Originally Posted by
A-series
You say it eventually gets to ~45%, is that with the fan wired to run all the time?
If functions the same after I jumped the thermoswitch as it had before, so even before I hardwired the fan it did the same thing. It slowly rises to 45% and remains exactly there. Never goes up a little bit, never goes down a little bit. In my opinion, the temp. sensor is faulty.
Originally Posted by
A-series
You tested the thermostat, so that it opens and closes at the right temps., so that should rule out the thermostat being stuck open.
Correct. Suspended it in a pot of water as it boiled, using a thermometer to watch the water temp. It functions normally.
Originally Posted by
A-series
The fan not coming on by itself may in fact be the thermoswitch, but that wouldn't explain the temp. gauge not going above 1/2 no matter how long the engine idles, etc. You'd think it would have to be the gauge or it's sending unit, but maybe the engine just isn't getting that hot
I feel it is entirely possible, although statistically improbable, that both the thermoswitch
and the temp. sensor have both failed. And the engine
is getting hot, I just don't exactly know
how hot.
Originally Posted by
A-series
...is your distributor by chance tilted all the way towards the firewall in the engine bay? If so your timing is retarded, which may be the issue. Regardless though, if you have access to a timing light it might be a good idea to check it.
Before I replaced the distributor, it
was rotated all the way one way or the other, but I can't remember which. It's been returned to the store as a core. When I reinstalled the replacement, the general opinion was to center it, allowing the ECU to correct itself, which is how it is orientated at the moment. As for the timing light, I have one, but checking the timing is a bear (need to remove the valve cover in order to remove the timing cover) and since I need to do all that anyway to replace the water pump, I may do it all in one fell swoop.