Overheating | Radiator fan issues | 1985 Feiro GT (Page 2/6) Hamfiero FEB 03, 09:41 PM quote Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT: The radiator fan only spins when the temperature of the coolant has reached something like 235°, or the AC is turned on. The belts run the water pump, which circulate coolant through the engine at all times when running, and through the radiator when the temp is above 195°. If your belts are both in place, and the car still overheats, my guesses would be: seized thermostat, open the "radiator cap"on the engine, and pull out the thing sticking up from inside (considerable force), then put the cap back on without the thermostat and run the car to see if it still overheats. If it doesn't, simple fix, get a new thermostat, if it still overheats, there may be an air bubble in the coolant system, in which case you need to fill it from the engine "radiator cap", the coolant should be right up to the top of the engine coolant cap. or the water pump could be broken. If this has always happened or has happened since taking it to a garage, check the under car coolant pipes, as sometimes mechanics like to use them as jacking points and crush them, should be very visible if that is crushed. Thanks a bunch for the helpful reply! My dad was just telling me that he thought it might be the thermostat, but we weren't sure where it was or how to check it. I'll make sure to check tomorrow and give you any updates as to what I discover. I guess I forgot to say, but my car only started overheating whenever the temperatures dropped below zero degrees Fahrenheit a few weeks ago, which is pretty uncommon for Tennessee. Everything had worked perfectly for many months (besides a shift cable connection from the previous owner that used zip ties to connect it to the engine), so I've been super bummed out having to drive an automatic SUV everywhere. Thanks, - Hamfiero 1985 Fiero GT FEB 03, 09:58 PM quote Originally posted by Hamfiero: Thanks a bunch for the helpful reply! My dad was just telling me that he thought it might be the thermostat, but we weren't sure where it was or how to check it. I'll make sure to check tomorrow and give you any updates as to what I discover. I guess I forgot to say, but my car only started overheating whenever the temperatures dropped below zero degrees Fahrenheit a few weeks ago, which is pretty uncommon for Tennessee. Everything had worked perfectly for many months (besides a shift cable connection from the previous owner that used zip ties to connect it to the engine), so I've been super bummed out having to drive an automatic SUV everywhere. Thanks, - Hamfiero 0 degrees Fahrenheit is cold, but I don't think that is related to your overheating, other then potentially making the belts more brittle and snapping then at the beginning of the problem, in such cold weather a car can be driven a surprising distance without overheating, just have to go slow take lots of breaks and don't trust your temp gauge, I had to drive my dad's Cutlass Ciera about 15 minutes with NO coolant in it, the block heater had corroded and fallen out, dumping all coolant with it, a year later and it is still going strong(with new coolant and a block heater) so nothing was damaged, thankfully. Back to your problem like I said the radiator fan should not be on all the time, if everything is operating as it should, the fan should never turn on, unless you are idling at operating Temp for more then 5 minutes, on a hot day, like in stop and go traffic, many new trucks will turn the fan on automatically when in park, as trucks can be left idling long periods of time, and some older cars have the fan connected directly into the belt drive on the engine, always running when the engine is running. The Fiero isn't like that. Patrick FEB 03, 10:13 PM quote Originally posted by Hamfiero: What? I'm asking for help here. Obviously, I'm not a mechanic. Your description of the issues has been rather unusual to say the least, being a mechanic or not... but okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. quote Originally posted by Hamfiero: ...my car only started overheating whenever the temperatures dropped below zero degrees Fahrenheit a few weeks ago, which is pretty uncommon for Tennessee. Being located in Tennessee, is there a chance that the percentage of antifreeze in the coolant wasn't high enough to prevent freezing of the coolant? If the coolant froze solid (and expanded) anywhere in the system, it may've cracked that area and caused a coolant leak. If the coolant level is low, and there's now air in the system, there's going to be overheating issues. Here's a guide I posted years ago for "burping" the Fiero's cooling system. (And obviously if the coolant is leaking somewhere, that needs to be corrected.) quote Originally posted by Patrick Here: I've used the following procedure with half a dozen different Fieros (running a Stant SuperStat 195° thermostat and a 210° on and 200° off fan switch) and never had an overheating issue... * Make sure rad cap is the proper one for Fiero use. The catalogs are wrong! You want a non-vented cap. * Check that the overflow tank and the small hose to the rad are both in good shape. Otherwise air gets sucked in. * Ensure that coolant level in overflow tank is at the "Cold" level. * Position rear end of Fiero higher than the front. * Remove