Medicine Man

Hello all and thank you all for any advice, I have spent the last week combing through posts trying to solve my dilemmas to no avail so I throw down the gauntlet in hopes I can get some help...
1986 Coupe, no extra cooling package, single fan, had the car 2 weeks now and the first few days were great but it was cool here, I could hear the fan running and shut off when I parked, then other day I noticed that the temp was creeping up during city driving, yes I know they run hot but even at 250 the fan was a no go, I changed the coolant temp sensor in the front, theres no sensor on the drivers side, just a plug and the one on the passenger side is the sensor to the gauge, the one on the right side of the rad is the low coolant alarm, I even changed to the relay and still....no fan, it did run yesterday after I changed the coolant sensor but that was at 170 and nothing since, fuse is fine as well....anyone...please my last resort is to wire in a switch, I am no wiring genius so a simple diagram would do me wonders, I have the switch, inline 30 amp fuse and 12 gauge wire ready to go, thanks in advance.

Purple92

First off - Welcome to the Forum !!!

As far as your cooling issue - a couple of suggestions....

1) Verify that the temp gauge is reading correctly with an IR temp gun on the thermostat housing or upper radiator hose. It doesn't need to be within a degree or two - but it should be at least close.

2) Next time you are driving it and you get to a point where you believe the electric fan should be running, and it isn't - pull the relay out of it's connector and use a jumper lead to jump the power connectors on the relay connector. (Look at the factory service manual or on the relay body itself for which connectors to jump.) The fan should run immediately. If the fan does run with the jumper - verify that there is power to the switch side of the relay. If the fan doesn't run immediately with the jumper - then you have your answer - you have a power supply/ground problem or a fan motor problem. Check for power and ground at the fan connector itself, and that will tell you where to go next.

Wiring issues can be annoying - but it's really not that complicated - you just need to figure out why power isn't getting to where it should be going. Remember - you're dealing with a 30 year old car and 30 year old wiring.... Just hang in there and take it one step at a time....

JrRifleCoach

Check that the fan will run with power added at the connector.
A 30 year old fan is not bullet proof..

Medicine Man

That was the deal breaker....the fan worked the other day with the AB jumper test but was a little sickly, since I am not totally familiar with the car I ASSUMED....that this was its normal speed, well I tested the connector via AB jumper tonight and there was power but no fan, a trip to napa, $40 later and an hour and a half wrench time and my cooling woes seem to be over!!!!!! (fingers crossed), took it for an in city ride and never even got over 185, thank you again members, my one dream car was a c4 and now I have it, lots of TLC left but I'm on my way at least. Awesome group of people and a great forum kudos!

JrRifleCoach

hcbph

Glad it's fixed.

That's the fun of owning a 30 yr old car, constant maintenance. It's the first of many little things you'll find, just keep at it.