help! very odd problem

[JesseH]

ok, this is going to be a long post. recently my radiator popped a leak right in the top...and it happens that was one of the only things I havent replaced on the car.

So last Fri. i got my koyo stock replacement in, I completely flushed the cooling system before hand, when I put the new one in I filled it up with toyota red coolant, along with a new T-stat too.

his last sat on my way to work my fan shroud hit the fan a bit busted it to pieces and knocked a blade off the fan.....I converted to a electric fan setup, got that in ran good, nice and cool, no problems.

then the next day drove around and the temp needle started rising... pulled over and turned it off before it got anywhere close to red....drove around the rest of that day and didnt go up at all. later that night the car shut off and died on me... no warning, no sputter...everything electrical went out.

Messed around with it on the side of the road, got it to fire back up, drove it home and didnt find anything wrong. Ok, now today I drained the coolant to look for any oil and not one bit, completely clean.

So I decided to give it another go, then temp gauge started rising again....pulled over and shut it off for a minute, and to get it home I had to take the highway, so I went for it, temp gauge didnt move, and my oil pressure was right.

Got all the way to my exit and then all my gauges cut off....RPM, temp, battery, oil pressure.....but the car was still running and I decided to get it home (another 5 min drive) got it in my garage and shut it off asap.

I have no clue whats going on right now, the only other thing I can think of is the water pump, thats the only thing I havent replaced. Im also going to drain the oil to look for any contaminates, and prob do a compression test.

as far as the gauges go Im really clueless. Im getting so fed up with this motor im almost ready to pull it and just wait till I finish my gte. Any help that I can get would be great. (sorry for the long post)

<paragraphs added IJ>

 

[JesseH]

bump

 

[johnathan1]

Easy...switch back to the stock fan.

 

[GotBoost?]

I agree. Electric fans have their supporters, I'm not one of them.

 

[JesseH]

yea, I know, im not a true fan either, thats just my temp fix for this motor, the gte going in is staying mechanical. I just pulled my water pump off and im pretty sure its shot. im hoping this new one will fix my problem. do you guys have any idea about the power problem? Someone told me to check the alternator because he said he had that problem with his cougar. The one thats on there currently is a bosch from pepboys thats been on there about a year and a half. I have two spare toyota ones laying around, one from a supra, the other is from an mr2. Im about to switch mine out while I already have everything pulled apart.

 

[Poodles]

could be any number of things...

mainly the electric fan pulling too much power, ect...

temp fluctuations are common with air bubbles in the system, make sure to burp the system.

new fan, fan clutch, water pump should help


also, did you get a new shroud? is it attached well? aux. fans? did you trim the lower radiator mounts so it sit in like factory?

 

[CTsupra]

did you trim the lower radiator mounts so it sit in like factory?

Check these. They could also be letting the radiator touch the frame not properly grounding it.

 

[adampecush]

1 - either you have a sticky thermostat, or you have not completely burped your cooling system

2 - How are the wires connecting to your cps? If these lose contact, you lose the motor.

I had both of these problems happen right when I got the car. YMMV.

 

[tte]

Switch back to the stock fan setup and see if the electrical problem still exists..
And just check to make sure all wires and connectors and fastened or connected. Check all your grounding wires too.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[suprabad]

It may be the electric fans are causing the problem, but if that's the case (assuming they're not shorted internally) than it's something you did when you wired them up.

Did you use relays and fuses?

Did you use a large enough gauge wire?
I recommend a minimum of 12 gauge, I use even thicker. If those fans are pulling enough amps and you're running skinny wire, it's going to cause alot of resistence, and that could very well cause an electrical problem.

I would also get the multimeter out and check your fan motors to make sure nothing is messed up internally.

Also, double check your wiring for shorts and any other anomolies or mistakes you might have made during installation.

