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This evening I went over to my friends house to figure out why my heater blows cold air sometimes and warm air other times. I think my fluid level was low. Anyway he noticed that while the car ran for probably 10 minutes the fans on the radiator never kicked on. So we started testing stuff. I tested everything I could test and it all checked out. The fans run when I turn the A/C on and when I turn the defroster on, but as soon as I turn them off the fans go off. I drove the car home tonight about 8 miles and when I got home I left the car running and checked the fans they were not on. Are these fans supposed to run and cool the engine other than when the A/C or defroster are on. My buddy said if they didn't kick on I would eventually blow a head gasket. I thought I would ask someone who has driven these cars for a while.

Thanks

if you let the car sit long enough at idle, the fans should come on.....assuming everything is good.

I don't know the actual physics of it, but assuming you have good enough air flow whereever you parked and it was cool enough would you even need the fans to go on?

Watch your water temp gauge if it climbs past a normal warm engine temp (half way) then you may want to check and find the problem. My brothers svx has a problem of over heating due to the fans not cutting on which if the car does over heat can cause problems. It would not happen driving a decent speed of over say 15 mph but slow stop and go traffic the needle would climb.

I only have 1 radiator fan. Many other legacies i've seen have 2. Whats the deal? Is it that the AC cars have 2? Also, i've never seen the fan come on either, and that includes when ive left it idling for a half an hour. The temp didnt creep, so i didnt worry about it. Legacies have crazy-big radiators. Anyone who says otherwise needs to stick their head under a civic

Most cars with AC will have an auxiliary fan to assist in cooling of the coils for the HVAC system. Typically, you should see this off to one side, and it's usually noticably smaller than the primary radiator fan.

scottzg wrote: Legacies have crazy-big radiators. Anyone who says otherwise needs to stick their head under a civic

i agree 100%

I have the two fans, i used to have AC. I had thought that one was for ac and one for cooling, but after soem heavy driving i popped the hood and both were defintely on full blast.

mk

Yes there will be two fans on the AC equipped cars.

Even if you rip out the AC both fans will still work. Some info I have read said they're supposed to come on independantly, however I've never seen that happen. They both always come on together.

My fans seem to come on at the same time, but they go off at slightly different times.

Steve

Hi dont now if this would help but no harm trying
Few months ago i notice that heater somtimes blow hot and sometimes cold. Found out that my thermostad was stuck open so i replace it (the water run throgh the radiator all the time and car usually did not get hot anought to radiator fan to go on) unless idling for 20 min at least.
But after the chance of thermost the heater just blow cold
turned out to be a air pocked in the hose to heater. i fixed that by lifting my car up at front about 20cm and losen the little screw (on the top right of radiator)to let the air out while i poured antifreese and water throug radiator filling hole it fixed that problem for good (im learning all the time)
i looked for the air went screw before but did nt find it but now i now

hope this could help..

yup....that little vent screw on the radiator can mean the difference between cursing and swearing vs. bein happy