I'll say sorry in advanced, I dont know how to make a new post for this. Anyway my radiator cap on my 2004 L4 had a broken seal for a couple months, car was still working fine though. Until last night, my car overheated and was spraying coolant out of the broken seal. I figured just replace the cap and add a bit more coolant and it'll be good. Nope. What I've figured out is both fans have power and will turn on when I turn the a/c on. Otherwise at idle or when driving slowly at high temps the fans won't turn on. I dont know how to test the fuses, I already checked the relays and they're fine. I also have not tested if I overheat at idle. Another thing ik is if I go slow it'll overheat but if I go faster the natural breeze will cool it. However I'm not just gonna gun it everywhere cause the moment I slow down it'll overheat. Please help, the usual 10 minute drive home from work took 3 hours yesterday.

 

If the fans turn on with the a/c turned on, then nothing is wrong with fuses/relays for both fans. Your issue is with the signal to turn on the fans when idling.

The temperature switch to turn on the fans is bolted into the bottom of the radiator. Let us know if the fans turn on when you unplug the If you unplug the connector to the fan switch and short the connector with a piece of wire.

 

How do I short it?

 

Unplug the connector. On the connector, take a piece of wire or a bent paperclip in the shape of a U and touch both pins at the same time.