QuestionI have a 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE.
My car is overheating. It heats up to about
210 or over degrees. I know that the cooling
fan is not coming on. Could you tell me where
exactly the sensor is located on my car and what
it looks like? Also, I don`t have any special
tools to test the cooling fan motor or anything.
Which part would you suggest I replace first....
The sensor or the cooling fan motor? Also, the
fan does not come on when I turn on my air
conditioner.The air conditioner doesn`t work
either. Any ideas or should I just give up
and take it in to get it fixed?
Thank You, Sherry
AnswerWell, at 210 it should still be OK. Overheating comes around 240-260 range, by then everything is frying.
I've had the same problem on two of my cars on some of my families others.
The cheapest thing to replace is the Fan relay. On my 83 6000 that relay is located on the right side (if you are looking at the engine compartment from the front) it is underneath the cruise control module, that is if they did not move it by 88. Basically it's a small box with several wires going in and out. And if you follow the wires they should go to the fan.
Whether your A/C works or not is important because when you move the A/C swtich to NORM or MAX or BI-LEVEL, it tells the RELAY.... TURN ON. So if the fan does not turn on with the A/C on, then that eliminates the Coolant fan switch that is located on the engine near the thermostat.
The Relay should be about 6 bucks or so, I would replace that regardless, it's bound to fail sometime in the future anyway, and at 6 bucks or so you can't go wrong.
The fan motor for my 6000 ran me around 22 or so dollars. BTW, I have also replaced the relay since it died a couple years back. Make sure you take the relay out of the car and take it to the auto parts store that way they can specifically look at it and give you the correct one, the computers don't always have the right part listed. They will probably look in a HUGE book with all sorts of relays and they'll match it to one in there and then if they have it in stock you can then buy it.
Try the relay first and if that doesn't work then try the motor, that should fix your problem. Unless there are electrical shorts of some kind like I had on my Cadillac, but that situation is doubtful.
Also, what I have noticed with my 6000 is that the fan with the A/C off will VERY RARELY turn on. Apparently my 6000 runs nice and cool, and most cars do also. It's rare for the fan to turn on if not running the A/C ususally the temps must reach 220 or so before the fan turns on automatically.
Hope it goes well,
Carlos
