I know there's currently another overheating thread going...but this one is different.

I generally don't like idling period, but it's so hot everywhere...I can hardly help it for a couple minutes here and there. But...I've noticed lately the gauge has tried to sneak up to the H line without me noticing.

I'm thinking it may be the thermostat I bought (beck arnley aka motorad) which solved my overheating only when going up mountain grade/driving hard issues. But now, it's not doing it when I drive hard or uphill, only when parked. And I've put maybe 2-3 oil changes thru this thermostat without any issues.

I'm about to do a coolant drain/fill soon anyway...I'm wondering if I should just get a new thermostat. I played around with my former beck arnley t-stat in boiling water, it wasn't opening fully...only half way, which explained why it was trying to overheat under high load.

This is bull****. I'm replacing thermostats like air filters.

 

Is your radiator fans running?

 

My 99 se-l was doing the same thing....come to find out one of my fans locked up and popped both fusible links and melted the wiring to the plug and melted the rad fan 1 relay...I'd start with the low speed side of the fans make sure they are running with the a/c on and then turn the a/c off and see if the high speed side is coming on...sounds like a fan problem to me...good luck

 

I was lucky. When I first bought my used 96 I30, one of the radiator fans never worked. Luckily the car never overheated.

 

Ok, that makes sense. ..I'm 1,200 miles from home this week, and have another 700 miles before I can use my parents garage to really figure out what's going on. So far though, no issues on flat land if I keep moving and don't idle for more than 1-3 minutes. But have to go thru some mountains soon. This issue just started after I started this road trip.

Is it possible that for the longest time, I'll hear my fans come on and off kinda randomly...and sometimes that'll get the a/c to blow harder and colder without me touching anything? Then it'll go back to "normal". Most noticeable when coming to a stop or low speeds.

 

Ok, I am familiar with the relay stuff. But did you have to buy a new fan assembly also? I don't really mind if I do...Easier to do than changing the radiator.

 

I went to a pick apart and pulled the whole fan assembly...plugs and all....got all the relays and fusible links too...cost me $29...shouldn't take more than 10 min to pull assembly out

 

With the AC on, the fans should be spinning.

Pull the fuses and fan from the junk yard. I would buy a new fan, but its up to you. check harnesses as well.

 

When the engine is cold, remove the radiator cap and check the coolant level. The radiator should be 100% full, no air in there.

When you are running the a/c, the radiator fans will be on. They never turn off while the a/c is on.

When the radiator fans run, both fans run. If only one fan is running, there is a problem with the fan that is not running.

Check between the radiator and the a/c condenser coil that you don't have any debris building up in there and blocking air flow.

Non Nissan thermostats tend to not work correctly. Get a Nissan thermostat.

 

Replace the T-stat with OEM. Are you leaking any coolant?

 

Burp the air out

 

Hey guys and girls, I was able to pinpoint that the issues is...1 of the radiator fans aren't spinning, even with the a/c on. Also, being stuck in traffic even without a/c will cause it to overheat also. So now, I'm down to figuring out what's causing that one fan to spin.

I'll be in touch with an update

 

Yeah if you're only overheating while idling then more than likely it's the radiator fans. Glad you sorted it out!

 

Well...there's only 1 issue: I don't know if I should change the relay, just the 1 fan motor that's not working, or the whole assembly??

I was so close to buying the fan assembly online, but more searches showed I can just buy the motor, which is cheaper. But I can't tell if it's that or the relay. But I can't imagine relays really go bad...if I really wanted a bargain I could go to the junk yard, but lately I've been getting annoyed driving all the way to a wrecking yard, walking car to car only to find they've been gutted already. Plus, other than seat motors, I don't like taking chances with used moving parts.

This'll be a guessing game for me. But luckily I can guess myself than to pay someone to guess for me. ****ing bull****

 

Jy parts for the most part are usually fine...I know at my pull a part I get a warranty as long as I keep the receipt...I'd check relay and fusible links first before the fan motor route...much much easier

 

As stated above, check the relay. That's the cheapest (free) thing to do next.


If you have no clue, download the factory service manual from this site.


Good luck.

 

turn the car on w ac on, then pull the radiator relays and they should click and you can feel them working, if they click then they're probably ok. If one doesn't click or you don't hear it click, then maybe that one needs to be replaced. Or you can just swap the relays with other ones to see if the problem stays or goes away.

 

Hey everyone, problem solved. Having worked with whole house humidifier fans, that make noises and eventually seize up...I changed one of the motors first. I almost bought the whole fan kit, until I seen the motor on sale. no need to fix an entire unit.

But I'm curious, is the passenger side motor the one that normally runs, while the drivers side only comes on when it's needing extra cooling?

Because when I turned the a/c on, the drivers side motor didn't kick in until the car was running for a awhile. But before my fix, the drivers side motor was spinning most of the time, while the passenger side was the one with the burnt out motor. Now, it's the passenger side that does most of the spinning.

 

I know with my car when the a/c is on both fans spin on low speed...when the coolant temp reaches 203 my high speed fans come on until the temp drops below 203...basically both fans should spin at low and high speeds...at least my 99 se does...

 

^^^^^

 

Easier to use the factory service manual. Available free on this site.