Question: 87 overheating, neither fan comes on

[raidoman]

Fuse is intact, neither fan comes on with or without AC on. An Replaced brass sensor few months ago. Any ideas - mighty hot here in Memphis.

 

[jazfe]

87 overheating

What do you consider overheating? My car runs over 200 degrees and up to almost 230 in summer traffic, ie; 90 degree outside temps. Do a search for "cooling fan relay" or "overheating", this subject has been well covered.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Factory Service Manual...

Troubleshoot the electric fan system with the instructions in it. That will help you decide if it is the fans themselves or a wiring and connection problem.

 

[raidoman]

87 overheating

What do you consider overheating? My car runs over 200 degrees and up to almost 230 in summer traffic, ie; 90 degree outside temps. Do a search for "cooling fan relay" or "overheating", this subject has been well covered.

by overheating I mean in the 240+ range in traffic. The culprit was another fan switch in the cyl head. The OEM one finally gave out about 8 months ago. Replaced with Mid America unit (Chinese) which lasted until this incident. Replaced with another MA unit which lasted about an hour. They sent another Chinese no charge replacement which I have not installed. Went to Auto Zone and got one of theirs (from Brazil) and it seems to be working. So many parts are Chinese garbage. Maybe the South Americans will get it right. I did get all the relays just in case but have not installed since the switch cured the problem.

 

[boomdriver]

by overheating I mean in the 240+ range in traffic. The culprit was another fan switch in the cyl head. The OEM one finally gave out about 8 months ago. Replaced with Mid America unit (Chinese) which lasted until this incident. Replaced with another MA unit which lasted about an hour. They sent another Chinese no charge replacement which I have not installed. Went to Auto Zone and got one of theirs (from Brazil) and it seems to be working. So many parts are Chinese garbage. Maybe the South Americans will get it right. I did get all the relays just in case but have not installed since the switch cured the problem.

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The only fan switch in a cyl head is the driver side at #3 that is only for the aux fan that does not come on until 238-240 degrees. The main fan on an 87 comes on from a temp sender in the intake...so if you are not getting the main fan on until 240....or not at all, you need a relay and a check of the wiring to the temp sensor. There is no switch for the main fan...

 

[jazfe]

87 overheating

by overheating I mean in the 240+ range in traffic. The culprit was another fan switch in the cyl head. The OEM one finally gave out about 8 months ago. Replaced with Mid America unit (Chinese) which lasted until this incident. Replaced with another MA unit which lasted about an hour. They sent another Chinese no charge replacement which I have not installed. Went to Auto Zone and got one of theirs (from Brazil) and it seems to be working. So many parts are Chinese garbage. Maybe the South Americans will get it right. I did get all the relays just in case but have not installed since the switch cured the problem.

Good work on getting the fan to run.
Unfortunately the availability of quality parts hampers our ability to repair our cars on the first attempt much to our frustration. I myself went through three TPS units until I found one to work properly. One from AZ actually fell apart on the car after two days. The ECM I replaced just over a year ago is now not computing fuel mileage or commanding the upshift light, one month out of warranty.

 

[boomdriver]

I wish people would leave a hint when they re-engineer something and alter wiring...

Whenever I do something inside a module or box, when there is a place, I will leave a stick on label that describes any alterations or repairs so the next guy< (me included) will know whats going on.

I should make a kevlar back-pack for the underside of the hood to store and save maint and repair records. They seem to walk out of consoles and glove boxes....

 

[raidoman]

I wish people would leave a hint when they re-engineer something and alter wiring...

Whenever I do something inside a module or box, when there is a place, I will leave a stick on label that describes any alterations or repairs so the next guy< (me included) will know whats going on.

I should make a kevlar back-pack for the underside of the hood to store and save maint and repair records. They seem to walk out of consoles and glove boxes....

Thanks for the reply and great info. it appears that the PO did just that by having both come on at once. Which is OK bc when I converted to R134, it ran a lot hotter due to the characteristics of the new freon. Had to put in double row rad which now every thing pretty much stays low 200's with AC on in traffic in Memphis heat and for now all is well with the old 87.