electric fan problem
 

My 02 ES started to overheat badly in traffic. From what I could see, the passenger side fan does come on, it seems to be working with the aircon. The driver side fan never comes on, even if the guage goes way up close to the red. Any ideas, is it the fan motor, fuse or relay or something else? is there a way to test it? Any ideas welcome.
Sias
02 ES

Re: electric fan problem
 

Make sure all the wires are plugged in for sure it's a primary fan problem. Just take it into the dealer before you damage your engine any more.

Thermostat?

No. A T-stat would mean that the engine coolant isn't leaving the engine at all. He says that the A/C fan helps a little, so you know it's circulating through the rad.

If it starts to overheat something mad, open all the windows, crank the heat and put the blower on full. It's like another rad and will help cool the coolant down.

The same thing happened to me. I was just driving home one day and I looked down to find the needle on the temp gauge is as far up as it gets. So I turned on the heat and rolled down the window.
Unlucky for me I was in traffic Yeah! It took me another hour b4 i got home in the 90 degree weather with the heat on.

So we flushed the radiator and it still heated up like mad. So thats when we realized it was the thermostat. Drove to the mazda dealer picked it up and installed the new thermostat. No problems since. Also had to replace the gasket the thing powdered in my hand, when we were replacing the thermostat.

I think its the Thermostat.

Yes.

The A/C fan is exactly that, an A/C (only comes on when the A/C is used) fan. The fact that it works when the other fan does not (even when it should work as the temperature climbs) tells me the thermostat has frozen.

Get this problem fixed as soon as possible; no matter what's causing it.

Thanks I will have it checked out asap. Just a question, if the thermostat is stuck and the temp goes up, why does the main fan not come on? I also noticed the the temp does not go up gradually, it goes very quick from about the middle all the way up on the guage in no time?
BTW I have not been driving in any traffic, so it did not happen again, will have it fixed quickly, just try to understand the problem before I give the car to the dealer.
Sias
02 ES

The fan is controlled by a thermostatic switch, probably wired directly to the fan from the thermostat, or through the computer. When the thermostat stops working (most break in the closed position) the car will think the coolant is still not up to temperature, and keep the fan turned off. The A/C fan works independently of the thermostat.