I was googling to see if I could find a post that says where the fan switch is for a 1990 Cutlass Ciera with a 3300. As I was doing other work I realized that my fan had not turned on during a long idle on a hot day and looked inside to see my temp light on... shut it off just as it started to boil through the bottle. Anyhow I didn't find an answer but found a thread where a guy told someone that his fan problem was related to his cigarette lighter not working. Mine doesn't but I don't smoke so I don't care. I did look under there once, though, to see why a charger would not work in the lighter and saw the wires melted. Figuring the previous owner hammered the lighter I stopped looking further. Is this possible that the lighter would keep the fan from running? I don't want to take long to fix this as I need this car for work so I think I should just replace the switch anyhow, so where is it?
"rdoc" wrote in news:GemdneARRpGgwuXbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
very odd circumstance!...kinda remember 1990...dont remember any interior circuits involved in engine controls but will flip open a manual tomorrow and see.........overvue of yor post = naaaah, dont think so...........what 'switch' are you hunting for?
Well... I took the lighter out by cutting wires way back from melted area... no joy (didn't expect any). Neither the fan nor lighter appear to have a fuse.
According to the parts store guy this car has a relay and not a fan switch, so I told him to give me one and I'd replace it anyhow seeing it's was cheap and the car is old. Opened the hood and realized that the bank of 4 relays are all identical. I have a Chiltons for this car but they're about worthless anymore. I could just start swapping them all but that's not the ideal approach.
I guess the question of the day is: Of the 4 relays on the right (passenger) corner... which one is the fan relay?
Throwing parts at a problem in the hopes of fixing it gets real expensive real quick. It would be best to do some diagnosis first. I am not sure what you mean by "switch". The cooling fan is controlled by the ecu. The ecu grounds out one side of the relay. The ecu is controlled by the temp sensor under the alternator. However, with the age of the car I would suspect a bad fan - brushes worn down. Have you tried jumping the fan directly to the battery? Have you tried jumping the relay? Have you tried jumping the temp sensor? I don't remember all the relays but one is interior blower motor high speed, one is a/c compressor, one is radiator cooling fan, and the other (if there at all) is... I forgot.
I agree... but this part is only $13 and wouldn't hurt to be changed anyhow. I use this car as a work beater with the idea of it handling traffic jams alternating with a lead foot. It's old, but I drive through a construction project that is only in it's 4th year of what was supposed to be a 9 year effort (it's starting to look like a lifelong effort at this point, LOL) where I go from brand new sections where we all race for pole position through the next stretch where we creap along what was recently the burm of the road. Add to this that it's hilly terrain and it's a tough life for a car... tougher for a car without good cooling!
That's why I posted in the first place... because I didn't know what was what...
Some cars have a 'fan switch' while others have a relay and, as I said in the last post, I now know that this one has a relay. Glad it's a relay actually... the Mopars I've had with switches running directly off the coolant were constant pains in the arse. I remember well an Omni that I gave up and put a manual switch in with an LED to remind me it was on in cooler weather. Had an in-law who did the same on the wrong side of the fuse box and kept letting it run after the car was shut off.
I was assuming that, since I got a light, the sensor must be OK... but I've had a friend tell me last night that some GM's have two separate sensors for the light and the relay. Is that applicable to this car?
Might be. The car only has 90K on it... but who knows how much of that might have been in traffic.
The fan seems to be direct wired. Is that actually a connector where the wires are? They come in from the bottom so I can't get a good look but it doesn't feel like much of a connector. If I'm mistaken then it would be worth giving a yank on it and doing just as you suggest. Not good to just start yanking on wires although I could splice or detach fan and see if I can turn that side up for better look.
Hard to do when I don't know where it's at.
See above.
Is the other the Fuel Pump? The issue at this point is that I don't know which ones are which... they are all side by side and identical part #'s, diagrams on top and all.
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