I've been noticing that my car has a tendency to overheat for some time
(a few months maybe). I finally investigated it and found out that my
cooling fan wasn't coming on, even though the car was clearly getting
hot. I went through the electrical schematics, and figured out that the
temperature switch (the one that plugs into the bottom of the radiator)
was the problem. I bought a third-party switch, and replaced my old
one, and I noticed that now my fans were coming on, but only when the
gauge was just about in the red. I went back to the store and exchanged
it for another one, and this time the fans didn't switch on even when
the gague went into the red. I was told that for this part, this sort
of thing can happen, and the only replacement switch that will work is
one I get from the Toyota dealership. Has anybody dealt with this
situation before? The car is a '95 Camry, 4 cylinder 2.2 L engine.
Thanks
Daniel - 27 Sep 2005 14:42 GMT
Haven't had to deal with this situation, - my cooling system works
flawlessly, but I would definitely recommend the dealer part. If you
overheat that engine, chances are good you will be replacing the
aluminum head - at a minimum, so that kind of puts the cost of a sensor
in perspective.
After many difficult experiences over a period of years, I insist on
only genuine Toyota parts - in many cases there are visible obvious
differences in quality.
tomcas - 27 Sep 2005 22:17 GMT
> I've been noticing that my car has a tendency to overheat for some time
> (a few months maybe). I finally investigated it and found out that my
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Thanks
Maybe the problem isn't your thermostatic switch but instead your
thermostat isn't opening.
C. E. White - 28 Sep 2005 16:41 GMT
> Maybe the problem isn't your thermostatic switch but instead your
> thermostat isn't opening.
It might be that the car is not actually running hot and that a bad
temperature gauge or temperature gauge sending unit is the real problem. Or
it might me a water circulation problem. I am assuming that the fan control
switch is mounted in the radiator and that the sending unit for the gauge is
mounted to the engine. If the water is not circulating properly (due to a
bad thermostat or other problem), the water temperature at the temperature
gauge sending unit might be significantly higher than the water temperature
at the fan thermostat. An infrared thermostat would be useful in this case.
You can look at the radiator temperature and hose temperatures and see if
they are actually high.
Ed
tomcas - 28 Sep 2005 23:21 GMT
>>Maybe the problem isn't your thermostatic switch but instead your
>>thermostat isn't opening.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Ed
Ed
It's a lot simpler than that. All he need to do it put his hand on the
radiator. If it's cold, and the engine is hot, it's time to check first
the thermostat, then the pump.