Cooling Problem

Wicked SC

Registered User
Ever since I bought this SC, I've been pretty busy dumping money into it, wheter it needs it or not. Everything has been preventive maintenance so far (THANKFULLY). Anyway, I've noticed that since I flushed the cooling system, the car has been running hotter. I flushed the system like ten times, till the water came out sparkling clean. I then changed the hoses, the thermostat and gasket, and the radiator cap, and refilled the system with new coolant (50/50 mix). It seems like the front cooling fan does't come on anymore. The temp. gauge reaches the M in "NORM" before the rear cooling fan (between the rad. and engine) kicks on. Anyone have any ideas on what could be the culprit here ? As soon as the gauge reaches the R, I turn on the A/C to manually turn on the fan, but I want to get this fixed. If it makes a difference, the car is a '95 5-speed. Thank you.
 
What thermostat did you go with? 160 - 180 - 190+?

I know that a few guys have had temp probs with the 160 & less probs going with the 180, both of them try to get away from the ultra high stock T-Stat....

Anyway, it sounds like you were having a temp prob before you changed the stat? Correct?

Your Hi-Speed fan, mounted in the front of the RAD, comes on after the low speed fan I believe...So you will not hear that fan running until you hit a higher temp on the gauge....

Be carefull using the RAD flush kits, they are very harmfull to our head gaskets...These being the weakest link in our cars, and the highest failure rate of them...Not that every head gasket case is due to the flush, but like I said it is not something that helps HG longevity either....OK all that asside....

You may want to do the "Cool Fan Switch" mod in the FAQ...

I think the guy that wrote it up is re-writing it to this day though...Anyway, you may want to just do the mod that makes the low-speed fan run all the time...Someone can help you out on this one...I have not done it but it is a well know procedure here...simple too...I think you cut wire number 14 or 17 on the black box behind the passngr side headlight...Ask around about it...It may be year specific on the wire numbers and colors, so be sure what you are doing...

Cheers
 
The inboard fan only coming on when it hits near the M is what it is supposed to do. Factory settings on the EEC tell the low speed fan to come on at around 220 degress which is about the M in norm, at 229 degress the high speed kicks in and I think on 94-95's the front fan also kicks in.

Do not just cut pin 14 on the IRCM, trust me on this one it can cause some serious problems only because I have found out the hard way. If you want you can do the cool fan switch thing that XR7 Dave has posted..or...an EEC tuner can reset the temperature set points to have the fans come on at lower temps.

I am currently experimenting with a method of fooling the EEC to think the engine coolant temp is higher than it is, and it has been working flawlessly for over 3 weeks at a total cost of about 5 bucks. When I have tested it a little longer I will post what I have done for thoughts and opinions.
 
Thanx.

Thank you guys for the info. I tried to reply sooner, but every time I logged on, the server was too busy. Anyway ... I initially put a Stant 180 deg. Superstat in the car. BIG MISTAKE. The car was overheating (not too bad - it never got past the 3/4 mark by the time I got home from work, and vice versa). I drove it like this for a couple of days (keeping an eye on the temp. gauge) to see if the problem would desist. I tried burping the system, removing the t-stat, re-installing it, re-burping the system; all to no avail. I then proceeded to install a 195 deg Superstat, which sort of cured the problem. The kicker is that this problem never occurred before I changed the t-stat. On my '89 SC, the temp gauge NEVER went past the halfway mark on the temp. gauge (even with a corroded radiator, which I replaced of course). So you guys are saying that the rear cooling fan IS supposed to come on before the front one? (I had it backwards then). So if the rear fan is coming on when it's supposed to (when the needle reaches the M) , then there's nothing wrong, right? I thought that the needle was supposed to stay at the middle of the gauge at all times (if everything's working properly).
 
Well...????

No further than the "N" and in the heat pulling a long steep grade, not past the "R" is to me a pretty good world to be in...Others may beg to differ from that...I know I get this temp from my 90 5-spd w/a 180o T-stat...I still think I would like to set up my low-spd fan to be on all the time, w/ the option to change it back and forth for winter cold season when not needed...

Anyway as far as your system responding normal, I would say that what you have described is normal for the stock configuration...Why you can't run a 180o stat is a mystry to me, since I can, and I can on my 94 auto SC as well with no probs...

The good thing is, there are answers to your temp problem, it is finding a combination that works...EEC tune is FAT cash, but fixes several other things as well...So it is not that bad of price considering what it can remedy...

Cheers
 
Yeah, I've been considering one of them EEC Tuner doohickies. Maybe after I finish my current project in progress - my salary sucks. Anyway, thanks to everyone for their help.
 
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