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need some help with overheating

Project SVT

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
665
Location
Pasco, WA
Alright well today I was driving my car around with the a/c on and i noticed it was starting to overheat. So i turned off the car and let it cool, turned off a/c and had the heat full blast. Which the heat was comming out incredibly hot (so from reading past threads it's not the waterpump). Well the temp slightly settled but as i got home it was back to the end of the bracket closly. I just parked it and left it, went out a bit ago and tried added lil bit of anti freeze and then started the car and turned the a/c on, and the "low speed fan" isn't spinning. From a previous post BrApple (spl i know) said that it was the sending unit. But i don't know which one would be it, is it the one under the word coolant or under sensor?

According to LauraSVT she said that Airtex from Rock Auto. Part number is 5S1513 is the one that will normally cause the overheat from the fans not spinning. But which one is that on the car? And I kinda need it today so anychance somebody have the autozone part number for me? I looked on their website and can't figure out which one it would be that i need.

Sorry if this made no sense.... lol

500739_83_full.jpg
 
so i took a guess and just based off pictures
i bought sensor # SU284 from autozone..

so i take it this is the sensor that tells the pcm to turn the fans on?
 
The fan should turn on whenever the A/C is on. There isn't a sensor involved. Does the fan ever run? Could be either the fan or fan relay.
 
oh well from what i read and got from it is the engine coolant sensor sense the temp and sends the signal to the pcm to turn the fan on.

from this post.
Check the temp sensor, too. If the fans aren't getting the right signal, they'll just sit there, and they're a lot less effective when they're not spinning.

5S1513.jpg


This particular one is an Airtex from Rock Auto. Part number is 5S1513, cost is $13.54. The failure of this part is one quick way to overheat your car.

based off of that and what BrApple has said i figured it was the ECT sensor since the fans don't turn on. So i replaced it and no fans still....so relay then? its in the fuse box i take it?

while running if i turn the a/c on, it'll go from a 700rpm to about a 900rpm and there's a click and then another click and it drops and goes back and forth but no fan. So relay?

if not what abou this thing. the guys at autozone tried telling me it might be this
Autozone said:
bout this product: Part Number: MT0491 Weight: 0.07 lbs. Note: Pressure switch
Air conditioning pressure


stemt0491003.jpg


well let me know what you think and what i should pick up tomorrow.
 
oh well from what i read and got from it is the engine coolant sensor sense the temp and sends the signal to the pcm to turn the fan on.

The ECT will only tell the fans to come on if the engine gets too hot, I am pretty sure that how the fans come on with the A/C is completely different... So do your fans come on at all?

based off of that and what BrApple has said i figured it was the ECT sensor since the fans don't turn on. So i replaced it and no fans still....so relay then? its in the fuse box i take it?

The two relays are in the engine bay fuse box, located to the right of the battery... There should be one black (high speed) square relay and one green (low speed) square relay...

Pull both of the relays out... With the key in the "on" position (engine off), take a wire and jump where the relays were... You want to jump the holes which the two larger prongs go into... Hopefully the fans will come on at their respective speeds when you jump them, becuse that will mean the wiring from the fuse box to the fans is okay...

You should be able to test the relays with a 9 volt battery... Take a couple wires and hook one of the small prongs up to the negative terminal and one of the other small prongs to the postive side... IIRC on my Zetec there are only two small prongs on the black one (making it easy), but there are three on the green one meaning you will need to guess and check... If they are working, you should be able to hear a "click" when you give them power...

if not what abou this thing. the guys at autozone tried telling me it might be this

well let me know what you think and what i should pick up tomorrow.

I doubt that this is what you need, the idiots at Autozone told me the same thing because it is the only "relay" which shows up on their computers :troutslap:
 
well from what i can tell the fans never come on. BrApple was saying that with a/c the low fan should come on and it doesn't. I'll pull the relays today and put a wire inthe bigger slots and jump it and see if they kick on. I'd be happy if it was just some relays.
 
The two relays are in the engine bay fuse box, located to the right of the battery... There should be one black (high speed) square relay and one green (low speed) square relay...

Pull both of the relays out... With the key in the "on" position (engine off), take a wire and jump where the relays were... You want to jump the holes which the two larger prongs go into... Hopefully the fans will come on at their respective speeds when you jump them, becuse that will mean the wiring from the fuse box to the fans is okay...

:troutslap:

alright well i pulled em and jumped it and both came on. so that's a plus....:)

now imma use a 9volt to check the relay to just make sure.
 
Fan operation

Fan operation

The way it works, BOTH fans come on from Green relay at lower speed and then BOTH at higher speed using Black relay. Common failure is the resistor on the fan housing (down low). See Fan topic
 
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alright well tried to use a 9v and i used the small prongs on both relays and no click, so i tried reversing the wires to see if i had it backwards and still notta.

So am I safe to assume it's my relays?
 
The way it works, BOTH fans come on at lower speed and then BOTH at higher speed. Common failure is the resistor on the fan housing (down low). See Fan topic

well i tried another 9v battery and the relays both click. So i take it then it's the resistor??
what's the easiest way to fix my problem
 
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Troubleshooting Fans

Troubleshooting Fans

Is the fan assembly working (both low/both high?) If low is dead, check for 12 volts in one side of relay slots, if there, check other slot with ohm meter to ground post on battery, about 2 ohms. If open, probably resistor or wiring under the relay box.
 
Is the fan assembly working (both low/both high?) If low is dead, check for 12 volts in one side of relay slots, if there, check other slot with ohm meter to ground post on battery, about 2 ohms. If open, probably resistor or wiring under the relay box.


well when i jumped the low fan, it turned on, and when i jumped the high fan it turned on. Is that what you mean?
 
Yes, as long as you observed two speeds. Try this "fan temperature test": with the A/C off, idle the engine until the operating temp reaches over the M. The fans should come on, and that would be Low speed. (High speed only happens when the weather is hot and the engine is hot and A/C is on. The fan will cycle high and low.) The fans will go back off in a few minutes as the temperature drops. If the fan never comes on, don't let the temp go much above M. I read back in your posts more carefully, A/C service may be needed, but first try the "fan temperature test".
 
well yesterday when i notice it running hot and it almost overheated i tried running the a/c and the fan did not come on. neither of them did. there was a click on and a click off and the rpm would jump around 200-300rpms each time. So i'm not sure why a/c service would be needed. the a/c works just fine. the compressor comes on and blows cold air, but only when i and driving since the fan is not working. I need to get the fans working.
 
Is the coolant full? If the A/C works underway, yet your fans never work, maybe the ECT sensor is not submerged in antifreeze. Beyond that, wiring or ECU problems. Check basic things like any blown fuses, frayed wires. To avoid overheating if the car must be used to get somewhere, maybe jumper the fan before driving, remove when arrive (temporary) because the fan will stay on constantly. Or unplug the ECT which should turn on the fan immediately and also cause CEL to come on, beats overheating for very limited driving. The car will run rich and waste much gas.
 
well when i used the wire to jump the fans on, the wire got incredibly hot....
but the coolant is full i added a lil but more to just make sure. i replaced the ECT sensor yesterday aswell.

could any chance the tstat not be working ? cause i have changed that
 
ok tomorrow during work i'm going to put the relays back in the car, and unplug the ECT sensor and see if they come on.

when i did jump them they did push alot of air, so according to your post it shouldn't be the resistor then. So i'll try this and see. If they turn on and work, i'll drive the car to autozone and have them use there scan tool and see if it shows PID data.

So what excactly will i need to know from them. To report back to you.
 
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