Fan not working

[drmix]

So I got a 96 GSR that I am having issues with where the radiator fan wont turn on.

I have connected the fan straight to the battery to make sure it works and it does.

I then jumped the connections for the coolant temp sensor together and that made the fans come on. So I thought that probably meant that the temp sensor was bad so I replaced it with another. Fans still dont come on.

I tried swapping the relays around in the fuse box and that didnt make it come on either.

What am I missing?

Another thing is that my temp gauge doesnt seem to be registering correctly. When its warmed up and I start moving it seems like the temp gauge goes down to about the low mark then when I stop it slowly rises to almost the halfway point. This is when I believe it starts over heating and the check engine light starts flashing and when I pop the hood steam starts coming from the rear of the motor.

Anybody have any ideas? I think tomorrow I am gonna check on the thermostat and make sure that works. Not sure what else after that.

[need-for-speed]

I had the gauge problem and it was the thermostat that was bad..


Got nothing on the other prob, but im sure someone will help soon

[fcluddington]

Sounds like you have air in coolant system, make sure it is bleed correctly, is the fan on the drivers side the one that wont come on. Look at the a/c system or turn on the ac it should turn fan on if parimeters are right. I pretty sure only one fan turned on by temp one by a/c.

[95lsvboostedteg]

you might be having trouble with your thermostat it might be stuck closed and not allowing the right amount of fluid in the motor

[drmix]

We turned on the A/C last night and it turns the fans on. Im gonna check on the thermostat today and try bleeding the system and see if that helps

[justYncredible]

if your still having issues with your fans after you change the thermostat out it might be the fan switch sensor that is on the thermostat housing, it may have gone bad. i had to replace mine not long ago. its a cheap part (about 20 bucks on shmebay) but youll have to flush your radiator fluid because of where its located.

[drmix]

I took it to Honda and they said its the head gasket

[gsrider004]

LMAO! Oil in coolant? Coolant in the oil? If it overheated too much its possible that the head is warped. Do a compression test, they might be trying to pull a fast one. I bet if you replace the thermostat and bleed the air out of the system you will be good to go.

[drmix]

I checked the coolant and it looked a little milky. Also when I checked the hoses they didnt seem very hard like they should be. Didnt really feel like the cooling system was building enough pressure.

Another issue I found was that I was getting a misfire code for cylinders 3 and 4 which I guess could be from a bad head gasket. Im going to order a new head gasket along with a timing belt, tensioner and water pump. Should probably have it installed next week.

Could the bad head gasket cause the issue with the fan not turning on when it should or the inaccurate temp gauge?

[gsrider004]

Sounds like a head gasket, if the head is warped be sure to get the surface planed. Cost to re-plane is about $150-200. There should be some threads on the sensor, switch, and bleeding the cooling system, just search.

I would add thermostat, hi temp rtv sealant, and spark plugs to your list. Also feeler gauges for the rocker arms if you don't have any.

[fcluddington]

Originally Posted by drmix

I took it to Honda and they said its the head gasket

Bummer
It is not always easy to tell if a head gasket is blown. Are you loosing coolant? Did they pump up the radiator with pressure and it wont hold air or how did they determine it was the head gasket, anyway head gaskets usually pop because of to much heat because something isn't working, make sure you figure out what probably caused issue.
Go easy on machine work on head

[drmix]

Doesnt look like I am losing coolant. I think it was due to the fact of the milky looking coolant due to oil and coolant mixing. I believe he said they did that test on the coolant where you check for exhaust particles in it.

[drmix]

Alright just trying to get this fan issue solved, so earlier I replaced the fan switch with another one because when I jump the connector for the switch the fan turns on. After I replaced the switch the fans still never came on.

Could this just be a faulty switch? When I am jumping the connector I am just bypassing the switch which makes the fans work. Could this be the issue?

Also if I had a bad thermostat that was stuck closed would that be the problem because its not letting the coolant circulate so the switch isnt getting a correct reading of the coolant temp. It looks like the switch gets its reading from the coolant after the thermostat.

I am ordering a new thermostat when I place my order but im just trying to figure out what the cause of this problem could be. If it was a bad thermostat would that make the temp on the cluster not read correct?

Thanks for all the help everyone. Im not trying to be a pain just trying to figure out this problem before I replace the head gasket just to find out that its overheating and damaging my new gasket.

[gsrider004]

If you have oil in the coolant, it almost has to be the head gasket. You won't be able to fix the fan/cooling system problem until the gasket is replaced (since you can't pressurize the cooling system for proper flow). About the only short term solution for short drives would be to jump the switch connector and let the fan run constantly. If it was my car, I would not drive it until fixed, but you should be alright if you keep the temp down.