1996 buick cooling fans

[swamprat]

wifes 1996 buick regal 3.8 has an issue with the cooling fans. They are not coming on at all. Car hasnt overheated yet because of short drives without stopping. I checked fuses and relays under hood and alll good, unhooked fans and ran a straight 12 volt to them and they run. Haynes book doesnt go int the coolant fans that much. Did say that they are controled by the ECU. Checked for codes and had none. I do have a low coolant light that blinks at you from time to time. coolant is full and clean. Is there another location to check? Right now this is our only running car. started to pull trans from ranger then my f150 blew the trans so need to keep it going. if nothing else I could straight wire the fan to come on when engine runs. Wife dont like that idea.

 

[richlands55]

You need to use a scanner to see if the computer is telling the cooling fans to turn on. Does the cooling fan come on when you turn the ac on?

 

[swamprat]

secondary fans doesnt come on with ac turned on. Replaced the coolant temp sensor and soon as I started the car it went to full hot. Gauge and coolant temp is two seperate sensors I thought,

 

[--weezl--]

i wouldn't bother with the extra crap, just toss a t-stat switch on it and make them run on that, 200* for one fan, 220 for the second or something like that

 

[BlueChariot]

Or justs traight wire it to a toggle switch. Even simpler, and cheaper.

 

[Baseranger]

Verify you are getting the proper voltage to the relays for the fans, and verify the connections at the PCM are not corroded or loose and that they output the correct voltage. Test both of the coolant temp sensors to be sure they are working correctly, and make sure they are getting their reference voltage. If all that is good, check the wiring for the fans and figure out why voltage isn't making it to them. A scan tool would be helpful here, but a few hours and a voltmeter will work too

 

[--weezl--]

necro thread!