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hey guys,

so after i drove up to MCM Nationals the other weekend and during the line to get in i noticed that my temperature gauge was rising and was probably getting close to overheating. Upon stopping and checking it out (not a bad place to overheat with hundreds of car enthusiasts + Marty and Moog ;) ) my radiator fan had stopped working.

Its meant to come on when i turn the key on to AC right? well this wasn't happening and even when the car started it wouldn't come on. I waited all day for the car to cool right down and made sure on the drive home i wasn't stationary too long to prevent the car from heating up.

Upon arrival home i removed the fan and gave it a clean and plugged it back in to see if it had made a difference. It would start and run fine but die off after about 10 seconds and wouldn't come back on? Does anyone know why?

Now i've finished my story..
Does anyone know of anywhere that sells factory radiator fans or recommend any aftermarket ones? I've found plenty on ebay and what not but wasn't sure on quality and if the mounting points would be the same?
I have got an aftermarket radiator on but the factory fan fits fine, the radiator also has mounting points for a second fan (drivers side) and i know this was used for the A/C but would it make much difference/be possible to wire in a second fan? Figured pulling more air into the engine bay wouldn't have a downside?

The fan will not run all of the time. It is triggered by a water thermo-switch. A quick and easy way to check that the fan is, or is not working it to jumper the "TFA" and "GND" terminals in the diagnostic connection in engine bay.

"when the Water Thermoswitch is closed, the Cooling Fan Relay contacts close and power the Radiator Cooling Fan. The connection to the Diagnosis Connector goes to its “TFA” terminal. If the “TFA” terminal is jumpered to the “GND” terminal, the effect is the same as closing the Water Thermoswitch, i.e. the fan should activate if the ignition switch is on. This is a good test to determine that the relay and fan motor are working. (This test will not activate the A/C Condenser Fan.)"


http://miata.net/garage/CoolingSystemProblems.html

J

Thermo fans only come on when they need to. IE: the car is stationary and the coolant is getting too warm.

your NA may have 2 fans, one is a thermo fan, the other is for the aircon.
Thermo fan should cycle on and off when the car is idling for a while (engine heating coolant, minimal airflow through radiator to cool it) the aircon fan will come on when you put the aircon on.

Things that could cause the thermo fan to stop working are:

Fan itself broken (motor siezed etc)
Wiring issue
Temp switch (the thing that tells it the coolant is getting warm and the fan needs to come on)

Like for like replacement is an option (ie a factory item). The later na8 (and all autos I think?) fans actually had a bigger motor and could pull more air through a thicker radiator.

The do require some wiring to make work though (one has a pigtail on the plug, the other the plug goes direct to the motor).


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Sounds to me like the fan motor is dying. Definitely check the diagnostics as advised above.

Pulsar air con fan motor bolts into NA6 thermo fan. Or just get another mazda one