help! are the 2 radiator fans supposed to work all the time?
 

are the 2 radiator fans supposed to work all the time or just when the engine gets to a certain temp? i never see mine work, i have not overheated yet but it is cold outside. maybe i have a blown fuse or something?

If you want you can visually inspect the fuse(s) to see if any are blown, but I doubt it. If you want to see if your fans are working then turn on the a/c or heater and the fans should come on. Those fans dont' come on until the engine is quite hot. I've only noticed them come on by themselves once, and it is pretty hot in Florida.

They should work when you've been idling for a while, or when you turn the switch to start when the car's hot with the engine off.

cooling fans
 

Just for some advice drive with your parking lights on even during the day because the fans will come on at 212 degrees instead of 230 degrees. It is also true if your using the air conditioning the fans will automatically come on. The answer to your question is yes both fans will run when your at 230 degrees, if you have the parking lights on and your at 212 degrees one fan will come on, and when you have the air conditioning on you have one fan on as well. After you turn your car off BOTH fans run if its in the area of 212-230 for about 10 mins. Both fans are different though, one is a 4 blade fan and the other is a five blade fan.

A couple of notes, when the fans turn on, both of them turn on, also, the driving light trick only works on '93s apparently.

The Driving Light trick works on my '97....

Cheers,
Dave

97? howd you come about that?

Aussies still get RX-7's...lucky bastards. :D

There's no alligators in Australia!

Ok, there seems to be conflicting answers...

Do both fans ALWAYS run at the same time?

OR

Do both fans run at the same time when a certain temperature is reached?

For example, if the water temp is below 212F but the A/C is on, will BOTH fans be on or just one?

Didnt realize he was aust., damn! imonna go live there just so i can see a new fd

Just for the record, both fans ALWAYS run together. There are three different speeds depending on conditions. The different conditions are temperature, A/C on and blower set to 3 or 4. There are four relays that control the two fans at the trhee speeds. It's a bit confusing, but for some reason. Mazda decided to make it that way.

Paul

Hey Man, any pics. of your '97 ?

I think PaulDee is correct. I am not sure about 4 speeds of fan though. I've heard 3 speeds.

If you idle in traffic and the car is pretty hot and your fans don't come on, turn on the parking light. That should kick off the fans - you'll heard the fan if you don't have the stereo on. THis works on all FD, not just 93. If no fans are on, better check your relays and replace them so you don't over heat.

Also, after you've parked the car, leave the key in the off position in the ignitiion for about 12 secs. Then remove the key. This should force your fans to run for 10 min to cool off the engine bay. If this doesn't happen, again, your relays are probably to be blamed.

JONSKI, your relays are probably bad if the fans don't come on much. You can't really check relays visually. Fuse yes, relay no. Spend some money on new relays so you don't mess up that engine.

For those of you that get really hot a lot even with the fans on, try replacing your thermostat and use 70% water mixture in coolant during summer. It really helps. The next step would be getting an aftermarket radiator if you are still hot.

Gotta stay cool, it's the best insurance you can buy.

djantlive - leaving the key in the off position for about 12 seconds, then removing the key will
kick the fans on?? Thats news to me.

I tested with my 93 FD and they didn't come on.
Is this dependant on the temps or should they come on regardless of the temps??

My fans (AFAIK) are working fine (ie. w/AC, parking lights, etc.)

Pat Vivalo
85 GSL
93 VR Touring

Don't know at which temp, but I've noticed that after the engine has been off for a while and I then replace the key and turn it to ACC, the fans kick on. I don't know how long after shutting down the engine one has to wait to re-insert the key or how long the fans run after the keys is re-inserted. I'll test this later and be back with info.

Ant

Okay, next day. I shut it down and removed the key for two minutes, replaced the key in the ignition and turned it to ACC. The fans came on. I removed the key again, and the fans stayed on, but I noticed my Greddy TT was set for 5 minutes, so I was thinking that all I had to do was program my TT to however many minutes I want and presto. However, after 5 minutes my TT cut out and the fans stayed on. Very confuzzled at this point so bear with me. Some times the TT will shut the fans off sometimes not. Maybe if the enigne is still too hot the fans wil stayon.

In a nut shell:
9 times out of 10 our engines will be hot enough to require the ECU to kick fans on at sometime. If you're not sure, after the engine's been off for approximately 2 minutes er-insert your key and turn to ACC. If and when the fans come on, set turbo timer for 5-10 minutes and then simply remove your key and there ya go.

I don't know if only my car can do this, but it's worth a try.

Sorry stupid me. Not ACC. The key must be turned to the "ON" position, not "ACC" for this to work. Again, This might not work for you. Hope I've helped.

They are both supposed to run together, always. There are three speeds, high medium and low, and depend on what temperature or what accesories are being run.