1995 Chevy Cavalier radiator fan

JAYBIN82

MEMBER
1995 CHEVROLET CAVALIER

Engine Cooling problem
1995 Chevy Cavalier 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 90k miles

the radiator fan has never turned on since I owned the car. Ive changed the thermostat, checked all the fuses, the relay, the fan motor works, and I changed the coolant temp. Sending unit. One of the wires has.5 volt which im assuming its for the gauge since that works. I also checked the ground and its good. Could I have a broken wire some where? If so how can I track it? Any imput would help thanks

6 Replies

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

Your vehicle has a coolant temperature sensor, not a sending unit. Are you certain you replaced the coolant temp. Sensor? It is located on or near the coolant outlet.

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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 AT 9:57 PM

JAYBIN82

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44 POSTS

Did I say sending unit haha I ment sensor. Yes its changed. It is on the theromstat housing. I was going to take it to a diognastics. But they want $85 and hour, and I know I can do it myself, just woundered if u had pointers, or a quicker way to track it. I was at the point of just replacing all the wires, cuz I couldnt find the break.

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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 AT 5:43 PM

BLUELIGHTNIN6

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Oh, ok. Well the can is controlled by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) based on information from several other components. The ECT sensor, intake air temp. (IAT) sensor, A/C control switch, A/C refrigerant pressure sensor and the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) all have a part in when the cooling fan turns on. The most common cause would be a bad relay or faulty ECT sensor, but since you stated this are good then the only next thing would be to check the wiring at the fan. Can you supply direct 12v power to it and get it to work?

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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 AT 7:51 PM

JAYBIN82

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Yeah when you hook a 12v source up direct it does work, everyone tells me to just hook a toggle switch to it but I really dont want to

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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 AT 8:07 PM

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
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Yeah you can do that but to really fix it I would say the wiring will need replaced. If there is no power getting to the fan yet the sensors, fuse and relay have been checked out to be OK that just leaves the computer and wiring.