john266 Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I dont know if anyone else has this problem, but whenever my '91 is sitting somewhere idling, the temperature rises. And when I say temperature rising, I mean that it goes almost 3/4 of the way up on the gauge. The car is fine when Im going down the road, and I put a 180 degree thermostat in it, but it still overheats when sitting still for 10+ minutes. I am pretty sure the cooling fan isnt coming on at all, even before I put the lower temp thermostat in it. Does anyone know why my cooling fan isnt coming on? My only thoughts are that it could be a relay or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchudyk Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 The fans are programed to come on at over 200 degrees. Turn your air conditioner on and check the fans...they should come on with the a/c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john266 Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 That just poses a further question for me - Im in Virginia, and it is about 25 degrees outside right now. The lowest temperature setting in the car is 60 degrees. So if I attempt to get the A/C to work, all the car will do it pump out heat because of the outside temp and the electronic climate control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex_houston Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Not to put off the fan issue but that can also be caused by a clogged radiator. Is it clean inside and out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CL_Reatta Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 The A/C should turn on anyways no matter what the outside temp is, as long as the setting is not on Economy or Heater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MauiWowee Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Your engine cooling system only consists of a few main components; water pump, radiator, thermostat, and hoses. All of them need service sooner or later. The problem could be hidden, as in a collapsed hose. New parts here is cheap insurance.Something is wrong, now you have to play Sherlock Holmes with your Reatta and solve this dilema. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest F14CRAZY Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 defrost will also turn on the air conditioner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john266 Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 In regards to a clogged radiator or old cooling system parts, my car just had a radiator flush, has a new water pump, new hoses, and a new 180 degree thermostat. Today, I checked the fuse and it looks OK, but I am going to check out all 3 cooling fan relays tomorrow, and hopefully it is just a bad relay. If it is not a relay, I am considering just hooking the fans up to a switch inside the car and turning them on when I need them. All I know is it has been over a year since I have heard those things start up under the hood when the car gets hot. Currently when my car starts heating up, I just have to get back on the road and it will cool back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wally888 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 My 1 st. Reatta, an 89, had this problem. The owner, a classic car museum owner, had owned it for several years and his wife drove it regularly. He had tried to fix it, even replaced a fan motor but to no avail. I had it loaded on a wrecker truck and hauled to a friends garage. After many hours of troubleshooting (so he told me) he found a short or open in a wire under the console. (I have no idea if he meant under the gear shift or near the fuse box location). Normally I would be able to give you a lot more info, would have asked to see where the problem actually was but he is a friend and I took his word for everything. I thought as time went by I would see the same problem arise here but your's is the only other one I have noticed on the Forum. I always thought, in the back of my mind, that someone spilled something on the console-caused the problem. Probably have not been much help but if it is the same problem guess you will have to trace back from the motors to fine where current no longer exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Copper81 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 John, will be interested to hear what you find with this problem. My 88 has the same type of problem as you have described. The fans don't seem to come on even when the temp rises to the point they should have come on. Even in the diagnostic mode, I can't seem to get the fans to turn on manually. In this colder weather, I am not too concerned but when it gets warmer outside, I will need to get this fixed. The a/c did seem to turn on a fan but that seemed to stop too back last fall. Hope you have some luck figuring this out ... keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john266 Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 I drove the car to school today, and it was a miracle that it got up to about 60 degrees in Virginia today. I decided to set the climate control on AUTO going down the interstate and when I got to school and opened the hood to check if the A/C was cutting on, and my compressor was running and both fans were on. But as soon as I cut the A/C off the fans turned off. So at least now I know that the fans do work, but I still cant get them to turn on when the car gets hot unless I turn the A/C on. I'm gonna check the relays this afternoon, and hopefully that is the only problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdmarsiii Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I pretty much have the same problem. My fans dont come on at all unless they are jumpered. And when they are, they just run on low speed. Do you think it could be a back temp sensor? I heard there are two, one for the computer and one for the fans to come on. Im not positive on that though. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex_houston Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 One of my '88s has a similar issue. The puller fan was comimg on at 212 and going off at 208. This seems a little hot to me but I am told that was factory settings. Then all of a sudden a few days ago, it got up to 240 and still no fan. I will be installing a new 180 thermostat and will exchange the relays, but I am still not sure just what is going on. For some reason, on diagnostics, I cannot override the fan controls! I still have no clue on that one. I have sure been learning a lot since I got into these Reattas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john266 Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 I found out that the Reatta's not only have a coolant temperature sensor but a thermo fan switch that controls when the fans cut on. I work at an auto parts store and it runs about $15. I'm gonna buy one today and install it tomorrow. I will let you guys know if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 It does ? Thought all fan functions went through the ECM. There is an override based on a/c operation and pressures (temperature) but otherwise is based on coolant temp. and speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayS Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I found out that the Reatta's not only have a coolant temperature sensor but a thermo fan switch that controls when the fans cut on. I work at an auto parts store and it runs about $15. I'm gonna buy one today and install it tomorrow. I will let you guys know if it works. </div></div>I had a problem with my cooling fans, I am an electronic tech. so I did some trouble shooting my self, what I found was a bad connector mounted on the left front fender just behind the air filter box. the relays were getting control voltage and operating properly but not getting fan power voltage. This connector is held togather with a 10mm bolt. You have to remove the air filter box and take the connector apart clean it and reassemble it. there are two (2) large red wires make sure that there is power on the input and the output side of the connector at all times. There are a lot of wires going to this connecter so clean them all while you have it apart. HOPE this helps let me know Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john266 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Share Posted February 27, 2007 My mechanic took a look at the car yesterday, and it did turn out to be the coolant temperature sensor. As soon as he installed a new one, the fans work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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