Cooling fan only works sometimes

[rollertoaster]

The fan only works sometimes, it almost overheated in traffic today, but I got it moving just in time and the airflow cooled it right down. I have a ghetto ground wire that I can hook up in an emergency I it gets too hot, but I really want to fix it right. I'd hate to have a friend borrow the car and have it melt down on them.

I know it isn't the fan. It's a fairly new flexalite, I always have power at the fan connector. I'm assuming the circuit is ground switched. Does anyone have a wiring diagram that I can confer with? I suspect a bad temp switch or relay.


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[crazyrog17]

Temporary fix is to unplug the wire from the radiator fan switch on the thermostat housing. It will make the fan run any time the car is on.

It does sound like a failing radiator fan switch to me.

[TominMO]

You can also turn on the heater to cool things down quickly. Have it come out the windshield vent to not roast you, and open windows as needed.

But the root cause of your overheating problem is probably a clogged heater core.

[rollertoaster]

Thanks, I'll try that out. I usually don't even need my fan to run (mostly steady pace driving on my commute). I still want it fixed correctly though.

So if it doesn't run with the switch unplugged I guess it's bad wiring or a bad relay.


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[rollertoaster]

Clogged heater cores don't cause overheating. And I know the radiator isn't clogged either. The car only gets hot if it sits in traffic for a while. It's never actually overheated it just gets close. And when I hook the fan up it cools down within a minute.

I know it's a fan problem because I can hear when it's running and when it isn't and should be.


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[Nerd Racing]

I know for a fact that a clogged heater core will cause overheating... blew up a couple rangers that way... heater core clogged and then the truck overheated and blew headgaskets... both times.

[Nerd Racing]

I'm having a similar issue with my protege, except my fan does not come on when I unplug my switch. but it comes on when I jump the diagnosis connector. It also comes on when the car gets really really hot.

[crazyrog17]

Proteges and 323s have opposite logic in their radiator fan switches.

On the Festiva, the switch disconnects ground from the circuit and the fan kicks on.

On the Protege/323, the switch connects to ground for the fan to kick on.

Temp fix for the Protege is to ground the connector to the engine. There was a male terminal I slid the wire's female terminal onto in a 323.

[festivaWES]

You can also turn on the heater to cool things down quickly. Have it come out the windshield vent to not roast you, and open windows as needed.

But the root cause of your overheating problem is probably a clogged heater core.

the heater never vents out of the dash on festivas....