Cooling fan wont turn on

[zappa1999]

2000 camry 171K died on side of the road with no water in radiator. We replaced water pump and timing belt. Next day temp went to hot after less than 2 miles driving it. Filled it all back up with coolant and when I let it run 10 to 15 mins, no fans and temp guage all the way hot. Checked relays all seem good. The fuses behind coin tray are not marked and I can not find anything on them. Not in user manual or Chilton. Do any of these have anything to do with fans or relays?

Thanks.

[Nervous]

Welcome to the club:
Fans are not turning on when coolant is hot

[93celicaconv]

When you replaced your water pump & timing belt, I would assume you filled the system with coolant too, right? Was the engine run and the coolant level monitored to ensure any trapped air was purged, and the coolant level topped off, before the car was placed back in service?

You said after driving 2 miles and it got hot, you filled it back up. Did the coolant leak out somewhere? Or was it just significantly underfilled?

What engine do you have?

If it worked fine before, then had the coolant drained and service work done, I'm pretty sure you have or had air trapped in the system and you weren't getting coolant flow as a result. The link Nervous provided, while long, is a good one regarding getting the cooling system to work normally again.

[zappa1999]

Originally Posted by 93celicaconv

When you replaced your water pump & timing belt, I would assume you filled the system with coolant too, right? Was the engine run and the coolant level monitored to ensure any trapped air was purged, and the coolant level topped off, before the car was placed back in service?

You said after driving 2 miles and it got hot, you filled it back up. Did the coolant leak out somewhere? Or was it just significantly underfilled?

What engine do you have?

If it worked fine before, then had the coolant drained and service work done, I'm pretty sure you have or had air trapped in the system and you weren't getting coolant flow as a result. The link Nervous provided, while long, is a good one regarding getting the cooling system to work normally again.

How do I get the air out?

[93celicaconv]

Read through the thread link that Nervous provided, if you have the 6-cylinder engine in particular. You still haven't told us what engine you have yet though.

[zappa1999]

I have a 4 cyl engine.

[93celicaconv]

Originally Posted by zappa1999

2000 camry 171K died on side of the road with no water in radiator. We replaced water pump and timing belt. Next day temp went to hot after less than 2 miles driving it. Filled it all back up with coolant and when I let it run 10 to 15 mins, no fans and temp guage all the way hot. Checked relays all seem good. The fuses behind coin tray are not marked and I can not find anything on them. Not in user manual or Chilton. Do any of these have anything to do with fans or relays?

Thanks.

OK, 5S-FE 4-cylinder. Still read through the thread that Nervous provided. You might get some useful stuff from reading that.

Engine died while driving on the road when there was no coolant in the radiator? Why did the engine die, from overheating? Dumb question here, but if the temperature gauge was pegged at hot, why was the car allowed to continue running? And where did the coolant go? Was the water pump leaking badly?

Put a new water pump and timing belt in, drove it the next day, temp gauge went back to hot quickly...and you lost a bunch of coolant that required you to "fill it all back up again"? Did you have another leak somewhere? Where is all this coolant going?

I'm sure we can check the reasons why your fans are not running, but my first main question is where is all that coolant going. And, if you are driving during all this time, the fans don't typically come on, because the radiator is getting plenty of air to cool off the coolant while driving without the need for the fans to run. And you said the first 2 times that you were driving.

What work was done to this 2000 Camry immediately preceding the loss of coolant and overheating situation?

[zappa1999]

I think I have isolated it to the number 1 coolant temp switch. When I jump the two posts on the switch with a paper clip the fans turn on. I got a new switch from AutoZone and Advanced Auto and although both were for a 2000 Camry both were the wrong diameter and would not fir. We tried 99,98 and also 2001, 2002 just to make sure. They were like 22.00 and the one from my Toyota dealer which they would have to order is 92.00. Think a used car yard might have one or what? It has 171K on it and I don’t plan on keeping it too much longer.


Thanks

[93celicaconv]

Zappa, test the one you had in it to make sure it is bad first. Test if the switch has continuity or does not have continuity when the switch is cool. Then, put the switch in boiling water. Test if the continuity changes state. If it doesn't, then you have a bad switch. If it does change state, then your temperature switch is good. You need to find out the reason the coolant isn't getting warm enough when the temperature switch is located next, if the switch is good.

You didn't explanin where all your coolant is going, which you seemed to have lost in your previous threads. That could be helpful information for us to help you, Zappa.

[zappa1999]

I was mistaken the water was still there. Originally it all drained out when the water pump blew up. So it is still there. I will check the switch in boiling water to make sure.

Thanks