need help....weird cooling prob

Hey guys,

I have an 89 SC, that just reciently came down with a overheating problem. I was driving around town and I noticed that the temp gauge was WAYY too hot, well above "normal". I pulled the car into an empty parking lot and shut the motor off immediatly. I popped the hood and the coolant resovior was over flowing and bubbles were in the tank. Not sure if this means there was air in the system or what because I havent changed the coolant. I had to baby it home and put the car in the garage. The next day my dad and I took a look at it and found out that the fan was not turning on at all. Started the car, no fan whatsoever. The car just kept getting hotter and hotter untill the coolant resovior was up to the brim with coolant. It looked like it was a bad connection on one of the fan wires so I cut the connection out and spliced a new piece of wire in there. Started the car up, now the fan runs all the time. Before it would cycle on and off. Not sure what the problem is here? We checked the IRCM and the #14 wire was cut to begin with. Not sure what to do from here. Could there be air in the system? Whats the best way to fix this? Can it purge the air out on its own, or is there a better way? What can be done to fix the fan problem, and or is the a problem with having the fan run 100% of the time? I havent checked the oil for coolant so I dont know if its the headgaskets or not. The engine is very new, pry 3,000 miles on it if that. The motor wasnt running that long with the temp very high so I dont think it did much engine damage if any I hope. Any help on this would be very helpful. Thanks

Andrew

Cutting the #14 wire will cause the fan to run all the time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it may have caused the power connector at the fan to overheat and fail. You need the fan to kick on when the ECT sensor signals high coolant temp to the IRCM via the EEC. You can either splice the #14 wire back together for a system controlled fan, or leave it as is and the fan will always run. The bottom line is that you need the fan to be operational to prevent overheating in stop-and-go traffic. Your motor is probably OK since you didn't continue to drive hot.
There is a purge valve on the thermostat housing (a metal tube with a bolt in the end) that sticks up behind the upper radiator hose. If you open it up (engine cold) while filling the radiator, most of the air will be purged when coolant begins to flow out the tube.

alright sounds like thats what i should try and do and hopefully it will clear things up. thanks for the response.