare it to my 1987 Fiero SE / V6 as it ran back in ~1999. It had maybe 75k miles on it, totally stock except for hogged out manifolds, but all fluids having been changed, etc.
... then it's absolutely got to be something like timing.


Chances are, you either have a kinked cooling tube, or your radiator is more or less clogged.


rad flows perfect and I've flushed the system. my cooling tubes are the correct shape and I've ran a 1 inch snake through them to descale and check the diameter all the way through and they aren't crushed or even partially dented minus a few small ones from rocks and I've done timing and headgaskets and a metal impeller water pump and those all check out, though I'm pretty sure my rad and condenser need to be cleaned since the condenser has an amusing amount of overspray and I'm fairly sure isn't supposed to be painted black
it does usually sit at around the 2/5ths mark with the fan on half speed but it does really need an air dam and a better way for air to escape since it traps quite a bit and makes a huge dead zone at speed (left a thermal probe behind the rad and it stays at 20 degrees above ambient until I stop and then it usually drops like a rock, so maybe I just need to get the better fan and some other stuff as well as cleaning the crap out of all the overspray. I mean even the suspension is red and orange somehow
cartercarbaficionado JUN 09, 08:43 PM

quote
Originally posted by Yellow-88:

You say "over heating" but what are the symptoms? is it really over heating? The fan turning on or a temp gage reading is not necessarily a symptom of "over heating". Again, what are the "symptoms"?


the temp gauge is the only gauge I trust other than the battery gauge. at a full gauge sweep the hoses litterslly blow off the engine right after it boils over. so when it's at 3/4s of my gauge I'm pulling over and shutting it off and opening the hood and decklid to let it flow enough air to not take 4 hours to cool off. also as originally stated the fan does not turn on on its own since my fan switch on the engine isn't working properly and never closes its circuit to ground like its supposed to
I've verified the gauge and it reads low but that really means that if it's ever getting close to full them I'm absolutely overheating and about to have a bad day.
cartercarbaficionado JUN 09, 08:44 PM

quote
Originally posted by longjonsilver:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cartercarbaficionado:
also getting a bumperpad air dam to graft to the aero style front end

. Thats what i did, never had a problem.
[/QUOTE]

any pics or tips and tricks to make it easier since I don't have the oem brackets or anything for the front end of this car
82-T/A [At Work] JUN 09, 09:10 PM

quote
Originally posted by cartercarbaficionado:

rad flows perfect and I've flushed the system. my cooling tubes are the correct shape and I've ran a 1 inch snake through them to descale and check the diameter all the way through and they aren't crushed or even partially dented minus a few small ones from rocks and I've done timing and headgaskets and a metal impeller water pump and those all check out, though I'm pretty sure my rad and condenser need to be cleaned since the condenser has an amusing amount of overspray and I'm fairly sure isn't supposed to be painted black
it does usually sit at around the 2/5ths mark with the fan on half speed but it does really need an air dam and a better way for air to escape since it traps quite a bit and makes a huge dead zone at speed (left a thermal probe behind the rad and it stays at 20 degrees above ambient until I stop and then it usually drops like a rock, so maybe I just need to get the better fan and some other stuff as well as cleaning the crap out of all the overspray. I mean even the suspension is red and orange somehow




Oh yeah... I would definitely think that's it. I took a radiator that had JUST been replaced, basically brand new (from the junkyard) for another car. And when I cleaned it the way I said (spraying it from backwards out to the front), there was so much dirt that came out. I tried it first from front to back for like a minute... nothing... and then I was like, what am I doing... and that's when I started cleaning them from back to front, and it was just like brown water coming through the fins.
cartercarbaficionado JUN 10, 02:19 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
Oh yeah... I would definitely think that's it. I took a radiator that had JUST been replaced, basically brand new (from the junkyard) for another car. And when I cleaned it the way I said (spraying it from backwards out to the front), there was so much dirt that came out. I tried it first from front to back for like a minute... nothing... and then I was like, what am I doing... and that's when I started cleaning them from back to front, and it was just like brown water coming through the fins.


alright finally back from tearing down my buddies 4.3l v6.
I've cleaned it out before and I can see through it just fine since that was the first thing I thought of months ago. only remembered this when I was looking through the parts bin to find a tool for the 4.3l and found a new radiator drain valve and a note that we washed the rad and that we needed to keep this part on hand incase the new incorrect one failed. apparently past me cared about future me and my mental health lol. so I guess I'll flow test the rad and see if maybe there's something weird going on elsewhere but I'm pretty sure my engine just runs extremely hot for some weird reason. maybe it's got i4 cooling tubes or something idk
armos JUN 10, 06:54 AM

quote
Originally posted by cartercarbaficionado:

the fan may or may not keep the car cool. it only turns on at half speed with the ac switch which will pull air through the rad sometimes but for whatever reason stops pulling through at random and moves 0 air at all. still moving the same way and isn't slipping it just stops moving air. I'm probably going to add hood vents and the larger fan mod to try to alleviate the issue as well as making the stupid fan switch on the engine work again



V6 Fieros don't have dual-speed fans, so if it's running slow, something is wrong. Maybe somebody installed the wrong fan? I don't know how easily someone could have done that, I've never looked into it.
I don't know offhand how to tell the fans apart visually, but I'd look into the differences and try to confirm if you have the right one. I think only 84 Fieros have dual-speed fans.

Assuming you have the right fan:
Check the voltage at the fan, if it's ~12V but fan is slow or stopped, replace the fan. If voltage is low, measure again with the fan disconnected. If voltage comes back to 12V or more without the fan connected, then it could be a bad fan or it could be the car.
If voltage is still low without the fan connected, then the fan isn't the problem. In that case trace back the electrical problem. I haven't checked schematics but there's probably a relay involved somewhere. Also check for loose/frayed wiring.

If the car intermittently stops powering the fan, then momentum could make it still look like it's running but it's not pushing much air anymore until it powers up again.
With AC switched on, the car should supply a constant 12V to the fan causing it to run at full speed continuously. Since it doesn't do that, either the car is not supplying the constant 12V or the fan is failing.


A more powerful fan isn't needed for a stock engine, and could just aggravate the electrical issue that may be present.
My air dam is mostly missing and the stock fan has no problem keeping the car cool, the condition of the air dam only means I have to turn it on more often.
Cleaning the radiator is fine, but doesn't explain why your fan is running slow. That's a malfunction that should be pinned down.

[This message has been edited by armos (edited 06-10-2024).]