Car overheating

**wikisi9** · 04-22-2017

I have a '06 gxp. It's overheating. I changed the thermostat, didn't help. I took the coolant temp sensor off to see what would happen. I started the car back up and the fans spun at a very high speed. Much higher than when my fans come on when it's overheating. I'm thinking maybe the fans are only turning at half the speed they should be. I thought maybe one of the relays is bad, but then if any of them were bad, the fans shouldn't come on when I took the coolant temp sensor off, or at least only spin at the same speed as rhey do with coolant temp sensor on.

Any suggestions as to what I can check without wasting money?

**Fivefingerdeathpunch** · 04-22-2017

Use a scan tool to actually see if the coolant temp sensor somewhat matches the dash. The ETC will report a temp to both the computer and the dash.

Other things could be the water pump not working 100% or you have a flow problem through the radiator/air in the system.

**wikisi9** · 04-22-2017

Yeah I used torque pro to see if temp is the same and it is. It seems at around 219F the fans come on but they only spin half as fast as when I take the coolant temp sensor off.
I changed the thermostat yesterday and I put in a new radiator about a month ago. Forgot to mention that. Neither fixed the overheating problem.

Don't Know if this info helps but my AC quit and sometimes i think I smell coolant inside the car.

Anyways, next thing to change... Water pump??

**wikisi9** · 04-22-2017

Ok. After some more reading I think I know what's going on.

I'm guessing I don't even have an overheating problem at all. I think the reason my temperature is higher than usual is because my AC quit on me. When the AC is on the fans are on as well. With the AC off the fans come on later.

Can someone confirm this?

**QUICKSILVER462** · 04-22-2017

Yes, The fans have to run when the a/c is on to pull air through the condenser.

**coolone** · 04-22-2017

First thoughts, how many miles on engine?
Losing coolant?
Any milky look on oil cap?

You shotgunned parts at a problem without knowing what the issue is. Have you checked for coolant flow? 220* is not normal and cooling does not require the AC to be on... Fans should be coming in at 190* and even if it gets hotter, will come down with fans. But yes, running the AC, or even heater will help cool down if heating up like that.

You replaced radiator? Why? As mentioned, there could be air in the syste, a simple fix, you might have screwed the pooch reconnecting everything (fans). The coolant you smell is probably overflow from the recovery tank when overheating!
Exhaust smell sweet? You running hot can cause issues with heads/gaskets.

just thoughts...

**wikisi9** · 04-22-2017

The radiator got cracked in an accident last year but somehow it held up till a month ago. That's why I replaced it. And I had this overheating problem before I installed the new radiator. I'm not losing coolant. No milky oil on oil cap.

The car has 260k miles. It's been around the block a few times.

**coolone** · 04-22-2017

Water pump? Take cap off when cool, run it till stat opens, watch for flow...

**wikisi9** · 04-22-2017

I could do that but problem is that I wouldn't know if it's flowing less than it should be as I don't know what the right amount of flow would look like.