2002 LeSabre Running Hot, maybe dead cooling fans?

Discuss your 2000-2005 Bonneville SE, SLE, SSEi, Buick Le Sabre 00-05 and Buick Park Avenue 97-05. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.
Post Reply
User avatar
Turbosax2005
SLE Member
SLE Member
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:51 pm
Year and Trim: 2008 Buick LaCrosse CXL
2002 Buick LeSabre Custom
Location: Kent Ohio

2002 LeSabre Running Hot, maybe dead cooling fans?

Post by Turbosax2005 »

It's been awhile since I posted, and the car has seen some miles and is getting ready for mods and repairs but I've been trolling a lot and after a lot of fruitless searching I decided to post this

2002 Buick LeSabre Custom
98500 miles


I noticed about 2 months ago that my car was warming up a little faster than usual, and with it being the middle of a hectic N.E. Ohio winter I did not think much of it because the car was running under 200 degrees. Then until a couple weeks ago the temperatures warmed up and I noticed that the temp gauge was reading higher than it usually was, and the car's computer said the coolant temp was running between 215-225. At the time I was only able to check the coolant level, which was normal.

However, I did another check when the car was running around 195-200 and I noticed that neither cooling fan was running. I've only been able to check the fuses, which were fine, and the fans spun very freely, there wasn't any resistance whatsoever. But I also have no idea if that means they are dead or not. The only thing I haven't checked are the fan relays.

So I have a few questions:

1) The fans are currently dead as the car sits, do you guys think that the relays for both fans are shot or the fans themselves are gone?
2) What temp would turn the fans on if they were working properly?

Thanks in Advance
Rob

Current:
2008 Platinum Buick LaCrosse CXL
~12k Miles as of 1-14-2015
Stock for now

Past:
2002 Ming Blue Metallic Buick LeSabre Custom, lightly modded
Dad's car as of 8-3-2014, ~149,000 miles

1995 Deep Jewel Green Ford Taurus SE, lightly modded
sold 11-28-2008 with 128,500 miles
User avatar
Mechanical Mike
Retired Gearhead
Retired Gearhead
Posts: 3606
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Year and Trim: 99 SSEi
Location: Buffalo New York

Re: 2002 LeSabre Running Hot, maybe dead cooling fans?

Post by Mechanical Mike »

If the 2000+ works the same as the previous generation then the low speed fan won't come on until the coolant is 205 or higher. High speed comes on around 215 - 220.

If the fans were causing the problem then you'd probably have noticed that the engine temp is fine at highway speeds & gets high hot when sitting at traffic lights.

I'd start by doing a coolant flush & swap out the thermostat.
2006 Chevy Monte Carlo SS
Jrs3800
Retired Admin/Techinfo Admin
Retired Admin/Techinfo Admin
Posts: 26009
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 2:08 pm
Year and Trim: 03 SLE, 95 SE, 95 TS SE
Location: Space Coast, or at least it used to be

Re: 2002 LeSabre Running Hot, maybe dead cooling fans?

Post by Jrs3800 »

I believe its 212F for low speed and 227F for high speed..

Thermostat is the first thing I would check..
Post Reply