The other day and could hear steam from the top of the radiator and bubbling in the coolant reserve. The engine temperature gauge was almost at red and the fans would not come on, I’m something of DIY guy and handy so I searched online and found how to test the fans by bypassing the relay which in most cases is the culprit, the fans tested fine. One thing though the fans only work with the AC or Defroster on, they won’t turn on when the engine heats up past a certain temp like they are supposed to When you turn on the ignition key you should feel a click on the relay so I had my wife help me test that and the relays checked out. I was wondering since the check engine light hasn’t come on, what are the chances it’s a bad ECT switch? Ive tested the ECT I.E. engine temp sensor with a multimeter shows 2 OHMS and its fine, but it hasn’t been temperature tested since it hasn’t been taken out and it’s not that easy to take out, it requires removing some components I’m not familiar or comfortable removing. I’ve left a message for a local Auto Doc, that makes house calls but I have no idea how busy they are. I would appreciate any suggestions or help as I’m grounded till I solve this problem since it’s the only vehicle we have. Thanks
The resistance on a cold ECT sensor should be 2K - 3K (2000 - 3000) ohms. As the coolant gets hotter the resistance decreases.
Why? Hot wire it so the fans run all the time. won’t hurt anything and the engine won’t overheat. You know how, do it until the mechanic can come and replace the ECT sensor.
Hot wire cooling fans but cannot change ect? Different skill set?
Have the vehicle towed to a competent local mechanic rather than having someone fix it in your driveway.
I watched a mechanic Youtube video and that’s what he said, he also goes as far to demonstrate how to test it once removed heated over a pot and at gets warmer the resistance goes down just like what you said, so yesterday I took the connector off and forgot to put it back, so when I had the engine on the Check Engine Light came on, I put the connect back and still have the Light on, my guess is it needs to be reset, I don’t have an OBD2 diag, just ordered one should be here Tues. All I need is a deep socket 3/4 or 19mm and I should be able to remove the sensor after draining some of the coolant. I also ordered a replacement sensor just in case. I suppose it could be dying and hasn’t died completely yet. Thanks
Hmm, I suppose so, also could just run the AC or Def since that also activates it, I hadn’t really given that any thought, thanks for the suggestion.
Actually it’s a local competent Mechanic that I contacted, he replaced my dad’s radiator, but thanks for the suggestion.
So here’s the latest, the check engine light reset itself, the fans are coming on automatically again, the issue seems to be the intervals the fans come on in, that said the temps are staying below the half level on the gauge, tomorrow I will take it for a test drive around my area and monitor the temps and see if they still stay at reasonable levels.