I have been having cooling issues lately. one day I was on a very unspirited short drive. not a hot day. and I stopped for a min. tried starting the car and didn't turn over right away. got around the corner and water temp needle hits white and is buzzing i.e- it always does. I pull over coast to a stop and opened hood and let cool. since then I haven't driven it since, but I started inspecting the problem. It starts up and warms up fine but after about 5 mins the gauge starts to rise and I shut it off. I put a high speed fan right in front of the nose and have the hood up fans on -a/c turned on. still get the needle creep. there are no signs of coolant seal failure. no smoke, no spilling coolant, the intake pipes are cool to touch. can't figure it out. I started a thread and everyone says thermostat. I highly agree but then I removed the battery and tray and found that driver side fan is not working. tried to move it with my hand and it is scrapping against the rad. and wont move freely. very interesting? I wonder why? I do have reciepts that a new aftermarket two row rad was installed on 07 - 03 - 04 about 3 mos before I bought it. I am on the stock temp gauge and stock ast. which are both on the way. does anybody have any idea?

 

Thermostat. Sorry, had to. The single fan baing out is an additional problem, but not likely the cause, in that even a single fan *should* cool the car if sitting at idle. I say should as I've never had the nerve to test this first hand. So I would replace the thermostat, posthaste!

Obviously, clear whatever obstruction is in the way, so that the fan blade moves easily by hand. Next, you can ground the TFA connection in the "Diagnostics" box. This is the little black box next to the battery. If you open it, you will see a little legend of each of the connections on the inside of the lid. Find the terminal labeled TFA and one of the GND terminals. Place a wire between these connections (no, you will not blow up your engine doing this). Once the TFA terminal is grounded, turn the key to run but don't start the engine. The fans should come on. If the non-moving one still doesn't come on, you should replace the fan motor. Not VERY hard to do, basically pull the entire intake and intercooler, as well as the cross member that supports these, and the battery. You might be able to unbolt the fan shroud while keeping the radiator still in the car (I don't recall anymre after two years ago). Call Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda (search for the number) and order a new fan motor. Install it and check the operation again with the TFA terminal. All should be well... and you will be essentially removing all that stuff for the thermostat anyway, so check it first and if it's bad, kill both birds while you're in there (but not while your in their, as that would be grammatically incorrect!)

That's my ideas anyway...