Pontiac Repair: 1993 grand prix, coolant temp, pontiac grand prix

Question
I have a 93 pontiac grand prix  and it overheats while in town or in slow traffic I know the electric fans are not kicking in but I do not know why  the engine is a 3.1 v/6  could you please give me some ideas in what to check and how?  thank you so much   Chuck

Answer
Hi chuck:

check the fuse first in the underhood fuse(S) box. it willwill be marked possably as fan 1 and or fan 2 if equipped. if both of them do not work I would look at possably a bad ground wire for the fans or a bad engine coolant temp sensor for the engine computer. Does the A/C still work on this car? if so turn on the A/C and let the car run for a minute or 2 the fan(S) should come on if so the engine computer has the ability to turn the fans on and if it over heats while driving I would suspect a coolant temp sensor. when you tuirn the A?C on it overrides the temp sesnor and runs the fans on it's own. Another thing I would check is to make sure the air dam is there under the radiaor and not missing. Make sure the radiator is not plugged up with dirt/leaves/tree pollin between the a/c condenser and the radiator. If you have access to a true scan tool that would help also you could see the actual temp reading of the engein and also if the engine computer is commanding on the fans(S). other then that There ios not much else I can lead you towards.. I can tell you do not keep overheating this engine you will need head gaskets next.
Good luck :)