Finally, high quality dual electric fans wired thermostatically, kick ass on their mechanical counterpart. l would not have imagined anyone would even argue that point. So unless you used fans that don't pull adequate cfm, I can't see how that would make your engine over-heat. I have run dual electric fans for two years without problems, so I speak from experience.

 

[JesseH]

well guys thanks for the help..... I put a new water pump on etc....and the temp still went up. So at that point I was sure it was the fan because everything else was new. I called a buddy up and was hoping he might have a fan.....he had the fan, clutch, and schroud...and the best part is he gave it all to me for $30. I deff. owe him one for giving them to me that cheap. Ill be sure to return the favor at some point.
But as far as electric fans go...:thumbsdow. Maybe this will help some of the people who were thinking about it change their mind....I was a little leary even putting them on in the first place...and the temp around here is around 80 degrees. But as suprabad said, if you are going to go electric...get good high quality ones.... mine were decent but didn't quite cut it and they were wired correctly and mounted right.

 

[supraguy@aol]

This is a dumb, but pertinent question-
IS THE FAN TURNING THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
If you wired it backwards, everytime you get to op temps, it'll turn on the fan, and that will pull air from the hot engine-side back through the rad, or if you're driving, it'll block air from coming in, like an airflow stalemate.
This WILL cause the car to overheat, don't ask how I know this.
::dunce::

 

[JesseH]

This is a dumb, but pertinent question-
IS THE FAN TURNING THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
If you wired it backwards, everytime you get to op temps, it'll turn on the fan, and that will pull air from the hot engine-side back through the rad, or if you're driving, it'll block air from coming in, like an airflow stalemate.
This WILL cause the car to overheat, don't ask how I know this.
::dunce::

lol yea, it was going in the right direction lol

 

[MDCmotorsports]

Do a leak down test. I'll almost bet money #5 or #6 cyl is starting to leak into the coolant chambers....

 

[suprabad]

But as far as electric fans go...:thumbsdow. ....I was a little leary even putting them on in the first place...and the temp around here is around 80 degrees.

I'm really curious to hear what happens when you put a belt driven fan back on your car. Let us know if it solves both the overheating and electrical problems.

I can appreciate that you are a little leary of electric fans because of this experience, but I have used them for two years in SoCal 100+ temps. Honestly, it has been my (hypervigilant) observation that they far outperform the stock set-up.

I'm so happy with my dual electric fan set-up, I just hate to see anyone get bummed on it and write off an excellent (if done correctly) mod. Just my 2 cents.:icon_smil

 

[Anth505]

I'm with Suprabad. I've had my twin 12' electric fans for almost 4 years now and no problems what so ever.

Good luck with the overheating...hope everything works out!

 

[JesseH]

I'm really curious to hear what happens when you put a belt driven fan back on your car. Let us know if it solves both the overheating and electrical problems.

I can appreciate that you are a little leary of electric fans because of this experience, but I have used them for two years in SoCal 100+ temps. Honestly, it has been my (hypervigilant) observation that they far outperform the stock set-up.

I'm so happy with my dual electric fan set-up, I just hate to see anyone get bummed on it and write off an excellent (if done correctly) mod. Just my 2 cents.:icon_smil

yea, ive been driving around all evening and just got home...no problems, the temp gauge did not even move a hair past normal, no coolant leaks or disappearing coolant. hmm maybe just the electric fans were a pos. but for the GTE going in this winter I will be staying with the mechanical.

the electrical problem was a different story, the reason why the gauges cut out and the car bogged down that same day was because my alternator fuse was half-a** burnt, just not enough to fully cut off the motor. I also put the real toyota alternator on there and took the bosch one off.

 

[tlo86]

glad to see most of your problems were worked out whats your normal temp? kind of wondering if something else might be contributing to the probs

 

[JesseH]

glad to see most of your problems were worked out whats your normal temp? kind of wondering if something else might be contributing to the probs

around a third of the way up

 

[WoundLicker]

Electric fans don't cause this kind trouble...