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AC Compressor stopped working, temp climbs when stopped

Tiny
IN10CITY
  • MEMBER
  • PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
I suspect these sypmtoms are related as they both seemed to appear at the same time. 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GT with 143,000 miles. I started noticing my engine temperature gauge will climb to 220 if I am not moving so I've been turning on the heater to keep from overheating. If I'm in motion it rarely climbs above the 180(ish) mark.

I replaced the thermostat and checked the coolant which was fine. I read about someone with the 3.1 engine having similar troubles needing a temperature sensor. I bought a "Coolant temperature sensor" but hvae not installed it yet becuase I'll have to remove the upper radiator hose to do it and I want to make sure I'm on the right track.
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Friday, March 2nd, 2007 AT 1:25 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
CHEVY22
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,375 POSTS
Hi
is the check engine light on and are your cooling fans working?

Thanks
jim
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Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 AT 1:30 PM
Tiny
IN10CITY
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  • 6 POSTS
The check engine light has not come on. I'll need to let the car idle and open the hood to see if the fans are working. Let me check that and I'll hopefully reply by Friday.
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Monday, March 5th, 2007 AT 9:50 AM
Tiny
CHEVY22
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,375 POSTS
Ok
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Monday, March 5th, 2007 AT 2:12 PM
Tiny
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  • 6 POSTS
OK, I finally got a chance to check and the cooling fans are NOT coming on. I let the temp climb to 210 on the instrument panel before I paniced and turned on the heater and started driving to cool the engine back off. What temp are they supposed to come on?
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Saturday, March 10th, 2007 AT 10:01 AM
Tiny
CHEVY22
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,375 POSTS
165-180, this could be a few things, faulty fans, temp sensor or may just be a fuse or relay for the fans, start with the fuses, and you can also start it up and crank the ac on to see if fans come on, they should right away
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Saturday, March 10th, 2007 AT 10:07 AM
Tiny
IN10CITY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Thanks for the leads. I'll try the AC with the hood open and see if the fans come on and report back. I know the AC compressor was not coming on when I hit the AC switch. I'm pretty sure this problem started around the same time the fans stopped working.
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Saturday, March 10th, 2007 AT 2:44 PM
Tiny
IN10CITY
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  • 6 POSTS
OK, I finally got a chance to check the car. I opened the hood and started the car. I turned on the AC and the fans did not come on. What's my next step?
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Monday, March 19th, 2007 AT 1:17 PM
Tiny
CHEVY22
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,375 POSTS
#1 check fan fuses and relays, if you are uncertain how to check relays, look at the part number and find one that is the same in the car that is not crucial for starting and swap them, if no luck check power at the fan with key on engine off and ac switched on, if everything else checks out you may have a bad fan
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Monday, March 19th, 2007 AT 4:06 PM
Tiny
IN10CITY
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I'll check those items in that order thanks!

Is it possible that both fans quit working at the same time? I'm inclined to believe there is one "thing" to blame for the failure of them both.

The cruise control also stopped working at around the same time, could they somehow be related?
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Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 AT 1:55 PM

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