tw142808

New here (sorry no intro yet, but I have searched and searched for any similar issue) and looking for some possible answers to a very weird problem my winter beater is having. The car is a 1994 DX sedan (manual everything). When we bought the car this past summer, there were a few things rigged as fixes, but nothing major. Most notable was the fan switch bypass (a.k.a. twisting the 2 fan switch wires together to bypass the switch and make the fan run constantly), something I didn't notice right away. I haven't had the chance to order a new switch yet, but I did replace the pigtail already and tried the current switch with no luck. Now for the confusing part. I have a small wire connecting both terminals of the pigtail (same bypass, but with a pigtail in place) and, generally speaking, the fan will run when the ignition is turned on. However, sometimes the fan does not run. When the fan decides not to run there is nothing that can make it run. I have ran jumpers straight from the battery to the end of the fan plug and get nothing out of it. No movement, nothing, nada. And then sometime later (maybe hours, sometimes days or a week), I get in the car to move it and the fans kicks on with the ignition before I start the motor. No idea whats causing this intermittently working fan, but I am out of ideas. Cooling system seems to work fine, has a new thermostat, get good heat in the cabin, yet the fan does not always work. Another strange thing I have noticed is that the temp gauge will not go above somewhere around 3/8 (the needle just barely touches the bottom of the symbol in the middle of the temp gauge). This happens whether the fan has been running or not. Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!

tw142808

So 60+ views and not one person has anything useful or helpful yet? Nobody has seen a similar problem?

mk378

A worn out motor will start intermittently. Jump the switch turn the key on and if the fan does not run, measure the voltage at the motor plug. If there is battery voltage but not running, replace the motor.

tw142808

Thanks for the reply. Will try this and replace fan or fan motor if it seems to be getting voltage there.