2.2 Cooling Problem

[razorguy]

Ok, I am a Chevy guy first off, but my friend has had a 2000 Camry with the 2.2 in it since the middle of the summer. I noticed her thermostat had to be stuck open because sitting in traffic, the car got warm, but on our hour and a half drive on the interstate last night, the temperature was below cold on the gauge. So I went and got a new thermostat only to find out she didn't even have one to begin with... I put the new one in with a gasket and added antifreeze and let the car get up to temperature and the fans are not coming on (I let it get almost to redline for the temperature before I turned it off). I know on my Camaro there is a bleed valve for the cooling system to get the air out of it and such a problem could arise from that, but I could not find a bleed valve on her engine..

So basically what could any other potential problems be and if there is a bleed valve, where is it?

Thanks in advanced!

[dc_98_cam]

Some people have reported an issue with an air bubble at the thermostat ... I used the dealer OEM thermostat, which has a toggle piece, that is installed at the 12 o'clock position, vertical. If your thermostat does not have the toggle part, just a solid disk, than you could drill a small hole/orifice .... 1/8" diameter at the 12 o'clock on the outer circumference .... The idea being to allow the air void to purge out to the radiator fill neck.
However, not completely sure that is the answer to your problem. Are the fans always on ... or always off? There is a temperature switch on the lower radiator that controls the fans .... Maybe try the thermostat hole fix first.

What model year?

[toyomoho]

The fans not working might be the reason the engine did not have a t-stat installed.

The radiator fans should come on at around 192F. The A/C radiator fan should come on when the A/C is working. If not the fan system has a problem. Download the cooling system for the link below to troubleshoot.

http://www.camrymanuals.com/

[razorguy]

It's a 2000 model and the fans worked prior to this because it went through the summer without any over heating problems, but now that I installed a thermostat the fans do not come on at all. I'll try the drilling idea first probably..

[KillahB]

Hate to bring a thread from the dead, but this is the same exact problem in the 1999.

Was a recent purchase with about 63K on the odometer. Highway driving, the temperatures would not raise past about 1/3 or so. In traffic, it idled normally just under half, but upon driving, it would drop back down again. It was reminiscent of a modification I had done to a previous car, so I decided to check the thermostat. Just like the OP, there was no thermostat. I installed one and let the car .... and the fans refused to turn on.

As the engine temp soared, I wondered if it was the fans themselves or something else electrical which I hate. I decided to pull full load on the motor by turning the a/c on, and both fans worked! So with the blower motor on, either on fan or on a/c, both fans work and the car works fine (fans cut in and out at the correct temp, even on idle) but with the blower motor off, the fans never work at all.

At first I thought coolant temp sensor, but why would it fail with the blower motor off but work just fine when the blower motor is on? Also, I thought about the relay but would the fan work at all if it was faulty relay? I'm stumped .... help please!

[4idpony]

I had a similar problem on my wifes camry. I turnes out that the radiator was blocked and the heated water could not get to the sensor to turn the fans on. Throughly flushed the radiator and the fans worked.

[KillahB]

Originally Posted by 4idpony

I had a similar problem on my wifes camry. I turnes out that the radiator was blocked and the heated water could not get to the sensor to turn the fans on. Throughly flushed the radiator and the fans worked.

Thanks. I'll try that and see where it gets me.