05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

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Dodge Freak
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by Dodge Freak »

Instrument Cluster :?:

Hmmm, how the heck would that play a part / but U might be on to something cause I do recall my odometer going blank not so long after the fan stop working.

Again it was my car and I just said screw it and clip the wires and rigged up a toggle switch--was too lazy to even use a relay. Wasn't pretty but was cheap and it worked...and the dealer even gave me $1,500 on a trade in when it had well over 200,000 miles on it....how much don't know, odometer never worked again once it went out.
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by MagnumTPI »

Sounds to me like the begining of a head gasket/cracked head problem. Been through several of these with GM V-6's.
If your getting a pocket of air near the temp sensor, scanning it may not be of much use at this point.
No hot water at the sensor will not allow the fan to run either.
Top hose will feel cool/ normal since the thermostat isn't functioning correctly (air pocket). Will feel like it's openoing correctly bit it isn't enough to cool the engine. There is no way you would be able to hold the top hose with the thermo. open at 200°+

All I've worked on do the same, it will seem as though there are no air pockets and the temperature of hoses and water circulation all seem normal, but it will just get worse and worse over time. Sometimes they'll go several days with no issues and then all of a sudden overheating, puking collant etc. Also they seem to have issues on a cold start and will overheat and then work normally again until you shut it of and let it completely cool again. On the next cold restart, problem repeats.

Are you finding the coolant overflow bottle filled to the top or overflowing?
Can you test for exhaust gas in the coolant?
Are there bleeder screws on the thermostat water outlet or on the heater core lines?
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by Baprace »

breaker60, I think you may have hit it, in the beginning every once in awhile I had a high temperature read 230 * plus and sometimes it read normal, I didn't have any symptoms except I thought the fans cycled for very short period of time ( approx 10 seconds run time ) every 1 1/2 - 2 minutes, I would have thought they would run longer, I never add coolant as it does not use any, this car runs perfect. I am going to keep a close eye on this car and if any thing shows up I'll report it on here. I have also seen quite a few cars with head gasket issues and this car has none of the symptoms, YET !
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by Dodge Freak »

My 3100 engine needed like 3 bottles of stop leak to stop it from losing coolant. The silver powered stuff and lots of the old bars leak black bee bees. I just kept adding more until the hose felt firm after driving it.

It sure wasn't the way Mr Goodwench would had repaired it but then again what does $40 buy U at any repair shop? It did get by for like 2 full years, un huh...I forgot now everything what was wrong but I was able to drive up to the dealer for a trade in. I sure got my money's worth out of that car.

I'm sure this is not how you will go about doing the "repair" but its what I did and it worked good enough to drive alot everyday.
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by 582r10 »

beaker60 wrote: First..let me start by saying that,,,everyone on this site,is about a gazillion times smarter than me when it comes to fixing these machines,,,I'm only offering a suggestion,based on experience,,,that being said:I worked as a line tech for GM for 25 years,,,that might make me the MOST dangerous person with a wrench that there is,,anyway,,,during my time there,I constantly had situations identical to this problem,,and,,it's like everyone has said,,,you have to be able to verify the temps by either using a scan tool or a laser temp meter at various locations on the block,,,but in almost 90% of the cases like this,,,it was the Instrument Cluster,,,they were BAD,,,I lost count of the number of clusters I either replaced or sent back to be repaired,,,and 5% were the BCM,,like I said,,,just a suggestion,,but like everyone has said,,no doubt,,a scan tool is going to have to brought into play,,,now,,,I am going to go and get back on my paper and be quiet.


You can buy the stepper motors that are in the gauge panel on ebay 6 of them for about $30.00. They're easy to replace I've done a bunch of them and it's damn cheaper than paying GM for one of their reman instrument clusters that usually last less than a year or two.



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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by Baprace »

thanks guy's on the guage tips, I never knew about stepper motors until now #-o .
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Re: 05 Chevy Impala fan cycling issue

Post by MileHighMan »

beaker60 wrote:
Baprace wrote:I have bled this car a couple of times, it is not air bound, it does not overheat and I can almost hold the top hose ( it is very warm ) when it is up to temperature, it's not a thermostat as I can feel it cycle with the top hose temperature, right now the temp reads off the scale at 5:00 at running temp and 180 when cold, guage markings are maxed out at 2:00 which is 260 on the dial, this is a guage issue or the computer is sending the wrong signal, I have been on the internet and there are approx 28 hits on the same subject but not one on a reliable repair. I'll keep everyone posted, I'm may send it out to get it scanned.
First..let me start by saying that,,,everyone on this site,is about a gazillion times smarter than me when it comes to fixing these machines,,,I'm only offering a suggestion,based on experience,,,that being said:I worked as a line tech for GM for 25 years,,,that might make me the MOST dangerous person with a wrench that there is,,anyway,,,during my time there,I constantly had situations identical to this problem,,and,,it's like everyone has said,,,you have to be able to verify the temps by either using a scan tool or a laser temp meter at various locations on the block,,,but in almost 90% of the cases like this,,,it was the Instrument Cluster,,,they were BAD,,,I lost count of the number of clusters I either replaced or sent back to be repaired,,,and 5% were the BCM,,like I said,,,just a suggestion,,but like everyone has said,,no doubt,,a scan tool is going to have to brought into play,,,now,,,I am going to go and get back on my paper and be quiet.



If this car were in my shop,, the first thing I would do is scan it to make sure it is in fact not overheating..If it's not then beaker60 is absolutly correct..I replace GM instrument clusters on reguler basis.. The good news is you don't have to go to GM for the reconditioned cluster. I use a place in Pheonix AZ called ISS. They used to be called Jimmy's Radios. The cost of a reconditioned cluster is about $175. I've used this company for years and never had a problem with their products..Turn around time is fast too..The only information they need is Vin# ,, Mileage and your credit card # as they send you a reconditioned-reprogrammed cluster. In some cases I've got my clusters overnight..Piece of cake!!!..Sorry,,I'm at home now and don't have their number..You can get online and probably find it..If not,, Call me tomorrow and I'll give it to you. 1-505-319-1846. Good Luck!!...Dan.
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