engine cooling fan

[Mike McKown]

Is it likely a Festiva will run on the road without an engine cooling fan and not overheat as long as you maintain forward motion of 20-30 mph or more?

I'm trying to keep this simple.

[lasvegascop]

Not speaking from experience but I believe that's true for any car with a radiator.....someone correct me if I'm wrong please

[Mike McKown]

Speaking from experience, that's a good statement for MOST normal sized, rear wheel drive cars/trucks where you don't have a teeney weeney radiator and the engine turned cross ways to block the air flow and the fan remaining static to further block airflow. That's why I asked about Festiva, specifically.

Thanks.

Not speaking from experience but I believe that's true for any car with a radiator.....someone correct me if I'm wrong please

[Pu241]

Speaking from experience!
My wife's fan died in her festiva, and for about a year I couldn't figure out why it would belch out coolant after the nearly 2 mile drive up the side of a mountain to reach our house.
Only happened in the Summer.
Nothing in the Winter, Spring, or Fall.
Oh, and if sitting in traffic you'd see the temp needle creep up higher than normal.
So I'd say you'd be fine!
Except I'd cruise 45-55 and try and do it early morning or evening when its cooler.
After making sure the coolant level is topped off.
Heck after that, if all that was wrong was the fan wasn't working I'd drive it anywhere!

[Mike McKown]

I have a car I'm getting ready to put on the road. I haven't got the fan working yet. I'd like to drive it without it if necessary.

I did take it on a 5 mile ride the other day. When I pulled back in the driveway, there was a tiny bit of pressure on the cap. No puking. Temp guage I think was to where the bold line starts if I remember right.

The only thing I have to compare it to is another Festiva I use as a yard truck. The fan on it never comes on. I know it works because it comes on with the igntion.

[Pu241]

.... The fan on it never comes on. I know it works because it comes on with the igntion.

From my experience the fans rarily come on, period!
Only in slow or no moving traffic or running up the sides of mountains in 4th for protracted periods (and then stopping) have I ever noticed the fans running!
That's why it took a year for me to find out the problems with my wifes car.
It would only puke coolant after we went into the house and I'd find coolant a few hours later or the next day!

[Mike McKown]

Sounds good.

[blkfordsedan]

Everything stated is true. The fan is controlled by a temp sensor and rarely comes on. (Assuming you don't have A/C). I would, however, keep a close eye on it! Remember, aluminum heads are prone to warping and/or cracking under heat. If you get unlucky enough to have a temp guage stick or get caught in traffic you have no way of cooling it back down! just be careful............You can always wire the fan switch direct or install a manual rocker switch to get by until you can fix it properly. My fan temp sensor went bad and I couldn't find one. One from a Mazda 323 will fit but is opposite in function (normally open vs. normally closed or vice-versa) so I just wired in a manual switch rather than change out the relay. Works great!

[dahodges]

You can go a long time with out needing the fan. But when you do need the fan what are you going to do? I have run a short time (weeks) with out one. But get a fan set up before you toast the engine.

David

[Mike McKown]

I've driven years without a fan on my daily driver(s). I'm not bothered much with stoplights and no stop/go traffic. I just didn't know how one of these Festiva's would do without a fan as long as you kept moving. Sounds like okay.




[QUOTE=dahodges; But when you do need the fan what are you going to do? I have run a short time (weeks) with out one.

[jglutz]

I think running with out a fan is a roll of the dice.

There should absolutly be no problems while driving....actually the engineers who designed the system would have put a torque convertor (hydraulic clutch) in place if they wanted the fan motot to run while moving forward. A clutch synchronizes the forward speed with the air moving across the blade. If the clutch was not there, the electric motor would burn up if it ran while driving.

The risk comes every time the fan should run an is not their...slow traffic...city driving...end of an exit ramp. Thou the elevated heat may be minor....all of these heat cycles will cause thermal stress/fatique/premature break down of critical componets. eg the head bolts will strech...rod caps will loosen up.

[bobstad]

Well; I got my '91 Festiva L 5-speed June of '99 and didn't notice the fan never works for about three years when I began to get curious why like many other electric fan imports, I never heard mine running after I'd parked and shut off the motor.

I just dumped all the coolant on the pavement when the bottom radiator hose with OEM clamps blew off in rush hour stop and go traffic at 5:30 pm in downtown Seattle last Thursday. I'd gotten by for years by turning the motor off whenever I was in gridlock and the temperature needle climbed too high, but now I'm going to try to make the fan work; which itself runs fine so I guess my problem is in the thermostatically controlled switch in the coolant which turns the fan off and on?(I splurged on new hoses top and bottom and after-market screw type ring clamps)

I have noticed that my timing belt cover is badly heat distorted which I've never seen on any other Festiva or Aspire of the half dozen or so I've looked at in wrecking yards. But look where those cars ended up; while I got mine with 85,000 miles and now have 163,000 going on ten years later which runs like the proverbial top...so far at least?

[jsupple90]

I have the opposite problem with my Festy......the fan never shuts off unless I disconnect it at the plug. Could this still be a problem with the fan switch?

[jsupple90]

What I should have said was: "It never shuts off when the key is on.....

If the key is on.....the fan is on.....

So, fan switch?

[GenevaDirt]

needs to be plugged into the fan switch, when that plug is undone the fan will run anytime the key is on and not when the car is hot enough to need it.