Rep Power: 0

Here is the deal. My car has 66,000 miles and I drove it to Sixflags last weekend 850 miles and I noticed on the drive down when we were almost there that that my radiator fans were not turning on and I had a little bit of coolant come out of the overflow container when I stopped for gas. I didnt think too much of it. I researched and some people said it was the radiator cap, so I replaced it. On the way back up at about 700 miles the car tried to overheat. I immediately shut the car off once it hit about 3/4s up on the temp gauge and noticed there was low fluid. I filled it back up with water and drove the 100 or so miles back home with zero problems. I got it home, and changed the thermostat. When changing the thermostat I refilled the system with a mixture of 50/50 coolant. I have zero problems with it now with overheating, but I still cant get the fans to turn on. I have replaced the fan switch as well on the thermostat housing (I jumped the fans with the paperclip and they turned on. When the AC is on the fans turn on. Both of them). I am lost at what to do. I mean, the fans work fine with the paperclip in them, but I cant seem to get them to turn on through the switch when the thermostat opens up and sends coolant down the lower hose. Any Ideas?
The guy at autozone told me he thinks its the coolant temp sensor, but from what I see, that isn't connected to the fan switch and the fan switch is the actual part connected to the fans that allows the coolant to complete the circuit and turn the fans on.

In sum:
radiator fans do not work
Car over heated once and never again.
replaced: Termostat, radiator cap, fan switch in the thermo housing, and refilled all the coolant and bled the system.
Fans still dont turn on until I hit the AC button, but do when jumped with the paperclip.


I think I bought a bad switch to be honest, but not sure.
what do YOU think the problem is with the fans?

 
Rep Power: 199

If you can jump the swith wires and the fans come on the switch is the only thing that you are jumping, new switch or not, look there 100%. Either the new switch is bad or the connecter is screwed up or something causing the wires to not contact the switch. Did you bleed the air out of the system after all the coolant losses and work?

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, I bled all the coolant. I am just lost at how if, when jumped, the fans work great, but then they dont work when plugged into the switch.

 
Rep Power: 517

You didn't wait long enough for the fans to run. It takes for-freekin-ever if there is any breeze at all.

You don't understand how the coolant flows in this application. You seriously got it backwards.

Your symptom described above says you need a head gasket job. If it overheated bad enough, you might have warped the head.

HTH

 
Rep Power: 0

Problem solved. The engine coolant sensor was bad

 
Rep Power: 192

Did the motor overheat immediately after getting off the highway? Or did it overheat after idling for 5+ min on a 90 degree day?

I hope you fixed it but keep an eye on the coolant level, check the radiator itself when the motor is cool.

Leaky head gaskets are common in these cars, highway driving makes them leak far worse than city driving.

 
Rep Power: 0

It overheated after about 700 or so miles of driving straight. I mean, I stopped for gas and all that.