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This sort of behavior usually means the fan switch is bad. The fan to check is the one behind the radiator. The one in front is for the AC and won't do a lot to cool the engine.
As your gauge goes to about 1/2 way the fan should come on. I think yours has a 2-speed fan, so if the gauge goes much higher it should kick into a higher speed. You'll know when it's on high. You can hear and often feel it from inside the car. It's loud.
These fan switches are pretty unreliable, and if you have a turbo, they tend to get melted by the turbo. I've been replacing them with an electronic controller that works much better.
The way to test this is: Look at the passenger's side end of the radiator, way down at the bottom. You will see two or three wires on a round plug. Unplug the wires. With the ignition in the run position, touch the blue and black wires together. The fan should come on. Now touch all three together. The fan should speed up. If you only have two wires, you have a one-speed fan. Touch them together and it should come on.
If the fan comes on when you do this but not when you let it sit and idle, replace the fan switch, or get the electronic controller (much better). If the fan does not come on when you do this, you may have a bad relay, bad wiring, or a bad fan.
Try the test and see what happens. And if you see the gauge get above 3/4, turn the heat on high and open the windows. This will dump the heat onto you, but it will save the engine from overheating. If it keeps going up, turn the car off. By the time it starts steaming or gets to the red on the gauge, you may have done some serious damage to the engine. At the least, I would replace the thermostat and change the oil. After serious overheating, Tom Townsend also recommends changing the cooland and the transmission oil.
posted by 130.91.53...
, Mon, 24 May 2004 11:15:30
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