My gf's 04 lancer OZ rally, auto trans with 54 or 58k miles on it. Everything is stock. No mods period.

We just came back from the drive-thru. While at the drive thru i noticed that car temp needle go slowly up to HOT. Once we drove out of the highway then it instantly cooled down and droped back to the middle. Not the car is acting completely normal. I haven't done any service to the car in terms of coolant. I did a tune up at 40k, but that was alignment, tie rods. plugs, filter. brakes and brake fluid. but during the 40k, i didn't see any issues other then slight oil leaking at the covers.

I haven't taken a look at the car, most likely i will at this weekend. I just told her to aviod sitting idle and in traffic for the most part. I'm trying to find a FSM so i can get the right value specs for the coolant temp sensor.

Is over heating on these lancers a common issue? I'm looking at the normal culprits, coolant sensor, t-stat and the obvious low coolant. i'm not sure when the t-belt and t-stat are due.

 

probably the sensor screw up or the needle got some problem
but u can pop your hood when that happen
if u dont smell any burning smell
it must have been an error or the sensor need to be replaced

 

i really would WISH and love for it to be a sensor, air pocket bubbles or t-stat. all that is $50 and 5 mins work for me.


but i'm not in the mood to do a t-belt and pump.

anyone have a FSM so i can OHM out the sensor? i googled and couldn't find it for free.




My gf drives the car daily, so i barely have the car on hand. She doesn't want/ nor will i let her drive my g35 to work. So the weekend is the only time.

 

Fan control relay. Very common problem.

 

any TSB or recalls on this?

any information at where the relay is at?

 

holy crap, $125.90 is the price the dealership gave me.


i found out its mounted on the driver's side fan.

I really dont want to spend the $$ and it not be it.

I really need a FSM, anyone?

 

maybe thermostat or radiator cap? i just changed those and havent had much problem since.

 

It should be pretty easy to determine if it is the fan controller just start the car and watch the temp and see if the fan doesnt turn on. I would not think its the thermostat if it cools down when on the highway as this means it must be circulating through the radiator. If the fan does not turn on then you start by pulling the connector off the fan and use a multimeter to check for power going to the fan, if no power at all when idling for several minutes @ norm temp then check fuses, relays. FSM states 180F is when thermo will start to open and at 203F is fully opened.
also here are your values:
With the temperature sensing portion of engine coolant
temperature sensor immersed in hot water, check the
resistance.
Standard value:
14 − 17 kΩ [at −20°C (−4°F)]
5.1 − 6.5 kΩ [at 0°C (32°F)]
2.1 − 2.7 kΩ [at 20°C (68°F)]
0.9 − 1.3 kΩ [at 40°C (104°F)]
0.48 − 0.68 kΩ [at 60°C (140°F)]
0.26 − 0.36 kΩ [at 80°C (176°F)]

I hope this helps you out man good luck!!! I cant send my FSM but if you need anymore values just ask bro I have the Mitsu FSM

 

yes the fan control relay was a recall. I believe so anyways. There was something to do with the fans that they recalled and I dont remember what it was but I did go and get it replaced because it was a potential overheating issue.

 

The Dealership can pull you vin number and see if the recall has been done, its actually the fan controller that they replace under the recall... its a 5 minute job but usually takes a dealership about 1-2 hours ...

 

we went in and they told me no open recalls. my gf remembers she did a recall a while back but she said a o2 sensor recall.



ok, i got the specs and i'll take a look when i get the time tomorrow, same drive thru, same problem. this time before it hot to the redzone in hot i told her to pull over to a spot, this was like 3/4 up, A/C was off and i looked both fans seem to be running and the second we started moving, say like a couple feet it immediately goes back down to the mid-point ( normal level)




question--- these fans they are single staged fans right? its either on or off, there isn't off/low/high speeds are there?

 

No there is only one speed. Is your coolant level up to par?

 

coolant judging by overflow is full.


A couple of things i'm thinking right now that could be the problem but i have to replace anyways so it MIGHT kill the problem.

the 60k service is due. i'm 50/50 on wanting to do the timing belt right now. i could do it but it might take my all day or we can pay the dealership $350 to do the belt. Anyways that side, the belt replacement will also change out the water pump, i'm doing the other 60k stuff which does include replacement of the t-stat and coolant anyways.

So those 2 would be replaced reguardless. the only thing that would leave left is the fan controller, radiator cap and fans not being up to the task. which does limit everything down.

 

ok ok, i had about 30 mins to play with the car today. coolant if fine. I checked the upper hose once the car was warm and it feels the t-stat is doing its job.



i start it up in the garage let it run. nothing wrong. car doesn't overheat according the gauge. The fans kick on and all is well. i tell my gf and she goes turns on the AC. it takes a WHILE but it does get hotter then normal. since most of the time its at the middle but its at the upper 3/4 mark and then lowers down. I can hear the difference between in the fans with the AC on.

i looked at the fan controller and the FSM's tests. standard value was good with just the key on, the 3 pin harness. Now here is something i noticed... the next test was the connecting going to AC fan. ( AC is on the pass side and normal cooling is on the driver side)

I'm not sure if i was doing it right. Here is what the FSM said.

3. Connect the fan controller connector, and disconnect the
condenser fan motor connector.
4. Ensure that the A/C switch is off, and start the engine and
run it at idle.
5. Measure the voltage between the fan controller-side
connector terminals.
Standard value: 1V or less

now i measure the 2 pins on the controller and it gave me a zero reading. i measured the harness which shouldn't get power since i disconnected just in case and no reading. So i see a problem in the values but the next test states

6. Turn the A/C switch to the ON position.
WARNING
Stay clear of the fan when the fan starts running.
7. Measure the voltage between the fan controller-side
connector terminals while the fan is running. The voltage
should repeat the values 1) and 2) below.
Standard value:
1) 8.2 ± 2.6 V
2) Battery positive voltage ± 2.6 V
8. If the voltage does not repeate

doing this test on the controller with the AC on I got like a 13-14v reading. which is B+ + that 2.6V. that looks to be within specs. I dont know how to get the first value.


After i did this my girlfriend had to go take care of some things so she took the car. so right now it seems to me that the fan controller is bad on the AC specs. Can someone go out and try it on their car? It doesn't take too long. Just pull the plug on the fan controller that is facing the pass side and with the car on and AC off measure see what those 2 pins are giving off.


cliff notes: car seems to only get HOTTER then normal with AC on after a while. measure fan controller specs for the AC fan terminal with the AC off and didn't get the expected value, but with the AC on got the expect value. I'm not sure if the car is really overheating or not.


Fan controller box is $115 from my dealership and $75 shipped online. I really dont want to spend the money only to find its not broken.

 

I will see what I can do about getting you more of that FSM