Who needs a fan, part 2...64 degrees, 60 MPH, 60 miles...

I had a Honda once,..... The radiator was not radiating because it was plugged up. I got through part of a hot summer by running the heater full blast to cool the engine when it would start to run hot, it was pretty marginal, hills and wind would cause the temp gage to move up and down, when the temp gauge moved to high, down came the windows and on came the heater. When I finally got the radiator rodded the shop said that was just about as plugged up a radiator as he'd ever seen come off a running car, and he'd been in the business a long time. And I remember getting a ticket for not having the seat belt in use when I test drove it after putting the radiator back in the car...... What I am saying is while you are fooling around with the possibility of damaging your engine... if it gets to hot, turn the heater on and it will cool the engine. And I need your phone number so my mom can call you for tech support when the computer I'm putting together for her crashes. She is in her

80's and I finally talked her into using a computer or trying to use a computer. What you will need to know when she calls, it's an e-machine case, HP/Comp (intel)mainboard, cheap 512 of memory, probably nearing end of life hard drive, power supply off the shelf from some old cannibalized computer, winxp (hey, at least it isn't window ME), and wireless hookup to a cheap wireless router. She is hard of hearing and not technically inclined, but it's nothing a computer pro like you won't be able to handle. I'll get her a screwdriver and leave a few extra parts with her so you can help her keep it running.

60 mph is usually not a cooling problem. SIX mph is the problem. Even worse is just plain idle. On cars with electric fans, it seldom comes on at highway speeds, only in slow traffic.

You need the fan for stop 'n go, mostly stop, traffic. At speed, the airflow is sufficient without the help of a fan.

I had purchased a new truck in 1957. Was turning around in the mountains on a tight narrow road. Poked a tree branch into the radiator. Was not repairable. It was 2 core thick. Replaced with a 4 core thick. No room for fan. Even in traffic and long idling never over heated. WW

Oh, yeah. I became familiar with the heater trick in 1984 when my '80 Corolla started to overheat...on 15 degree days!!!

Funny, the tech said it was just about the most clogged radiator he'd ever seen on a running car, but all it needed was a good flush.

Oh boy. My two favorite words...e-Machine and HP. Together in the same sentence yet! Add to that "...end of life hard drive..."

I'll send you my PayPal acc't, and you can PRE PAY!!! ;p

Before I replaced the radiator, just having the engine *ON* was a problem! The faster it went, the hotter it got.

Two thoughts; one, the radiator was plugged and needed cleaning, second, I have heard of head gasket problems doing this.

Both. I 'fixed' the HG problem with this:

It actually worked! I followed the instructions to the letter, and the leaking gasket stopped leaking!

The old radiator was SHOT! When I pulled it from the car, fins started falling off all over the place...