car overheating

[fantomfreke]

pulled up to a stoplight today and the needle on the temp pegged at 260, turned on heat and pulled of road and it fell to 245ish. no leaks, fans are not turning. checked fuses, going to check relays on lunch. any ideas as to why they are not turning?

[RAR]

Well I had a similar experence with my 95 firebird 3.4 - come to find out the fan (it is a single fan in that year) does not come on until the engine is at 235 (or if your gauge is off it could be 240 or so). One quick check to see if the fan works is turn on the AC, basicly if the AC is on the fan will come on no mater what the temp is (at least in my case). I would try this first - to see if the fan comes on.

[fenderman]

It definitely sounds like a fan problem to me. Being the intelligent person you are (no sarcasm intended), you did not drive the car any further before investigating the source of the problem.

As for why they are not turning, it could be a number of things. Do the primary check by turning on the A/C and if that works, it may be something involved with the temperature sensor circuit. I think there is also a relay inside the engine compartment close to the fans that may be giving you trouble.

Hope this helps. Let us know what you find out.

[ August 19, 2003: Message edited by: fenderman ]</p>

[DaRock]

Check the coolant level.

[fantomfreke]

checked relays, they're fine. coolant was full. let car cool off until lunch and the fans magically started working again... on the drive home they stopped and car started to overheat. turned the car off and after about 20 min. started it back up and wtf? they work? car has lost its mind. luckily it didnt over heat again until after i had signed the papers on my new truck. (no i didnt sell it because of that) i been planning on buying for a while now. thanx for the help