car overheating, think it may be the fan clutch

[TheOne]

well, the problem is after driving for sometime, i get to a traffic light and if it takes a long time(traffic jams), the car will start to overheat(when idling) but whenever i start goin again it'll go back to normal.

now this started happening bout 3 days ago, and for those last 3 days i haven't heard the fan clutch as much, it used to sound pretty loud when i would go up on 1st and 2nd gear, but now it doesn't, the fan still spins whenever the engine idling though.

so my question is could it be the fan clutch the 1 causing it?

[NateDogg]

If you have your original radiator, I would replace it.

I had a problem when idling with a/c on the car would start to overheat. I replaced the water pump, thermostat, rad cap and checked the clutch fan. Nothing helped so I replaced the rad and now the car wont go above 183f.

Here is the test for the clutch fan. When the engine is idling and it's warm, run the engine at 3000rpm and there should be a stiff breeze. Usually when a clutch fan goes, the fan spins faster because the clutch wears out and grabs constantly, rather than slipping sometimes when the engine doesnt require a lot of cooling.

[TheOne]

i don't have the original radiator, i have an S14 auto radiator. the car idles fine with the a/c on and it doesn't overheat when idling with it on.

i'll test the clutch fan.

[DjPantsSpecR]

yeah, then i think you solved your own problem before you asked us

the S14 auto radiator is huge compared to the single row S13, so thats good, and its not your problem, but maybe giver her a flush if you havent in a while

the ac turns the electric fan on, so you're obviously getting some fan action there, and you already figured that much out

i personally would, and have, wired up that fan to run all the time, and lose the mechanical fan, but i also have a few mech fans from when i thought mine were bad, so getting one is cheap

[TheOne]

a mech fan costs $35 at a mazda/nissan junkyard here.

i've been thinkin about wiring up the a/c fan to turn on ignition or through the thermostat, but wouldn't it be not good enough for when i turn on the a/c?

[DjPantsSpecR]

see you'd think that, but from personal experience i gotta disagree

either way the fan is running full duty all the time, and in the winter, warm up is gonna suck, and people say it burns the fan out quickly

you could get an actual thermoswitch, or if you can possibly remember you could wire up your own switch

but my advice to you for now is to just do it, ive been running two of these vehicles like this for about four or so months now and the ac in the one that actually has it is still just as cold

[TheOne]

ok, i should also keep the fan shroud right?

i'll look around for how to wire it up, through a thermoswitch though, i dun want it to burn the fan fast,lol.(seen a couple of guides around)

just for knowledge, how many cfm's does that fan push?

[DjPantsSpecR]

i don't know how many cfm's but i know someone does, the only thing i remember reading is that it pulls more than most aftermarket electrics

no you finally get to lose that fan shroud, the best part is now working on your car will be that much sweeter cuz you never have to take it off again, no more scraped hands and arms

[TheOne]

i'll test that in the next couple of days, thx for the info:).