Hi - if anyone has any idea, they will be appreciated.

The other day, I am driving to my gf's house. I get off the hwy, and it takes me a few to go down the side streets to get to her house. I see the engine temp is getting way too hot. I made it to her house, but barely - the temp gauge was all the way in the red and the coolant was gurgling slightly. I waited until the car cooled a bit - still too hot to drive, but cooled down enough to start for a few - and started it. The fan is not working. So, I get the owner's manual, see which fuse is for the fan relay, and even tho the fuse looked good, swapped it with another 20 ma fuse. No fan. So here I am thinking the fan relay is bad. I start driving the next morning, the car gets up to about 220, and the fan kicks in. Ok....

The same thing happened last night. I am driving for about an hour, and the temp is fine - fan is running. Then the temp gets too high - no fan. Several hours later, I start the car, let it run for a bit, and the fan kicks in.

Anyone have any ideas here? My mode of thinking originally was that if the relay was bad, it would just not work - but it does - usually. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

My first guess is low coolant. When car is stone cold open radiator cap and make sure the radiator is full to the top.

Jeff

Thanks for the reply.

My knowledge of cars is limited - but I know enough to know that the fan relay being triggered/not triggered has nothing to do with the level of coolant. The only way the coolant can have an effect, is when you don't have enough, and the temp gets high too quickly, and the fan is triggered sooner than normal. But the actual coolant quality/level has nothing to do with the fan relay.

Anyone else?

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply.

My knowledge of cars is limited - but I know enough to know that the fan relay being triggered/not triggered has nothing to do with the level of coolant. The only way the coolant can have an effect, is when you don't have enough, and the temp gets high too quickly, and the fan is triggered sooner than normal. But the actual coolant quality/level has nothing to do with the fan relay.

Anyone else?

Thanks!
My theory is if the switch is not in the coolant it won't turn the fan on, but the temp guage might read high. I have seen this happen due to air pockets and low coolant in several cars not sure if it was a 91 Camaro or not. Keep in mind that the 305 TBI cars do not use the computer to turn fan on and of like the TPI cars do. The themal fans switch is located in the passenger cylinder head between the last two cylinders. My 92 Camaro 305 TBI never liked traffic with the A/C on, would get hot all the time in stop and go but ran 160 at speed.

Jeff

Ok, I see where you are coming from.

Thanks for the time.

As said, the thermal switch is on the pass cylinder head. And I think it closes at 225°-230°F.
Fan(s) should come on with DEF or MAX A/C selected - a parallel path for the relay.
You might add on a toggle switch to the thermal switch so you can have control of the fan.
Air in coolant system is bad, air does not get as hot as coolant, so if sensor is in air or the thermal switch is in air, they will never read the correct temp.