thermostat housing cap and thermostat... and then add coolant to thermostat housing with rad cap also removed until coolant runs out the top of the radiator. * Re-install rad cap. * Continue to add coolant until you see the level come up to where the thermostat normally sits. * Put thermostat cap on and turn just barely enough to hold cap on. * Start engine and run for about 30 seconds. * Remove thermostat cap and check coolant level. * Repeat last four steps until coolant level no longer drops. * Re-install thermostat and thermostat housing cap. As long as there are no blockages anywhere in the cooling system and the water pump is circulating coolant, you should be good to go. Hamfiero FEB 03, 10:31 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: Being located in Tennessee, is there a chance that the percentage of antifreeze in the coolant wasn't high enough to prevent freezing of the coolant? If the coolant froze solid (and expanded) anywhere in the system, it may've cracked that area and caused a coolant leak. If the coolant level is low, and there's now air in the system, there's going to be overheating issues. Here's a guide I posted years ago for "burping" the Fiero's cooling system. (And obviously if the coolant is leaking somewhere, that needs to be corrected.) [QUOTE]Originally posted by Patrick Here: I've used the following procedure with half a dozen different Fieros (running a Stant SuperStat 195° thermostat and a 210° on and 200° off fan switch) and never had an overheating issue... * Make sure rad cap is the proper one for Fiero use. The catalogs are wrong! You want a non-vented cap. * Check that the overflow tank and the small hose to the rad are both in good shape. Otherwise air gets sucked in. * Ensure that coolant level in overflow tank is at the "Cold" level. * Position rear end of Fiero higher than the front. * Remove thermostat housing cap and thermostat... and then add coolant to thermostat housing with rad cap also removed until coolant runs out the top of the radiator. * Re-install rad cap. * Continue to add coolant until you see the level come up to where the thermostat normally sits. * Put thermostat cap on and turn just barely enough to hold cap on. * Start engine and run for about 30 seconds. * Remove thermostat cap and check coolant level. * Repeat last four steps until coolant level no longer drops. * Re-install thermostat and thermostat housing cap. As long as there are no blockages anywhere in the cooling system and the water pump is circulating coolant, you should be good to go. [/QUOTE] Well thanks, but the fiero is from Minnesota and doesn't leak any coolant. We put antifreeze in it when we did fill it up in Tennessee. Patrick FEB 03, 10:35 PM Good luck! cvxjet FEB 03, 11:04 PM One of the problems I ran into when my 85 SE V6 was 18 years old was it started to overheat...After a while I realized the fan was not coming on until I was sitting at the side of the road due to overheating...I changed out the fan temp-sensor for a >>slightly << lower temp one and the problem was solved- Although first, I tried a very low-temp sensor and the fan was running ALL THE TIME. (Original (But Old) temp sensor; 237*, correct slightly lower sensor; 225*) Another problem I had was when I swapped in the 3.4 F-body long-block, I installed a new water-pump...with a >>plastic<< impeller...I had to pull over at the same spot on the freeway 3 times in a row on my way to work....the plastic impeller expands on the >>steel<< shaft and then slips so no coolant flow. Lesson; Only buy water-pumps with steel impellers for your Fiero. Cliff Pennock FEB 04, 04:57 AM The reason your post is confusing is because the things you describe are simply not possible. quote When I finally got to fixing it, I had to put in new belts as both were no longer present in the engine bay. If both belts were missing, the car would not run at all. quote My father and I figured that the radiator could be run from one of the pulleys At first I thought you meant the water pump, since the radiator isn't anywhere near the engine (they're actually on opposite sides of the car, but then you say quote We've tried filling the radiator with more coolant, and turning on the AC does make the radiator spin So now I'm wondering if you call the water pump, radiator and radiator fan all a "radiator". That's confusing to say the least. 😊 The water pump is on the engine (and on the outside fortunately), a single belt drives both the water pump and alternator (which is the reason that without it, your car would not be able to run). The radiator is the flat thing in front that cools the coolant, and the fan is, well, the fan. quote My father and I figured that the radiator could be run from one of the pulleys, but the issue was still persistent. We are completely in the dark what you did here. If with radiator you mean "water pump", what exactly did you do? Because again, you either put a belt around all three pulleys, or only between water pump/alternator (in which cast the car wouldn't run) or between water pump/engine (in which case it wouldn't run). The only way the car would run (but without cooling) is if you put a belt between engine and alternator. quote During the several short trips it took to get it home without overheating, I could visibly see it smoking from the vents outside the vehicle. Smoke coming from the vents