fan won't come on

[lil_red_wagon]

here are the details;
02 p5. the car will overheat, but the gauge won't read hot. the fan won't kick on at all and the radiator will just boil over. i replaced the temperature sensor on the return line with no change in any symptoms. the radiator isn't clogged because the water is circulating properly. the thermostat got replaced first thing. any time i have cooling problems, i do the thermostat whether i think i need to or not.

the big question is, what is the problem? is there another temp sensor that i need to find? do i just need a new fan? any input will be appreciated.

 

[RockerPro5]

Possibly bad fan relay?

Can't remember if there are one or two fans and if they are independent.

In the service manual, 01-02B-109 seems to have some good info on this.

 

[CTt3P5]

Bad fan relay/fuse sounds logical. There are two and they are independent.

You say you switched the sensor at the return line...is this the one found at the upper rad hose? Only one that I know of and when I had my overheating issues I swapped that out as well at the t-stat and hoses.

 

[hotcracker69]

how sure are you that the water pump has not failed? or what have you done to make sure the water pump is working?

 

[lil_red_wagon]

i understand that a bad relay would keep the fan from kicking on, but would it keep the gauge from reading hot? as i said before, the gauge reads at operating temperature, but the car is obviously overheating.

the system is circulating water and the water pump has resistance with the belt off. i have seen the turbines on the back of water pumps spin off and the rest of the water pump still seem to operate correctly, but they usually spin without any resistance when you take the belt off.