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View Full Version : Overheating



97legacygt
05-19-2009, 12:31 AM
So I've tried searching, but really didn't come up with anything that would help me. My 97 GT with 199,000 started to overheat on me tonight.

I was coming back from class which is probably about 25 minutes from my house. I pull into a gas station 1/2 mile and run inside real quick without turning the car off. In the meantime, my girlfriend calls and I talk to her on the phone for 15 minutes idling at the station. And I go home after that and look at the temp gauge and it is roughly over half-way and then look on the scan-gauge and it says 231 degrees. :smt013 I pop the hood and the reservoir got probably about 4-6 inches fuller. I let it cool down for about half-hour.

I go back outside and start it up. It was about 155-160 degrees when I started it and the reservoir was back to its normal spot. Let it warm up to about 180-185 which is normally where it is at. I noticed that the fans were not turning on and the temp kept rising. I also noticed that the reservoir was rising again.

I plan on getting a thermostat and radiator cap tomorrow as they are dirt cheap, and it wouldn't hurt to change them anyways.

I don't think this would be a head gasket issue because they were replaced at 126000 miles, and I figured that once they've been done once with the right gaskets that they wouldn't go bad again. But that is a decent amount of miles on them and anything is possible. I was contemplating whether it could be a electrical issue since the fans weren't turning on. Does anyone know what activates the fans to turn on? Another reason why I think this is because about 2 months ago I got a P1504 or something like that and that code is radiator fan malfunction problem. Somewhere along those lines.

I realize it could also be the water pump or clogged radiator to. But the water pump was also replaced at 126000 with the head gaskets. I don't have the tools to do a compression, cylinder leakage tester for the hg or pressure tester for the coolant system. But I have been toying with the idea of buying those for the past 6 months anyway. The problem is I really don't have any money.

decke48
05-19-2009, 02:10 PM
fiqure why your fans dont come on.. turn your a/c on and both fans should come on.. if they dont. check the fuses and relays

97legacygt
05-19-2009, 02:49 PM
I am pretty convinced there is a wiring issue with the fans. Found the fuse for the fans under the hood, and it was blown. Put another one in and let the car idle until it warmed up and only the left fan came on. Went for a drive and the temp stayed lower, but not as low as it should. But i also had the AC cranked as high it would go to see if the engine would get hot. It got as high as 190 once.

But when I got home, the temp started climbing again while idling in the driveway. Popped the hood and both fans weren't on. Pulled the fuse out, it was fine. Put it back in and the left fan comes on immediately and the temp starts going back down.

I need to figure out what's wrong with the wiring for the fan thats not working. Does anyone have access to wiring diagrams. The Haynes manual just plain sucks. But what also puzzles me is that the reservoir level raised and lowered last night.

jey
05-19-2009, 03:03 PM
You've checked the fuse now check the relay, and even maybe the fan itself before spending a ton of time hunting through all the wiring. FSM will have the wiring diagram, there are links on these forums.