Chance S2K

Hey guys, first off I want to apologize for making this thread in the first place. Just by searching google I found a lot of threads on these forums asking (essentially) the same question, but there's one thing I'd like an answer to that I couldn't find in the other threads:

Right now, after flushing the radiator (and I believe I correctly bled the air...) my radiator fan isn't coming back on. I've already driven the car around town a couple of times before I realized this, however my temperature gauge never went over 3 bars (AP1).

I'm not sure if there's a problem with my system or if I just haven't heated the car up enough for the fan to come on. I've let the car idle however for quite a few minutes in hot Texas weather, even revving the car up to 2K RPM. The heater blows HOT while holding 2K, but the fans just aren't clicking on.

Would it be a bad idea to continue driving the car the way it is now, and wait to see if the fan ever clicks on? I know that the AP1's have a grotesque temperature gauge, and that 4 bars won't appear until the car is already at 235 degrees.

MR.T

First step would be
1. Find out at what temps the fans are supposed to kick on. I'm too lazy to look it up, but it should be available in the service manual under the cooling section
2. Then find out what your actual temp is. Use a laser thermometer. The kind you point at something and it tells it's surface temp, Forgot the name. Check the top and bottom hoses of the radiator. A scan gauge or obd2 scanner with real time data will work, but the laser temp tool is most accurate.

You could have a thermostat slightly stuck open, not allowing the motor to reach operating temp.

Depending on the location of the water temp sensor(again, i'm too lazy to look) you could have an air pocket that's not giving you a proper reading. In my land rover the sensor is located at the lower intake manifold so it's somewhat feasible. Rovers are retarded though.

Most cars have a fail safe that when a coolant temp sensor fails, or is disconnected, it runs the fans from the moment you start it up. again, too lazy to check if this is the case for honda's s2000.

Hopefully someone else will chime in that are more familiar with these motors.

I know that during idle relearn I hold my car at 3k and it takes awhile for the fans to kick on, are you sure you're waiting long enough?

Mike21

drive with the a/c on until you get this resolved.
using a scan tool to check the coolant temp would be nice.
jumping the fan switch should get it to turn on. either your coolant is not reaching operating temp to kick the fan on, or your fan switch is bad.

Chance S2K

Thank you; I don't have any scanner to check the temperature of the hoses/radiator, but I should be able to jump the fan switch and see if it's bad.

Otherwise I suppose I'll just assume that there's an air bubble (although once again, I thought I correctly bled the system per using "Bilman's" guide here) blocking the thermostat, or that the thermostat is bad altogether.


It's already reaching 90 degrees here in Texas, so this isn't really an issue I want to take lightly. This summer is going to be absolutely brutal.

MR.T

The air pocket would be around the temp sensor not the t-stat. Again, not totally sure if that's even feasible in the s2.

If you don't have your precise coolant temps than all you can do is assume. This is the 1st step in diagnosing.

Scan tools with real time data can be had for fairly cheap and are a great long term investment.

s2000maniac

The fans com on around 208-212 F

Chance S2K

Thanks, and even if those tools aren't too expensive I live in a really small town so anything specialized I always have to order and wait on shipping. Regardless though, I probably should invest some cash in some extra tools this summer...

Thank you; I think I'm going to try driving the car around today for at least a good 20 min or so, and just pull into a parking lot or something to see if the fan finally came/comes on.

I'll just keep an eye on my temp gauge and make sure it never hits 4 bars.

vtec9

Rock solid blue tooth ODB2 setup for $24-28.

BAFX Products Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool - $24 on Amazon.
Torque App for android (Free, or $5 for full app)

Certainly worth it.

Chance S2K

The BAFX tool looks useful, but it's only for reporting check engine codes isn't it? Would still be useful in the future.

I'll look into the android app later, I have no idea how that's supposed to work though lol