My engine's been overheating a lot lately. I don't know why. Replaced radiator cap, flushed coolant, replaced T-Stat, replace RADIATOR... it's still doing it.

Car does not steam, coolant does not bubble. I went nearly a year without a working radiator fan and it NEVER overheated (except once, when the fan first went out). I replaced both fans with regular Tibby fans, and now it's overheating all the time. I've been told by a few people that the fans may not be pulling enough air out. I'm considering buying the Flex-a-Lite fans and was wondering how well they perform over the factory fans. Do they mount up as if they were factory or do I have to fabricate brackets? Do they use existing plugs? For those of you who have them, please give your input.

I believe JonGTR and Mad John both have them. cool.gif

 

you are correct, as i read down what you have changed i noticed that you have not changed you Temp sending unit and the fan switch it in on the right hand side in the area of the thermostate. also i really think you are not over heating at all... since you have done all of this have you ever steamed or boiled over??? i think you fan swith is fubar and or your insterment pannal... because if you have not steamed off then you are not overheated.. do your fans kick on and off like they should?? if they dont then you have a bad cooling fan switch " the one that tells the ecu to tun them on and off"


as for the fans they kick ass, it seem my AC is colder with them

you will have loose the oem fan jacks and cut and sodier the wired


oem cant even touch these babys

other then that they work great get them i did ...

as for you other problem let me know what you find

fing02.gif

 

the weird thing is, I can make it "overheat" and "cool off" in certain situations. There are only certain times the gauge will rise, and I can do things to make it go down (turn heat on, etc.). It only overheats if I'm in traffic after driving non-stop for a while and then suddenly get into stop and go traffic.

I do think the temp. sending unit may be bad... but what confuses me is the fact that there are only certain situations when it DOES happen. The fans have to be affecting it somehow but I don't know how. No, it has never boiled or steamed.

Does anybody have an engine picture and can show me where the temp. sending unit is in the engine bay? The dealership said it was either $18 or $20... depending on which sensor it was.

 

Attachment 56here is the pic

 

Redshark has them in her car also.

I'll be putting some in mine shortly for the new headers.

Bro, here's what I'd do.

1. BACKFLUSH your entire coolant system. YOu may have some buildup or blockage. Regular flushing won't always get it.

2. Get your waterpump checked, you may have some deteriorated impeller fins and it's not flowing enough.

3. REPLACE YOUR HOSES, ALL OF THEM. You never know.

4. Replace your temp sending unit.

Have you checked HMA service for Troubleshooting?

 

It sounds like you've replaced everything that COULD be a problem, other than the temp sending unit and the water pump. There is a test on the HMAService site for the temp senders. Could just be one of them is bad. As far as I know, there is no test for the water pump. You'd just have to remove it and look at it with your own eyeballs. If you don't sense/feel more heat coming from the engine/cooling system, and you've never boiled over, I would think the problem would just be one of the temp senders. (There are 2 on RD1 and RD2 tibs, 1 for the gauge, and one for the ECU/Fans, the Beta2's only have 1 sensor that does double duty.)

Regarding the Flex-A-Lites. You would have to fabricate your own mounts, or use the "pull thru" mounting system that comes with the fans. The "pull thru" system works fine, but some don't like the fact that it does stress the radiator core. I have yet to see or even hear of that kind of mounting system cause a problem, but it is a theoretical possibility. (but again, I've never seen or even heard of it being a problem)

The Flex-a-lites put out more CFM than either stock fan. It's REALLY noticable compared to the wimpy AC fan (passenger side). You can wire them up any way you want. they can be wired up just like the stockers, you can wire 1 to run all the time, and the other to only run when the AC is on, etc...etc...

 

Took me 15 minutes to install it and I used the pull-through mount that it came with. No problems with mine. I also just cut off the stock harness and used tube connectors to mount it just like stock.
I really didn't notice anything different in temps. But it is far louder and blows more air.
I wouldn't rely on these to correct your problems though. Like they said, it might just be a sensor problem. That one is easy to fix and replace. One of mine actually broke off and I got a CEL, but yours may be reading incorrectly.

 

Coolant Temperature Sender
Heat the Engine coolant temperature gauge by submerging it in hot engine coolant.

Check that the resistance is within the specified range.
Resistance:
At 70°C(158°F)
90.5-117.5 OHM

At 115°C(239°F)
21.3-36.3 OHM



Coolant Temperature Sensor
Heat the sensor by submerging it in hot engine coolant.
Check that the resistance is within the specified range.
Resistance:
At 20°C(68°F)
2.21-2.69 kOHM

At 80°C(176°F)
264-328 OHM

 

the single wire one is for your guage cluster ... its wired directly to the dash

the 2 wire one is wired to your ecu... the ecu sends out the signal to turn on your fan relay by grounding it out

 

1. Done. Twice. Dealership replaced radiator and I watched them pull any and all air bubbles out.

2. Waterpump has been discussed with dealership. They said if it goes out, it either leaks consistently or the bottom falls out and water "POURS." Dealership has completely ruled that out.

3. Need to replace hoses... but they don't look physically on the outside (not that outside looks matter on what's on the inside)

4. Most likely will be my next project. Time to go to HMA and figure out how.

AHEM....

I would like to thank first and foremost, the Academy
I would like to thank Mad john for being Mad, and for drawing up such a special picture for me.
I would also like to thank REDZ for his suggestions and use of his pictures.
And to everyone else who contributed to this thread, Thank you