On my '82 Turbo, the cooling fan that blows air onto the engine block after the car is turned off doesn't work. The car is low mileage and garaged, so I am a bit surprised it doesn't work. Is this fan failure a common problem? If so, is there a common fix? I've already tested the fan motor itself, and it does work. So I was thinking maybe it's the fan motor timer unit behind the lower right kick panel. I physically examined the timer unit and it looks in good shape, but I have no idea how to test it or what other components of the system might be the culprit.

 

I don't even know if those are supposed to come on all the time. Mine comes on only after the engine has been overheated. Under normal opperating temps it never comes on. I've seeno older 280ZXs that have the fan come on every time the car is turned off.

 

My 80 280ZX 2+2 comes on every time, unless its less than 40 degrees. no joke, 41 degrees and up it's onevery time, after it gets below 40, it has never turned on!

 

If I rememeber it right, the fan isn't supposed to turn on until the coolant temp hits about 215*F. It's only there to prevent vapor lock, but I doubt it's able to do that cause it's such a tiny fan! My fan never came on during the 2 years I left it on. It now just collects dust.

 

the only time my fan came on was when i first got my z and it had an overheating problem (clogged radiator from sitting).

Ever since then my temperature has been normal and the fan never came on. Well then i eventually removed it beacuse its ugly...

 

I ripped that waste of space out of my car over a year ago. I've never had any problems with vapor lock, which isn't really much of a problem on fuel injected vehicles. Older carburated vehicles are a lot more likely to experience it. The pressure in the FI doesn't allow much room for vaporization in the system, and what does form can evacuate through the charcoal canister and tank relief.

 

Yeah it only comes on when the car is really hot. It shouldn't be a problem at all. My car runs pretty cool, so that is good if the fan does not come on. It means that the cooling system is good.