Adventures in Car Repair, Part 27: "Well there's your problem!"
Two of the nagging issues with my car have been the cold starts, and the fact that the cooling fan doesn't kick on automatically.
The Fan Problem
The fan issue was one of the first issues I was aware of. If the car sat too long, while running on a warm day, the engine would gradually hit a point where it would start to overheat. However, this issue didn't come up if the car was moving, or if the air conditioning was on. Both situations forced air through the radiator, and the air conditioner proved that the fan actually worked. The previous owner thought the radiator was cracked, and bought a new one. They never installed it, and now it's sitting in my garage. One of the things I had found out in experimentation was that the radiator was not leaking, and through discussions with our family friend (who is a mechanic) and the good folks at Saturn Fans, it was suggested that one of the possibilities was a bad engine coolant temperature sensor (in fact, it's a rather common thing). Well, I finally got around to replacing the ECTS sensor, and this might just explain what was going on:
From the condition of the sensor, I'd say it hadn't been replaced... ever. Probably an original component with the car. The intake air temperature sensor was in a similar condition, and crumbled as soon as we tried to mess with it. This explains a lot. After replacing it with a fresh, brass enclosed sensor, we ran the engine right up until it kicked over the fan. Great success!
The Cold Start
The cold start issue is not a deal breaker for me. The car starts reliably as any other car I've ever driven on a daily basis, it just doesn't seem to like the cold, and it runs an occilation through the entire car. But it's not super violent. It had been suggested to me that there was the possibility my engine mounts were shot. Entirely by accident, we may have discovered the issue: all the engine mounting bolts were loose! Not a single one was even snug! We also discovered this:
One of the bolts was broken right off! So for now, I'm riding around with two tightened bolts, which seem to be holding just fine.
Epilogue:
On the drive home, I noticed the car seemed to be driving a bit better, despite the snowy conditions. Even weirder: my idling issue seems to be resolved! The car has always idled high. When I got it, it idled between 2,500 and 3,000 RPMs, which seemed to be resolved by fixing some vacuum leaks. However, the car still idled around 1,000 RPMs when not moving, and 1,500 RPMs when moving. The car should have been idling around 700 RPMs. Guess where it's sitting now! 700 RPMs while sitting, and 1,000 RPMs while in motion. Maybe it was the fact that we ran the engine temperature up so high, maybe it's the ECTS. Either way, all I know is that this is the perfect time of year for the car to be performing properly.
