Near-Overheating Incident

I was stuck in a major (almost 3 hour) traffic tie-up last night, and the
temperature gauge of my 1995 SL2 was slowly creeping up while idling.
Luckily, I was always able to turn off the engine before getting to the
"red" zone. During this ordeal, I noticed that the radiator fan was not
coming on, and that as long as I was moving, the temp would move back down.
I checked the fuse for this fan, and it is not blown. Anyone know of a way
to check the relay without buying a new one?

Thanks for any info.

SLH

 

BTW... to reply via email, remove the suxspam part before the @!

 

Don't rule out the radiator fan motor. In fact, it's likely the motor.

The motors are wear items - they have brushes in them. But, the brushes
aren't replaceable - it's a sealed motor.

In a 95 Saturn, it's probably about time.

The relays tend NOT to fail; the radiator fan motors DO tend to wear out.

Good Luck!

PS - Test the relay by swapping it with one of the other identical relays in
the fuse box. But, it's probably your motor...

 

YOu can test the motor real easy.. Start the car. then tun on the Air
conditioning to MAX.. This should kick on the Fan motor.

If the fan motor turn on, then sounds like a Coolant Temp sensor is bad.

 

If you have A/C, turn it on to test the fan. The fan always runs when the
AC is on.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

As mentioned before, it's probably the motor. About $50 at NAPA. Also, did
you try turning on the A/C? If it runs with the A/C, but not without the
A/C, then it may need a temp sensor.

 

Um, unless the RELAY is shot.

 

Turning on the AC will help determine if you have a bad coolant temperature
sensor. If turning on the AC causes the fan to turn on, then the relay and
the fan motor are OK.

If, on the other hand, turning on the AC does not cause the fan to turn on,
either the relay or the fan motor is bad. It's likely the fan motor, but you
can verify that the relay is working by switching it with another of the
identical relays on the fuse panel. If, after changing the relay, it still
doesn't work, then it's likely the fan motor.

Good Luck!

 

If turning on the A/C causes the fan to come on, it COULD be the CTS,
but, at some point, saturn ditched the two sensor (gauge and computer)
setup and went to a ONE sensor that feeds both setup. And, if that
sensor's bad, then the car's gonna act funny - not just have fan probs.
I think it'll puke a trouble code too.

Sensors are an easy $15 replace.

Anyway, if the fan still won't come on without the A/C, and you're
REALLY stuck - shut the engine, then unplug the wire to the compressor.
That way, the car thinks the A/C's on and turns on the fan, but the
compressor isn't on, thus no A/C. I did this once when my car sucked in
a bag I couldn't reach without getting really dirty, and in traffic.
So, I left the A/C "on", leaving the fan on all the time, though I
suspect it would have stayed that way anyway...

Funny about the relay talk - the one time I had a fan problem with the
wagon, it WAS the relay. Or, actually, the connector.

Oh yes, don't forget that the fan could get stuck - I had that once too.
if it can't turn, it won't run - make sure it spins freely!

And, if it's running but you're not cooling, check that you didn't suck
up a bag or something into the radiator. I've noticed at least my SC2
seems to have a real lot of cooldown ability - it drops the needle fast
when the fan pops on.

 

I had this exact problem in my 93 SL1, it was a dirty contact under the
fusepanel, and the Saturn tech cleaned it. Worked great after that.

 

Had a similar incident. After changing the temperature cooling sensor twice
I finally got the fan to work. Mechanic told me that the temperature had to
reach 3/4 up before the fan started to run. No problem since then..

 

Thanks to all who offered advice! It turned out to be multiple problems,
including a dead motor, faulty sensors, and a few other things that were
adding to the problem. It was an expen$ive trip to the shop, but it seems
to be working fine now....

Thanks again,

SLH