isn't a symptom of overheating, it's a symptom of a coolant leak. There are no over-pressure vents in the engine bay. Overheating is a symptom of a coolant leak. So at least we have established you have a coolant leak. quote The radiator still didn't spin despite all the belts being present on the engine. Do you mean the waterpump or the radiator fan? And what's your logic behind the idea the radiator fan would spin once you install the belt? quote Unless you mean our assumption, then we were making it based on what we had seen on some cars before. I know the Fiero's a weird car, but it was worth a shot. True, there are some very old/weird cars that have belt driven radiator fans. But those are all front-engine cars where the engine and radiator are in the same (engine) bay. quote I'm not a mechanic. We made a guess and it was wrong. We thought we could fix two birds with one stone, but it only fixed one. I'd really like to drive my car, but no one has even tried to give me a serious response as to why this might be happening to my car. Actually, you have gotten several serious responses, but we are completely in the dark about what exactly the problem is and what you have done so far to try to fix it. Because again, the things you say you have done are unclear. quote My dad was just telling me that he thought it might be the thermostat, but we weren't sure where it was or how to check it. Not to be condescending or anything, but if you can't find the thermostat on a Fiero, maybe you shouldn't work on the car before you have bought a workshop manual or a haynes manual. If you open the engine bay, the thing is staring you in the face. The thermostat housing is one of the most prominent features on a Fiero engine and the writing on the thermostat cap should have given you a clue that it's part of the coolant system. quote Well thanks, but the fiero is from Minnesota and doesn't leak any coolant. We put antifreeze in it when we did fill it up in Tennessee. Yes it does. If you see smoke coming out from the vents of the engine bay, then you have a coolant leak. Come to think of it, if you hadn't found the thermostat yet, how and where did you fill it with coolant? Overflow bottle? Radiator? Because if you have low coolant, trying to fill the system from those spots without opening the thermostat housing will not work. So in short, your posts are unclear and filled with contradictions (which is probably the reason why some people here react the way they do because, well, they have low tolerance and not a lot of patience). Don't confuse that with a lack of willingness to help. We all want to help you but if you ask questions, please do not just simply dismiss our answers because you think it must be something else. You describe problems that aren't problems (like the radiator fan not running all the time), situations that are not possible (the car running without any belts installed) and fixes that are strange to say the least and use a single term to describe three different parts of the coolant system. So in order for us to help you, please start by making a photo of your engine and the "fixes" you have done so far and post it here. 1985 Fiero GT FEB 04, 09:16 AM [QUOTE]Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: (the car running without any belts installed)/QUOTE] Actually the car would run for a little while without any belts installed, it would drain the battery fast and it would overheat the engine very fast, hard to say what would happen first, the battery dying or the temperatures reaching warning light level, but both are equally needed for the engine to run properly, not that it couldn't start and run at all, just a very very limited time, before the battery died or the coolant overheated. Cliff Pennock FEB 04, 10:02 AM quote Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT: Actually the car would run for a little while without any belts installed, it would drain the battery fast and it would overheat the engine very fast Well, yeah, (on a full battery) it would run for perhaps a few hours or so (with no lights on) until the battery was drained to the point where it would no longer be able to provide spark. So I consider that "not running". 1985 Fiero GT FEB 04, 10:54 AM quote Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: Well, yeah, (on a full battery) it would run for perhaps a few hours or so (with no lights on) until the battery was drained to the point where it would no longer be able to provide spark. So I consider that "not running". Yeah, and it would be perhaps 30 minutes to an hour (at most) before the coolant in the engine boils away and the engine gets serious damage from overheating, so the initial symptom would be overheating, which was the case here. Incidentally, considering he had "smoke" coming out the engine vents, doesn't necessarily mean he has a coolant leak, if the water pump wasn't pumping and the engine reached a temp to boil the coolant, then that coolant steam will escape wherever it can, leaking around fittings and hoses, essentially a leak that leads vaporized coolant under immense pressure, but not the liquid form under the little bit of pressure it normally operates at. With that said, if the coolant found a place to escape, that will be more likely to leak the liquid form later on, may not leak now, but no telling when it will start again.