overheating problems. fan doesnt work please help

['94firebirdv6]

it was about 110* today and there was a wreck in town so i sat in traffic w/ my car idling for about 10 minutes. the temp gauge was rising i did all the normal things....turn off ac turn warm air defrost on to help cool it but my engine got to around 240*! and a small amount of steam was coming from my hood. i pulled off the road opened my hood to let it cool and got some water to add to it....coolant level was fine so i thought it was my fans. i started my engine with the temp now around 230 and no fans! in town my engine has been running around 210 but it just couldnt handle the heat today.

do u guys think that this hurt my engine? i shut it off as soon as i saw steam.

what can i do to fix my fans. i am going to flush my coolant when i get the chance to be on the safe side.

[fenderman]

Check fuses and power to the motors. Even with the car cool one fan should operate with the A/C turned on.

As far as hurting your engine I don't think you did much damage if any at all. I've gotten cars into the shop that have shut themselves down with the needle pegged to H from overheating and no apparent damage other than the broken part seems to have occured. Just to be sure though, the next time you run your car to operating temperature check for water in the oil which would indicate a blown head gasket. You'll know if there is water in the oil because it will have a milky appearance.

['94firebirdv6]

thanks
i have a 3.4 so i only have a single fan but how can i check to see if it works after changing the fuse and stuff?
what temp does it come on at

also after i let it cool i drove it home on the freeway to keep a good supply of airflow over the radiator and it ran normally. w/ a BHG would i feel any loos in performance or just the milky oil?

[BLLDOGG]

you would notice a loss of power....atleast if the gacket is blown badly. ticking/knockng noises and the oil. turning your ac on should turn on your fan.

['94firebirdv6]

does turning on the defrost also turn on the fans?

[BLLDOGG]

no. the defrost is apart of the heater system. turn on the ac

[marvelrunner]

The same thing is happening to my car. It happened a while back to where me and my dad had to change the head gaskets becase it was over heating. Well now that it done and put back together its still heating up. When I do turn on the heater the temp seems to go down and the fans which didnt come on before turn on. So is it that the fan is taking to long to turn on or something else that is keeping the temp hig.

[marvelrunner]

Just one quick question is it normal for my 96 V6 Camaro to get up to 210 on the temp gauge. That is where it usualy stays at when I drive it around. Is it normal or should it stay down at 160.

[fenderman]

Mine sits a little below 210 but I heard that the gauge isn't really accurate. If you really want to know how warm your car is running to the exact degree I'd recommend getting an aftermarket gauge.

[terminaldegree]

Assuming no leaks anywhere in the system [including from the waterpump] and no noises out of the ordinary, here's what I do, in order:

[make sure you are using the RIGHT coolant for your car-don't mix the red and the green]
drain radiator
flush system out w/ clean water and/or cleaning product [follow directions]
drain radiator
remove, drain, rinse out overflow tank
replace thermostat [oem temp usually]
refill with 100% coolant [because there's mostly water in the engine block now]
replace radiator cap with new [same psi rating]
run car, bleed air out of system [bleeder screw on thermostat housing]
top off overflow tank

After that:
Do your fans turn on at all with a/c compressor on? If not, I would check the fan wiring, fuses, and/or replace the coolant temp sensor [cheap]. These are all cheap, easy DIY things with the help of a manual.

In the future if you're trying to cool down the engine while running, set the controls to heat [temp all the way up] and fan up all the way. The defroster will use the a/c compressor depending on where the temperature setting is.

Once you get the problem solved, change that oil you cooked out of there just to be safe.

[Cstriker]

Have you checked your fan fuses/relays? To check the relay just replace the fan with a foglight relay that you know is functioning correctly. Also GM puts like a billion things on the fan fuse so it's quite annoying tracking down why they don't turn on. I know certain things that are on the LT1 fan fuse but am clueless on V6's, so I highly suggest getting a hold of a wiring diagram.

My fans kept blowing fuses left and right, turned out to be my EGR sensor. Why on earth GM put the EGR on the fan circuit is beyond me...

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

To check to see if the fan works turn on the A/C, pop the hood and when you turn on the A/C the fan has to turn on.

If its on then good if not then replace it. Flush out the coolant on the car if its old.

Also something to check for, remove the radiator shroud, sometimes bags get stuck in there blocking air flow.

['94firebirdv6]

alright well it turns out it was a bad fuse....i replaced it and everything was fine. it stayed at exactly 180 the whole time. that lasted for a week. today i noticed it climbing towards 210 and when i got home sure enough the new fuse blew too!
i put a new one in for a quick fix but obviously theres some other problem....any ideas?

['94firebirdv6]

anybody?

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

bad ground?