I have a 2002 saturn l-series. The main cooling fan works (i hot wired it to ops check ) but will not come on to cool the engine. The secondary fan for the ac comes on after engine temp passes the half way mark. Does the coolant temp switch have two ranges built in one for lower temps and the other for upper temp ranges?

SOURCE: 2000 Saturn SL2 with DOHC

Did you check fuses?

SOURCE: Heater not working

I would check if your vent to the outside is open. If it is I would check the vacum hose that controls the vent to open and close.

Mike Butler

• 6674 Answers
• Posted on Jun 27, 2009

SOURCE: 1996 saturn sl2 fan coming on late an over heating

Start with engine cool, & remove radiator cap. Check level in rad & fill to an inch or so from top of rad. Start car & turn heater on.(not defrost)
Now let it run until engine gets up to normal operating temperature & let it run until rad fan comes on & off, 2 or 3 times. Rev engine slightly every so often just to help disperse air in system faster. Fill rad as needed during this time. After you do that, and fan has come on & off 2 or 3 times, put rad cap back on & fill return bottle to proper mark, then see how it is.
I suspect it's just air in system & this should cure that . If not get back to me.

Jeff Barton

• 520 Answers
• Posted on Jul 29, 2009

SOURCE: SATURN SW1 1993. THE COOLING FAN DOES NOT WORKING

If you've owned this car for a while ,you probably know the fan turn on point is very high on the gauge...about 3/4 the way up which is actually quite close to the red zone.The beauty of the gauge is when the fan does come on,it will drop to below half in a couple minutes which tells alot about the cooling system in general. If it has the ability to drop fast ,under half you have a well running cooling system for the most part. Your fan turns on via a coolant sensor signal to the control unit which then signals a relay to energize the fan. In short, you probably need this coolant sensor which is a $21 dollar part...ask for pn#21025106 at any Saturn dealer..the thermostat is connected to the block from the lower hose connector on front of engine which is held with 2 bolts...ask for pn# 21006335...install these two parts and you should be good to go......good luck

SOURCE: My radiator cooling fan is not working. I have

If you have A/C, you can check the system from the PCM output through the relay and to the fan motor by turning on the A/C and blower (with the engine on, of course): the cooling fan motor should turn on and stay on for several minutes.

Also, as you may know, this vehicle has a one-wire temperature sender that controls the dashboard gauge, but nothing else. (This one connects to a dk.green/yellow banded wire -- or maybe green/white banded.)

The other, two-wire temperature sensor is the one that connects to the PCM. This one has one yellow and one black wire. I assume that this is the one that you replaced.

And, in principle, there's the PCM itself that could be giving an inaccurate temperature... but that's expensive, so let's not go there...

- Roy