Where were the fuses you replaced? Were they in the little box along with the relays for the fans and the ABS?

 

seems like we had to open the drivers side door and pull the panel off there...although its been three years...

 

Damn, I forgot about those fuses. But since we can manually make the fans come on, does that mean that it isn't a fuse? I just pulled the MAF sensor and the fans still didn't come on. There is seriously nothing wrong, but it still won't work. I guess I can always double check everything.

 

I have now checked every single fuse and relay, along with every sensor. I guess we will never know. I might as well just replace the WP sensor though and see what that does. Any last ideas shoebox?

 

Short pins A and B of the DLC with a paper clip and then turn the key ON (not start). That should make the fans come on high. The pcm should put a ground out on A10 and A11. You could check with a meter to see if it is doing that. I don't know if you ever checked the blue and green wires to the pcm from C100.

We know your fans will work, because you made them come on with the ground test at H and J. Fuses must be good to do that.

You need a scanner, not a programmer to read the data from the pcm, unless it is an HPP with a scan cartridge. I would not waste my money on a new HPP, but a used one can be a little useful.

 

Okay, I am going to try the thing on the DLC right now. But how would I check the wires going to the PCM? I looked and the connecter was plugged in all the way. Thanks for taking all thsi time to help me. Iam really wishing I had never bought this car, but after putting 4k into it, I might as well keep it.

 

The high speed fans did come on when I shorted A and B. Does this tell me anything else? And would a car place have a scanner they could hook up to check it out for me, or will I have to buy one?

 

That at least tells you the pcm is capable of turning the fans on and that all the fan wiring and circuitry is good. Maybe I should have had you do this first?

Now, stock fans don't come on until 226º, so what you need to know by virtue of a scan tool, is what temp the pcm is seeing from the sensor in the water pump. Then you can determine if the pcm is/isn't turning the fans on when it should.

This thread has gotten so long, I am beginning to lose track of things. Maybe your other sensor to the gauge is just whacked out.

A scanner like an Autoxray for OBD-I is around $150 last time I saw some prices.

 

Yeah, I guess that could be, but it matched up with the readings I was getting from the wp sensor. This thread is long, but I have figured out a lot. So far...
-fuses and relays are good
-fans are capable of working
-c100 thing works
-the diagnostic shorting works
-my car sucks
-I am going to kill it

Maybe it is time for me to smash into a tree, after changing the dassh for one that has 12k or so on it.

But seriously, could taking out the thermostat make it run any cooler? I have been doing more searches, and some say that might hlp by unrestricting flow. So can autozone or someone scan the pcm for me, even if I have to pay?

 

Run a 160 thermostat (and the correct long style one), but don't run without one.

AZ won't scan operating parameters, just codes and I think they only do OBD-II, now.

Any board members around you that can scan it?

The sad thing is, by the time you pay a shop to scan it, you could have bought half a scan tool.

 

Yeah, that's what I figured. I am gonna see if someone around here has a scan tool. Thanks for the help, but I guess I am just screwed. I am at a complete loss. Now I need to get a new starter though dammit. It's kinda funny because I have now had the car running for a week, the longest time since I have owned it, and now the starter dies already.

 

Here is something to consider....

A while back my temp guage showed that the car was overheating. So I went to Autozone got a new temp sensor, the one for the gauge thats in the head. Gauge still showed the car was overheating badly and the fans would never come on. After days of looking at data logs and making absolutely sure everything was right I decided the gauge has to be wrong. Autozone swore it was the right one for the guage but I had my doubts and bought one from the dealership and it cleared up my problems. The Autozone sensor made my gauge read 40*+ higher than the engine was, so when my gauge read overheating my engine was hardly even warm enough to open the thermostat much less turn on the fans.

You can download TTS Datamaster for free w/ 20 free trials if you have a lap top and if not just put your desktop by a window and drive the car up to it. Compare what the PCM sees as the temp versus what the gauge reads.

If you can't do that check the radiator hoses after the car has heated up to see if they are actually even warm, in my case they weren't which led me to believe the gauge was wrong.

Just an idea.

 

Alright, that sounds like a good idea. How much did you pay for the sensor? I am guess like $340 or something, but I guess I will have to pay it. Thanks for the idea.

 

ok, here's the story with mine. Hope this helps any.

One day my fans decided not to come on anymore. My car started heating up and thats when I noticed the fans not turning on anymore. I'd turn on the a/c but the fans would turn on in that low mode which didn't cool my car worth crap but the fans were working.

Days passed and I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I did move around the relays and didn't think they all went bad at the same time. My cousin has a z28 so we switched relays and wallaaaa, problem fixed. It was the relays the whole time.

The thing I don't understand is why they went out all at the same time. I've had new relays for about three months now and no more problems with the fans.

 

He has already proven that the fans and relays work.