saab brief overheat

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Tue 22 Jun 2004 14:14
saab brief overheat - willyb
I,ve a Saab 9000 2.0 eco K reg and the cooling fan did not come on yesterday whilst stuck in traffic.Saw some steam emerge from under the bonnet but traffic picked up and this stopped.Will any damage have been done, and how do I check the fan?( I'm reasonably handy but the manual is useless!!)Any advice welcome.
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Wed 23 Jun 2004 13:16
saab brief overheat - Mike H
Could be a loose wire on the sender unit for the fan - the sender will be screwed in the side of the radiator. The sender unit could have failed (no easy way to tell). The fuse could have gone (check whether anything else is on the same fuse, and if so check whether that works). Could be that your cooling system was already low on water and the sender unit was not immersed internally in water.

As to damage, it is possible that the overheating was bad enough to cause head gasket problems. What temperature did it go up to on the gauge? Is it reading normal now? I sthere steam coming out of the exhaust? Does the car seem to be running normally now?

If it happens again, you can alleviate it by putting the heater on full blast, as this will help to dissipate the heat - you might have to open a few windows if it's already a hot day, but this will hopefully help to keep the temperature down!
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Wed 23 Jun 2004 13:49
saab brief overheat - willyb
Had the heater on full but the guage still entered the red. It was low on coolant but is running ok with no steam from the exhaust.Have already id'd the sender location and that the fuse is ok but the fan is a 2 speed unit and there is a relay in the system. Need to suss out how to check the electrics to ensure the fan comes on the next time.
Thanks Mike H
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