Engine temp assistance needed...
 

193000 Saturn SL2 1999

The engine is not getting hot!, not only the temp (which normally is around 1/4, but now is between half and 3/4). I changed the thermostat this weekened, same issue.

The radiator water level is good.

I thought I read when you turn the AC on, the cooling fan (might be right name, big fan by the engine under the hood) does not come on now, ever.

It normally comes on also when the engine gets about 1/2 on the temp gauge, then shuts off about 3/8 on the temp gauge. Again, does not come on.

I heartalk of the temp sensor....is this a good place to start? Or should I concentrate on the fan? I also thought I read you can test the fan, but disconnecting the electrical input, then connecting pos/neg to battery, and it should come on, any input on this?

I post in the mornings and am not able to physically work on car till evening. Thank you for any input

Jimmy

Ok..I did find that fuse last night, reseated it, that was it, can test.

I am in Vegas, it was 101 today, I need my AC (drive car around town all day). Today I didnt run AC at all, car seems to get really really hot when I do, so for now, I do not. Today it got to the 5/8 of the temp gauge at its peak.

My dad was an electrician for about 3 decades, but like with raising kids, he is done with cars lol...but he will surely understand your instructions. And really, you broke it down so clearly I think I can also, thank you.

Will get back to you, thanks again.

The NORMAL range is to the 3/4 mark A/C off. At the 3/4 mark cooling fan comes on

With the A/C on the cooling fan should run all the time.

A/C running temp gauge should run in the area or 1/2 to 3/4

Thats with the factory etcs and good connector.

Glad to hear that you got it fixed ...

Optimist, I like it, but I have not got it fixed yet.

So our saying the engine temp, should be not 1/4, not 1/2, but usually between 1/2 and 3/4?

And thank you for the AC questioned answered....when you say the cooling fan should come on when the AC is on, I know it does not, gave me a good place to start. Going to look into Wed night, possibly Friday, will update then, thx again.

I didn't mention the fuse, but the fuse is also in the underhood fuse box and is the second one from the fender in the back row of large green fuses. You don't just reseat it, you need to test it for continuity. I should have mentioned it.

The temp gauge should be between the 1/4 and 1/2, closer to the 1/4 mark.

Keith..........I've owned 10 Saturn S-cars and never had one that ran from the 1/4 mark to the 1/2 mark with a proper etcs.

Run a hot lead to your cooling fan and see if it operates. If not you need a fan motor.

That may be the temp it runs going down the road. We are talking about when and where the cooling fan should turn on with A/C off

Updated...

We gutted the thing today....we tested the 30 amp fuse, worked, we tested the relay, worked, we tested for continuity of the wire that ran to the fan motor, good, tested it for voltage, good, spun the fan to make sure we had the right wire, as the fan spun....we saw the volt/ohm meter needle go up and down (to me that means nothing, but to my dad it said, we had the right wire), we removed the fan and tested the fan itself, it spun when connected directly to the poz/neg of the battery. We surely felt the fan would not spin up, buuuut it did when directly connected. All parts tested tested good.

Per the Haynes schematic, one wire goes to the PCM, the PCM is a bit outside dads expertise. We mapped all four pins of the relay (Siemens 3604 ), to each individual wire to the car. No matter what temp the engine got, the fan never ever kicked on. Even with the AC on, fan never kicked on. Something inside the PCM is not telling the fan to start spinning? Would that be correct?

Tomorrow I think we are just going to install a switch inside the car that I can manually turn the fan on/off, car only has to make it 3-4 more months. Any other ideas?

Thanks for your input

You have a 2002 Saturn SL2 that the cooling fan does not work.
While I have never really paid any attention to where on the temperature gauge it should turn on and off at, it is as you say controlled by the computer that runs things.
That said.
It should run if the engine is hot and turn off when it is cool enough.
It does not do that. Where on the gauge is not important.
Because,
it also should turn on when the A/C is turned on and stay on until the A/C is turned off.
It does not do that either.
So where on the gauge is still unimportant.
Why? Because in A/C mode actual engine temperature is a non-issue.
There is a fuse and it is good. Wiring seems to be correct by visually checking. Then the assumption becomes, the computer has lost the capability of turning the fan on. Why is that a correct assumption? Because you can hot wire the fan and it is working. So what ever turns it on is broke and that is some where in the computer.
Right now this would be a nice place to use the Scan Tool I am trying to find so I can buy one.
Why?
Because the Saturn computer has multiple pages of error codes and I have that data. There are error codes that say the circuit that drives something is broken and that is what you are trying to find out. See if you can get the error codes read out on your car and come pack and post them.
That should tell the information you are looking for.
If I could find the tool that would do that I would buy one but I have not found one yet and am stil looking. But the codes will tell the story! If you can find some one to read them.