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New owner needs some help with cooling fan

Eztoril

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
80
Location
Irvine CA
This wont be the the best introductory thread but here it goes:

Let me introduce myself,

Hi my name is Raj, purchased 1450/2000 Black/Black late last year and have been slowly working on it. I was a lurker on the forum before finding my car. This car was sitting for I believe 10-11 years after previous owner lost interest or whatever. Currently located in Orange County, CA. I have owned and worked on DSMs in the past. Currently DD a e36 M3 which I think are easier to work on than a 4g63 - well sometimes. Completed a 1Gina2G 6bolt swap into my 97 spyder a few years back, worked great and was a great car until I had to move to the west coast and had to sell for half of what I had in it. I wanted a vr4 but couldn't find the right one at the right price in the condition I wanted until this one came up for sale. I purchased this car through the org - Thank you GVR4.ORG! Car is a 2.3 stroker with a bunch of mods which you should be able to see in my sig at this point. The car needed some stuff put back together but most of it was together when it arrived. I thought no big deal, dealt with these before and should be cake - far from the reality. I bought it and now it's my problem and I will do pretty much anything to get this thing back on the road. That was the mindset when I purchased it and still is to an extent. I will def post up pictures for you guys later on. So far I have fixed a bunch of random things, took the interior out and cleaned the carpet etc.. deleted the cruise, new fuel filter, new fuel pump, magnetic drain plugs all around, Diaqueen fluids, 10w40 conventional oil for initial break in. Got it started as well. I definitely need some help getting back on the road.


Wondering if anyone in SOCAL would be willing to help me get my GVR4 back on the road (compensation in some form or another will made)? Car is running but not driving at the moment. I had everything working fine before, idling fine, cooling fans working etc.... but still wasn't drive-able at that time. It would just shut off when releasing the clutch,so I decided to pull it back inside the garage while I took care of some other stuff. At this point I had leak in my oil cooler lines and had to remove the radiator to get to it. I pulled the radiator and cleaned it, no problem with it as it was fine before pulling it. I fixed everything and put it all back together and now my puller fan is not working or I am not waiting long enough for it to come on. I have tested it by grounding the single wire high speed wire on the back of the thermo housing both fans work fine on high speed. I also tested by grounding the fan switch at the bottom of radiator and the puller works without issue through the stock wiring (fan resistor working ok) fans are plugged into stock wiring - no cut wires. Temp gauge does not exceed the half mark and takes the normal time to move into place. How long should I wait till the fan should kick on? Also going to purchase a laser thermometer to check temps - not sure where to point it yet to check temps. I have also read the cooling fan threads extensively and also read the wiring diagram. No problems with understanding it and how it all works. Could it be that the fan switch just finally gave up and died? I took the switch out and cleaned it up since it had some build up on it and reinstalled it and fan still didn't come on at the halfway mark, the heat does work very well though. I might be overlooking something here but I can't figure out what I'm missing or doing wrong. I have a new radiator cap, new thermostat 190*, new hoses, and have flushed out the radiator and heater core without problem. I wanted to make it to MOD 2017 but that ain't happening, not with 6 days left.


BTW - puller fan is a 12 or 13" slim spal fan, fits with my 4" intake pipe. It was very easy to install - mount, plug and play.

Sorry for the long post and hope to meet some of you guys as soon as I am on the road and can make it to the meets.
 
Last edited:

GSTwithPSI

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
3,460
Location
SoCal
What is the car tuned on? The last sale thread said AEM EMS. That the case?

With the ignition on, take a jumper wire and jump the sensor located on the back side of the thermostat housing closest to the firewall to ground. The fans should come on. Do this test and report back.
 

Eztoril

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
80
Location
Irvine CA
Currently running on stock ecu with apexi AFC set to whatever it was before. I haven't messed with it yet since I just wanted to get her running properly first. The aem was included but its still in the box.

I have jumped the single wire coming out of the back of the thermostat housing and grounded it, if that is the one you are speaking of? Both fans came on at high speed. I have also tested(grounded) the fan switch at the bottom of the radiator and pass side fan came on at normal speed.

Running with a 2g maf with rc550s. While idling I can smell the gas so I'm assuming its running rich??
 
Last edited:

GSTwithPSI

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2012
Messages
3,460
Location
SoCal
Quoting Eztoril:
I have jumped the single wire coming out of the back of the thermostat housing and grounded it, if that is the one you are speaking of? Both fans came on at high speed. I have also tested(grounded) the fan switch at the bottom of the radiator and pass side fan came on at normal speed.



Well, if that's the case the fan circuits are good. Which either means one or both of the fan switches could be faulty. However, I'd guess the car is probably just not getting up to temp, or at least hot enough to make the fans come on. Just let it idle until either 1) the fans come on or 2) you see the temp gauge start to creep past half way. The factory temp gauge sucks, but it's at least accurate enough to detect an overheating condition. If the car starts to run hot, just shut it down. I'd bet when it gets up to temp the fans will come on just fine. Ensure your coolant and oil levels are properly topped off, of course, before attempting this "test".

If I were you, I'd rip out that SAFC and take it and the AEM EMS and put them up for sale. Unless you're shooting for astronomical horsepower numbers, an AEM standalone isn't necessary, IMO. You'd be much better off using the funds from selling the SAFC and AEM and putting them toward ECMlink. It's a much easier system to use, and there is much more support available for the DIY'er. If you're ever going to put your extensive list of mods to good use, you're going to need a decent engine management system. An SAFC certainly won't cut it, and an AEM EMS is a bit overkill for most people.
 
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Eztoril

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
80
Location
Irvine CA
I'll try that today and see if the fans come on before it starts creeping past the halfway mark on the temp gauge. I have already decided to go with link as my engine management tool, will be next purchase. I will report back with my findings. Thanks for the help so far.
 
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