cmevets

Hi folks. I'm a newbie here so hopefully this is the right place to post this question.

I have a '97 3.8L v6. It has had an overheating problem since I bought it a year ago. It runs cool enough during the fall, winter and spring. It runs fine at highway speeds, but it gets too hot in stop and go traffic during these brutal Texas summers. (Temp gauge creeps up to "L" in "normaL").

I did a compression test and it has solid compression on all cylinders, and there's no other indications of head gasket problems. So, I started by replacing the thermostat and the temperature sensor. No luck.

I took it to a shop and they cleaned the radiator and condenser. No luck. I took it back and they where certain it needed a new radiator. So $400 later, I have a new radiator and it still overheats - not as fast as before, but still getting way too hot in stop and go traffic.

So Saturday I replaced the water pump. Still running way to hot in stop and go traffic.

The fan turns on and off as expected, and runs continuously when the A/C is turned on...

Is it possible that the fan motor could be "weak" and just not pulling as much air through as needed??? Or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks!!!!

Gregflores95gt

Well first off, I know how you feel as I am in Bakersfield and lately it's been over 100 degrees !!
But what thermostat did you get a 180 degree? 160?
And the stock fan is just not blowing enough air, I myself had the same problems and got rid of the stock radiator and electric fan , and dropped in a 3 row aluminum Ron Davis radiator and a Flex-a-lite fan that blows about 2200 cfm's, and it hasn't even Passed the "R" in normal

petrock

Have you run a pressure test on the cooling system? If there is even a tiny leak the system won't be able to get up to proper pressure and it will boil over faster. Also make sure to test the radiator cap to make sure its holding its rated amount of pressure (16lbs on my girly's '98 3.8L). You can rent a radiator pressure tester from most auto parts stores for free and its fairly simple test to run.

Good luck...

w3!h311

What type of radiator did you get? Sometimes you upgrade to a thicker core but the core might be too thick and not enough air is flowing through to do the job so you will have to get a higher rated fan to go along with it. But now you run into clearance problem, the new module maybe too thick and you dont have room for it. So modifications or find the happy medium with a thick core but not too thick, a high rated fan but not severe duty.

$400 bucks can get you a nice one. Who built the unit?