Thread: Another overheating question

I've got 2004 Grand prix with the 3.8 turbo. The other day it suddenly overheated. We rplaced the thermostat and bled the system, everything worked fine for about a week. Today I noticed the temp rising whenever I slowed or stopped, but it would drop when moving. Got home, the fans weren't turning on. Unplugged the temp sensor and they kicked right on. So the question is, is the temp sensor all that should be replaced at this time?

Originally Posted by 01GTP

Probably, also they never made an 04+ with a turbo from the factory.

Pardon me, I meant supercharged. Mine is 04 and stock.

Well we replaced it and it seems to be fixed for now.

Found a leak and ended up replacing those plastic elbows as well.

So one more question, whats the best way to get the cooling fans to turn on at a lower temp? Seems like it gets pretty warm before they kick on.

a 180 or 160* t-stat will help you there. i'd do 180 because 160 isn't necessary for michigan weather.

oh my bad. i was under the impression they did.

Originally Posted by 01GTP

neither of those will turn the fans on sooner. You just need to get a tune to tell the pcm when to turn them on.

Is that a dealer issue or where would I go to get that done? Its running plenty cool as is, but it was getting up to about 3/4 on the temp gauge before the fans kicked on. No idea what the actual temp is. Since replacing everything they haven't kicked on at all unless I turn the AC on - gauge hasn't gone over 1/2 yet, but I'd like them to kick on somewhere around there I think.