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This is my first MX-3 I just bought from my dad about 1 week ago .So i was working on my car today sanding it down and stuff, then was working on the motor, after getting my idle down at 900rpm-1000rpm was letting the car run for about 10 min went inside the car to check the rpms and i noticed the thermostat was about a little under half way, but its kinda strange after running for that long i never heard or saw the cooling fans come on. So i shut off the car, put it on ACC and then took a meter and tested the wires that connect to the cooling fans, i wasnt getting any power out of them. Checked all the fuses and they were all good. So i tried another idea, i went in the car turned it on and put on my A/C, my fans came right on. So I let the fans run for a while then i shut off the car. Let it sit and then turned back on the car to check my idle and then i had the a/c off and then i noticed car started overheating. Anyone have this problem or any ideas how to fix this so i dont have to drive down the street with my a/c on to keep my car cool. Thanks.

oh and by the way its the GS 1.8 V6 if that helps

Are both fans running or just the A/C fan?

well when i turned on the A/C both of the fans were running, and then they shut off when i shot off the a/c

think it could be a bad thermostat or bad fuse, i looked at the cooling fan fuse today as well and it didnt look blow, just kinda weird when i tested the plug for the cooling fans wasnt getting any power out of it, but weird they come on when the a/c gets turned on

street101 wrote: i noticed the thermostat was about a little under half way

to me, this sounds like its just warm but i could have read it wrong. the temp should be a little over the halfway mark.

If it is overheating, make sure it never does over heat to the red zone. usually its too late wen it gets that hot and the head warps.


my suggestions would be to check that there are no air bubbles in the rad, and that the coolant is full. check the thermostat as well.

btw how warm is it outside?

it was 45 here today i mean it wasnt fully overheating at first it was staying at like below half mark, then i was running the a/c to see about the fans and then i shut them off and was sitting there and then i noticed it had went up to about 1/4 about half way mark

ya, 1/4 above the halfway mark is normal operating temp. just let it idle for a bit, i shouldnt reach past the 3/4 mark on the gas tank meter.

1/4 over the halfway is normal for years 1991-1994, then Mazda changed the gauge (or reading) and normal temp is 1/4 below the halfway. In fact it is 5 degrees angle above and below halfway mark.

check the fuses, temp sensors, & relay.