Ok, here's the story.

1996 Saturn Sc2 1.9L

In March I discovered a crack in the radiator. Being a poor almost vagabond I bought the parts and made the replacement myself (no prior experience working on cars). I did alright. Only ended up with two extra bolts. I replaced the radiator, upper/lower hoses, thermostat, and screw clamps. I've checked both hose connections to make sure coolant is flowing through the radiator. Looks good.

I have since discovered that the radiator fan will not turn on. I can't be sure if it was something I did, or if it wasn't working before. Using my new found radiator replacing skills, I installed a new radiator fan motor (I was surprised at how easy that was). This however did not cure the problem. I've also checked the relay which is fine too.

The car will run for about 20 minutes just fine. The coolant temp level stays just above the 1/4 mark. Then it slowly starts to rise until coolant starts boiling out of the reservoir tank. I've checked the cap to make sure it's clean and on tight. I've allowed the car to idle for a very long time, keeping close eye on the coolant temp, and the fan never came on.

I don't have a lot of money (by that I mean I need a $20 fix ) or the proper tools to check electrical things. Definitely in a bind.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
-Nate

 

What is the temp at the gauge when it starts boiling over? A defective ECTS will give incorrect gauge readings and not send the correct signal for the fan to come on. In other words the engine may be hotter than the reading shown on the gauge. The sensor price is well within your budget restrictions also.

 

The Power Train Control Module =PCM reads the engine temperature through the Engine coolant Temperature sensor located on the drivers side of the cylinder head through the yellow wire. It then determines when to turn on the fan. It turns on the fan using the cooling fan relay through a dark green wire. The relay supplies power from the Cool Fan Fuse, a 30- AMP fuse. If your car has A/C the PCM will turn on the fan when the A/C is turned on, which is one way to see if the fan is working.
The gauge reading at a tick above ¼ mark is probably an indication that the sensor is correct. There was a problem back in the day with them and may still be when purchasing a sensor from an auto-parts store.
This raises the question in my mind as to how you checked the relay. You said the fan does not turn on and you have no meter to check things with?
If you have access to a Harbor Freight store they have an inexpensive digital voltmeter that they regularly sell for about $7.00 and on sale for about $2.00. It is quite adequate and except for one reading it can not do, almost as good as my $450.00 digital voltmeter.
Anyway, if you can turn on the fan by turning on the A/C the circuit to the fan is probably o.k.,
If the A/C is not functioning, I don’t know for sure whether the fan will or not.
But I think it should.
If you have no voltage because the 30 Amp fuse is blown, you need to replace the fuse.
If the fuse and relay are good, when the relay is turned on, the fan should run.
If the sensor used by the PCM (the 2 wire sensor) is defective, the gauge will read o.k. but the PCM is not smart enough to turn on the fan.
If when you check the sensors and you unplug them check the connectors for corrosion and damage, replace if needed. That could be your problem too.

 

Temp reads between 1/2 and 3/4 to red.

 

wow, ok.

Than fan doesn't come on when the a/c is turned on. However, because I went in blind when replacing the radiator I unknowingly decompressed the a/c. Obviously I haven't been using the a/c. I did try the a/c for a bit, but the fan did not come on.

I "checked" the fan relay by swapping it with the a/c relay since they're identical. Then I let the car run until coolant started to boil out. The a/c worked great until I decompressed it so I know that particular relay is ok.

I'm really at a loss when it comes to electrical. As I'm learning and discovering, what should I keep in mind so that I can hopefully prevent myself from seriously screwing up my car. (i know to always disconnect the negative terminal on the battery) ... or should I just wait and find someone who knows what they're doing?

 

"or should I just wait and find someone who knows what they're doing?"

I say fix it yourself ... look at the wonderfull job you have done so far, think of how much money you can save.

 

I've seen very few of these fans go bad. You can run jumper wires to the fan just to make sure it works, but I still think your problem with the ECTS. The dash temp gauge will usually be around 3/4 scale before the fan comes on. Does it reach that before it boils over? If the compressor doesn't work because of a low charge, the fan will not come on either.It may be boiling over because of a bad head gasket, or a cracked head. That would make it pressure related as opposed to temperature related. By the way, Uncljohn, I got your dash. Nate, buy some tools or get a friend that has some.

 

I am having similar problems with my radiator cooling fan / motor - albeit on a 2004 Ion 2.

I've checked the fuse and replaced the relay, and still no dice. I finally disconnected the cooling fan motor electric hookup and jumped it to my battery. Unfortunately the fan still didn't kick on.

So, my best guess is that the motor is gone (about 87,000 miles on the car - primarily driven in Texas heat).

Does anyone know if I can JUST replace the motor, or is it only sold as a motor / fan combo. From what I can tell, it looks to be about $120-$150 for the entirely replacement assembly (from various sources online). I don't know much about this, but am pretty handy and can follow the Haynes schematics that I bought. Just trying to figure out if anyone knows more about the actual piece.

Thanks much!

 

I replaced the fan motor on mine for $35. Bought the motor at O'Reilly's. It's very simple.

1. Disconnect negative battery terminal
2. Disconnect power cables from the fan motor
3. Detach the fan assembly from the radiator
4. Take out the old motor (mine was attached with three bolts)
5. Put in the new motor
6. Reattach everything.

Compared to replacing the radiator, this was pie.

Obviously check the parts out first. I was working with a '96.

 

Natd33 pretty much covered it, check your local autoparts store or availability, the internets nice, but even nicer to start finding out what you have locally. O'Reilly's = Checkers if you didn't know, major stores, Autozone, CarQuest and NAPA and probably others including local independants. Changed a few my self over the years. The S series Saturns were designed with service in mind. One of the easiest cars I have ever worked on. Don't know about the later models. Never worked on one. The Haynes books are a good choice as good as any of them are. Have fun, it pays to be able to do these things.
Oh! and I really don't care how BIG Texas is, we have more HEAT than you do, today is will be a balmy 112. Dang, I wish it would warm up some.