Car begins to overheat when in idle!!!!I?

I have a 1990 Buick Century that begins to do this when I'm in idle for around 2-3 minutes; I want to know what is wrong so that I can get the right parts (radiator/radiator fan/thermostat)????
Car begins to overheat when in idle!!!!I?
Classic sign of failed electric radiator fan, fan relay, wires, fuse, etc. Start by checking the fuse.





The electric fan is only suppose to come on when the car is idling and need air to move through the radiator. When the car is moving, there's enough air movement that the radiator will cool the car (without the electric fan).








Good Luck...
Car begins to overheat when in idle!!!!I?
some where in the fan control circuit or the fan itself you will find the flaw. the relay could be bad, the fan or a fuse could also be the problem. you could also have something as simple as a blown fuse.
Reply:check what the other guys said to check.





Until you get it fix try turning on the ac. In most cases this turns on the fan by passing the bad thermostat switch. It will get you by until you fix it.
Reply:The *likeliest* cause is the cooling fan. Just don't discount other possibilities. Instead of throwing parts at the problem, why don't you have it diagnosed first? Just because the fan is the likeliest cause doesn't mean it couldn't be a faulty water pump or something else. You should be able to look at the fan while the car is running. Does the fan come on when the vehicle's coolant temperature starts to get high? Does it spin rapidly enough? Can you feel it blowing out hot air? If so, then the fan is probably not the culprit.





Hey, I'm not against the do-it-yourself car owner. That's the main reason I take the time to answer questions. However, I hate seeing so many people waste money throwing parts at a problem and ending up costing themselves more than if they had just had a professional diagnose the problem. You can always take it somewhere and have them diagnose the problem and THEN you perform the repair to save money. A decent shop should be able to diagnose your problem in less than an hour.





Either way, good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.
Reply:First I would check the water level and oil level making sure that they are at proper capacity. After that the electric fan(relays fuses and such.All connections.) and or water pump.

tanning