Hey guys. I was messing with my little project car today. I recently put a d16z6 in it and I was letting it sit idle just to see if I saw anything leak after a while. Anyway I let it sit for about 20 minutes and I was waiting for the radiator fan to start spinning. It doesn't even spin.

It was about 55 degrees outside and none of the fluid went into the resivour or anything. Is this normal or is something wrong? I did notice a VERY SMALL amount of smoking coming out from somewhere near the thermostat (somewhere near but not sure where).

The problem is I dont have a temperature gauge dial on my gauge cluster. I'll be getting one soon but I want to know if you guys have seen this problem before and how to go abotu diagnosing a problem.

 

I'm not sure what the fan temp is set to start at but my guess is its over 200 degrees.The GM stuff doesn't kick on till about 260.The things just about blowup before the fan comes on.
Glenn

 

when i did my thermostat a lil back i had my car idling for 30-50 minutes and my fan didnt kick once... and yes i did everything right

 

I talked to a guy at my dads shop and he says that the radiator fan wont kick in till it hits the right temp to keep it from overheating. The way I see it, the fan wont spin untill it gets hot and by letting the engine idle, its not going to heat up anymore than it is and it shouldnt be too hot just by idling unless you are in hot temperature outside and the engine has a problem with it. But I think your fine. And just so you know, mine doesnt spin either. At least, I havent seen it spin when its idling.

I wouldnt worry about it.

 

And just to be on the safe side... take the thermostat out and make sure its not stuck - if it dosnt open its not going to send hot fluid to the radiator and activate the fan thermo switch. Do check the fan fuse. Try jumping the fan to a 12v source to see that the fan motor works. On some cars the fan should come on when the AC is turned on. And its a little more difficult but you can also manually test the fan/coolent temp thermo switch with boiling water and a multimeter.