VS overheat without AC running
Hey I hope someone can help me with this one...
I have a 1996 VS and it overheats when stopped at traffic lights ect. The thermo fan does not come on untill 3/4 on the gauge and cools down to regular 1/4. Then when it switches off the heat rises again....
If I keep the AC running then the gauge never moves past 1/4 because the fan runs more regulary.
I have replaced thermostat and radiator and cap and checked water pump.
Any ideas?
VIP Member
This is completely normal for VS's.
Nothing to worry about!
Yes but i have owner the car for 3 years and it has only just devoloped. surly it cant be good for the head heating up and down all the time?
Gave up on VL's
( .Y. )
Yes, this has been covered a fair bit, if my info doesn't help use the search bar provided in this forum...
It will most likely be a temp sender issue, so replace that, a thread on the same subject on here has pic's and you will be able to locate it and replace it yourself.
Otherwise its going to be an ECU issue. This one I cant help with...
My VS does the same thing, has for years.
VIP Member
It wouldn't hurt replacing the sender, but I highly doubt it is anything more than just standard VS behaviour. Mine's always done it, and everyone else I know who has a VS has done the same thing.
The thermo is doing it's job kicking in at that temp, it's standard operating procedure.
My VS does the exact same, when I first got my vs I was worried, it has been doing it now for over 6 months and it is still running fine.
Its pretty common for alot of cars, ECU has a cut in and out temp for the fan and when your still the lack of air flow makes the fan have to work, perhaps you have changed your driving habits lately?, driving in stop start traffic more?
Donating Member
My VS is the same and has been for the last 8 years.
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There's low and high speed fan modes, has the low speed mode died? IIRC there's a relay specifically for low speed.
Well I know that my fan in my vs only has 1 (working) fan speed, It says totally off until 3/4, kicks in, down to 1/4, turns off, 3/4 etc etc.
I have a wiring diagram for a VS that says otherwise...
To get my low speed fan mode going, is it an easy fix?
I had a play with it last night, pulled the sender wire off and low speed fan cut in after 5 seconds then high speed after another 3. So from what i have read this is working correctly. I believe it is still strange that it gets hottter now than before???? However my mind is at ease that this is a common trait with the VS and she is not going to go BANG on me (hopefully). I tried to do some temp tests with a gun but in the process lost most of the coolant and gave up. I have another BCM that I will put in tonight and see what happens and let you all know. Does anyone know if it will be a problem putting a VS 2 ESTEEM BCM into a VS 1 EXECT?
If your cars temp gauge has always gone to 3/4 before the cooling fan cuts in, then its probably normal, but if it has only just started going up that far for no reason, then theres most likely to be a problem somewhere causing it. My VSV6 only goes up to half way on the temp gauge, then the cooling fan cuts in and drops it down again, and Ive seen quite a few other VS's that dont do go up that high on the temp gauge normally either, so not all VS's normally go to 3/4 on the temp gauge before the fan cuts in.
On a hot day, my VS sits around the 3rd line on the temp gauge, unless im sitting in traffic idling, where it will then go up to half way. In cool weather or at night, the temp gauge will sit on the second line. It also sits around there when driving out on the highway. Ive read that holden released a revised temp sender unit to fix the VS temp gauge so it reads in the normal range and not up at 3/4.
I also thought that maybe my engine was just running slightly colder than normal, so I checked out the my engines running temps with the Tech 1 scantool to compare where the temp gauge shows its running at. The running temps, and the points where the cooling fan cuts in and out etc, are all within the proper specifications, so the engine is reaching its proper operating temperature.
Ive also run across a problem with the VS's where the low speed cooling fan relay overheats and dies, which then stops the cooling fan cutting in on low speed. If you look closely at the middle pin on the relay, you can sometimes see that the plastic around the base of the pin has melted, and if it is like this, then the relay has definitely failed and will need replacing. Ive ran into this problem on quite a few VS's, I thought it might have just been mine doing this, but Ive since found that its fairly common. Ive had to replace my low speed cooling fan relay about 4 times now in the 6 years or so that Ive owned the car. In each case with mine, the middle relay pin has melted the plastic around the base of the pin. You can use the LP CHK relay to check if the cooling fan relay is causing the problem, just swap over the cooling fan relay with the LP CHK relay, if the cooling fan now works on low speed, then the relay was the problem, so just repalce the old relay, around $10 from holden dealers. These relays are all located in the fuse box under the bonnet.
To test the cooling fans, cooling fan relays and sensors etc on the VSV6, disconnect the temperature sensor wire connetcor from the temp sensor on the engine.
(theres two temp sensors used on the VS, one for the temp gauge, one for the ECU, the ECU one is the one you need to disconnect, its the one with multiple wires, the temp gauge only has a single wire.)
Anyway, once the multi wired one is disconnetced, start the engine. After 12 seconds the cooling fan should start to rotate on low speed. Then after a further 6 seconds, the fan should switch to high speed. If its doing this, the fan is working correctly.
Last edited by Brett_jjj; 23-11-2011 at 11:47 AM.
I had the same problem happen to my VS and i took it to many mechanics. The problem ended up being the low fan. As many people have said the VS runs a low and high speed fan. Your problem is that the low fan is not engaging. For memory they runa seperate fuse, my problem was the fuse had been removed. Once the fuse was back in the car never saw anything past half way.
Id check that first becuase its an easy fix.
my vs has the same problem with it getting to 3/4 before the fan kicks in....obviously from what ive just read here its my low speed fan not working.where is the seperate fuse for the low speed fan located?
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