a/c fan
 

My a/c isn't hooked up right now, but I was wondering if the fan was supposed to work even if the a/c is off. The reason why I ask is that my temp gage usually sticks around the lower portion of the gage (1/3) and pretty much stays constant driving around. If I sit and idle for a few minutes, the temp goes to around 2/3. I don't see anything wrong with the cooling system that I can tell. I was wondering if the a/c fan was supposed to kick in if the engine temp got too high. Thats the way my beamer works. Just curious what I should be looking into.

Yup, I'm not sure what temp it's supposed to turn on but it sure should have if it went up that high. I know when my fan clutch was bad, my electric fan would kick in a lot. Now, I never see it turn on after replacing my fan clutch.

The pod gauge is too fickle to base much on. My 83 turns the Aux fan on with the AC, and just before the top "normal" line on the pod temp gauge. My 85 with a good clutch fan never goes over about 1/3 of the "normal" range.

Lower temps while cruising, and higher while idling usually point to a failing clutch fan.