The car is overheating (needle points to red line) idling in traffic. When I turn on
the AC, the temp is fine. When I turn ignition off the condenser fan kicks in. I then
drive home and remove the bleed hole and find no trapped air (temp dial is set to
HOT.) I then remove the (92-96 C) fan switch. I jump the switch terminals with
ignition on. The fan runs. I pot boil the switch connected to an ohmmeter. Right before
the water begins to boil, the switch closes. I reinstall the switch, refill, bleed and
allow the fan to come on twice, as instructed by the service manual. The car does
not over heat anymore, confusing. What could cause this random overheating?

Thanks

 

Sam Nickaby wrote:
> The car is overheating (needle points to red line) idling in traffic. When I turn on
> the AC, the temp is fine. When I turn ignition off the condenser fan kicks in. I then
> drive home and remove the bleed hole and find no trapped air (temp dial is set to
> HOT.) I then remove the (92-96 C) fan switch. I jump the switch terminals with
> ignition on. The fan runs. I pot boil the switch connected to an ohmmeter. Right before
> the water begins to boil, the switch closes. I reinstall the switch, refill, bleed and
> allow the fan to come on twice, as instructed by the service manual. The car does
> not over heat anymore, confusing. What could cause this random overheating?
>
> Thanks
>
----------------------------

Possibly some corrosion on the connectors you dislodged. Good diagnostic
procedure !

Keep an eye on the reservoir level.

'Curly'

 

Sounds like your cooling fans are not coming on at the proper time in
non-A/C mode intermittently. Remember, when you turn on the A/C... the
cooling fan(s) come on whenever the compressor is engaged. Maybe the
switch you boiled is intermittent. I would change that first.

Professor
www.telstar-electronics.com

Sam Nickaby wrote:
> The car is overheating (needle points to red line) idling in traffic. When I turn on
> the AC, the temp is fine. When I turn ignition off the condenser fan kicks in. I then
> drive home and remove the bleed hole and find no trapped air (temp dial is set to
> HOT.) I then remove the (92-96 C) fan switch. I jump the switch terminals with
> ignition on. The fan runs. I pot boil the switch connected to an ohmmeter. Right before
> the water begins to boil, the switch closes. I reinstall the switch, refill, bleed and
> allow the fan to come on twice, as instructed by the service manual. The car does
> not over heat anymore, confusing. What could cause this random overheating?
>
> Thanks

 

Sam Nickaby wrote:
>
> The car is overheating (needle points to red line) idling in traffic. When I turn on
> the AC, the temp is fine. When I turn ignition off the condenser fan kicks in. I then
> drive home and remove the bleed hole and find no trapped air (temp dial is set to
> HOT.) I then remove the (92-96 C) fan switch. I jump the switch terminals with
> ignition on. The fan runs. I pot boil the switch connected to an ohmmeter. Right before
> the water begins to boil, the switch closes. I reinstall the switch, refill, bleed and
> allow the fan to come on twice, as instructed by the service manual. The car does
> not over heat anymore, confusing. What could cause this random overheating?
>
> Thanks

I have never worked on a Honda. That being said, most other cars use
more than one temp sending unit. One for gauge, one for a/c, one
for each fan, one for each head, etc.
Perhaps the sending unit for the fan is bad.
OR, the fan motor is bad and sometimes does not run.
Take the fan motor apart and look at the brushes.