overheating = electric fan?

[6Litre]

1993 Nissan 240sx SE Coupe KA24DE

Hey guys, I searched multiple overheating threads and couldn't quite pinpoint the answer I was looking for (feel free to call me an idiot if it is in one of the threads). Anyway, my S13 recently developed a over-heating condition on the way back from work yesterday. I had to pull over about three times to let the car cool down because the temp gauge would go up to the H in just a matter of minutes. Coolant started bubbling out of the reservoir so I immediately shut her down, had someone pick me up, came back a few hours later and drove it home. Anyway, I just had the water pump, power steering pump, dist. cap, plug wires, spark plugs replaced last week so I didn't think it would be the water pump. I bought a thermostat and proceeded to go about installing it when I took the fan shroud off and noticed my electric fan housing was broken and the wires severed.

So my question is..does the electric fan make that much of a difference to overheat my car in less than 10 minutes if driven normally (no hard acceleration)? Also, since it did get hot enough for the coolant to bubble out of the reservoir have I more than likely toasted my head gasket or warped the head? I checked the coolant, there's no oil...no white smoke from the exhaust and the motor runs excellent still.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Modified by 6Litre at 6:48 AM 7/17/2007

[Twilight sentra tuner]

ur fan shroud pulls in air from the outside through the fins in the radiator. this is how it keeps cool. if these wires are severed, replace them immediately. as goes for the whole thing if its broken.

[6Litre]

ur fan shroud pulls in air from the outside through the fins in the radiator. this is how it keeps cool. if these wires are severed, replace them immediately. as goes for the whole thing if its broken.

Thanks very much for the reply. I was not sure if this could be the culprit or if I was already doomed with a blown head-gasket. Any suggestions on finding a replacement fan? Junk yard?

[Twilight sentra tuner]

i'm not sure if a dealership would carry it anymore. u could try a junkyard but there's no promises any of them could be good.

i guess just try to search the web and see what pops up. some companies sell oem replacement parts and u might be able to find one there.

[6Litre]

Alright here's an update. I removed the t-stat and took the radiator cap off then let the car idle up to operating temperature. There doesn't seem to be any coolant flowing at all through the radiator...Also the top radiator hose is extremely hot while the bottom one was barely warm.

After about a half hour idling there appeared to be a steam like substance coming from the top of the radiator from the opening where the cap goes. It smelt it and it did not smell like anything so I'm assuming it was steam. Is this normal?? I don't think it's a water pump problem because the pump was replaced last week, although I suppose it could be faulty. The top radiator hose also feels like it is deteriorating (it's really soft to touch) on on the curved area, although there doesn't appear to be anything inside blocking flow.

Do you guys think the radiator needs to be replaced? It was just flushed and checked for leaks so I wouldn't have thought so...but the thing is pretty hideous (original unit).

[spinstix]

I would check for any place that can flow test the radiator before replacing it.

[Twilight sentra tuner]

my sentiments exactly. sounds like the radiator itself is clogged. take it to a shop for them to check it out first to be sure.

[hsujohn]

or do you have oil cooler or anything big blocked your radiator? That happened to my old miata before....

[Twilight sentra tuner]

if a radiator is clogged you could try a reverse-flush. it catches alot of deposits and breaks them off of the core. u need an air gun though to do this. also just to be safe, flush ur water jackets too.

[hayaimoto]

From my experience, you must have a shroud on for proper cooling, KA's-SR's-RB's need proper cooling pressure to circulate through the radiator. What I would do if make sure the fan in in total working order and then run a full radiator flush with 80% coolent and 10% water, also try using Redline lubricants "Watter-Wetter" it helps as well. Good luck

Or:

Do a compression or leak down test....That will let you know if your headgasket took a dump or not.