No shroud, cond. fan doesnt work, but no overheating

[Neejay]

My cond. fan doesnt cut on at all, not even when idling or by testing it by cutting the a/c on (even though it needs charging + a new hose). I also dont have a fan shroud. Ive replaced my water pump and thermostat though. My car has been like this since I bought it in March 03'. My temp gauge seems to work fine, going directly to the middle of the gauge.

Now, some people are telling me that my car shouldnt be running and should be overheating. I dont know what to do though...Im gonna start looking for a new fan just in case though. Cause Im trying to get my a/c fixed with basically only a mechanical fan w/o shroud.

What should I do?

[LEMHEAD16]

I wired my AC fan to come on with the ignition added another electric fan on the other side of the radiator and removed my stock fan and clutch. It actually runs a little cooler now.

[Neejay]

I wired my AC fan to come on with the ignition added another electric fan on the other side of the radiator and removed my stock fan and clutch. It actually runs a little cooler now.

Having it run the whole time the car is on is alright? That wont drain or cause more work?

And also, how would I do it like that? I know jack **** about electrical stuff...heh...

[TheOne]

isn't the car supposed to overheat without the fan shroud? i mean my car almost overheated once cause the shroud wasn't tight(cause i had swapped an S14 rad in the S13, which the shroud doesn't fit right nor the top hangers, but the rad seems bigger, maybe cause it was from an auto S14)

[Neejay]

isn't the car supposed to overheat without the fan shroud? i mean my car almost overheated once cause the shroud wasn't tight(cause i had swapped an S14 rad in the S13, which the shroud doesn't fit right nor the top hangers, but the rad seems bigger, maybe cause it was from an auto S14)

Well, thats my point. For a lot of other people, the stuff I dont have, has caused their cars to overheat.

EDIT: Also, what are signs that my engine is too hot? (besides the temp gauge going to H)

[Neejay]

I really need like a "fan wiring for dummies" FAQ

I need like a SIMPLE explanation on how to test and re-wire/add-in a cond. fan.

No one?

[justmerging]

i used to run my race car without a shroud and never had any problems(easier to work on without it). I don't think it is anything to worry about.

As far as wiring, just find a wire that has 12v with the ignition on. mount your condensor fan and wire the 12v power and a ground and you should be good. a little a/c condensor fan won't do any damage to your electrical system. If you get dual fans(ie. flex-a-lite) though you run the risk of melting wires if they stay on too long(don't ask). In that case you'll want to get a thermostat switch kit.

[kapower06]

for what its worth here in st.louis the past couple of days the temps have been a constant 100 or so and I drive everyday. I dont have a fan shroud either. My h20 mixture is a bottle of water wetter then 70% water and 30 % coolant. Ive never overheated and I run the AC of which the elec. fan doesnt work.

[LEMHEAD16]

In the installs part of 240sx.org there used to be a write up on installing electric fans. If you can find it use that for your wiring. It is kind of ghetto but it works. If you can find the post I don't know where it moved.

The correct way is to wire a relay off of a switched power source

[Neejay]

i used to run my race car without a shroud and never had any problems(easier to work on without it). I don't think it is anything to worry about.

As far as wiring, just find a wire that has 12v with the ignition on. mount your condensor fan and wire the 12v power and a ground and you should be good. a little a/c condensor fan won't do any damage to your electrical system. If you get dual fans(ie. flex-a-lite) though you run the risk of melting wires if they stay on too long(don't ask). In that case you'll want to get a thermostat switch kit.

hmm...there is a green wire and a black one. So I can just splice a wire going from the green to a 12v source? And just ground the black one?

[naed240sx]

Other signs of engine being too hot? boiling coolant mix(depending on ratio). Find somebody else locally with a similar car, get em both up to temp and use a thermometer on both engine blocks. Or: test temp, ask a shop. Fan shroud itself shouldnt matter too much, a bunch of people around here run their cars like that and its TEXAS

[DjPantsSpecR]

The mechanicals fan does more than enough work. The shroud is not needed in most cases, maybe if you live in arizona in the summer and you do mostly stop and go driving then i would say put the shroud on. but even when my head was warped over eight thousandths, my car did not overheat with out the shroud

Just for fun and free ponies you could remove that mechanical fan and wire up your ac fan, you dont need to but you can. To answer your wiring for morons question:extend the green wire and wrap the end of it around one of the posts of your fuel pump fuse, and extend the black wire and wrap it around any unpainted bolt on the chassis, but i suggest one of the headlight grounds. This wireing method is extremely ghetto, but it definately gets the job done, you could wire in a switch, but its easy to forget.

[Florida240sx]

don't see how the fan shroud would make your car overheat...If anything make it cooler.Safer because of wires but zip ties fixed that.I'm turboed now so I'll find out. Simply ground it and run to a fuse.I like toggle switches.I run most of my electrical into my fuse box inside.Just find out which ones turn on when you turn the key.Simple test light. Like radio fuse and windshield wipers.

[Neejay]

Thanks guys, I'll repost when I try it or get some results.