Honda civic 2000 radiator fan issues

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-08-31 23:25:35 +0500 #1

I have a Honda Civic 2000 VTi Oriel. Back in June, a coolant pipe burst and the car overheated, but the fan brought temps back to normal. After that, my electrician set the radiator fan to direct, saying it’s safer in hot weather with an older engine. Since then, my fuel economy has dropped a lot.

Should I switch the fan back to auto? And would it make sense to install a relay so the radiator fan also turns on with the AC (since in this model it only runs when coolant gets hot)?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2025-09-01 10:02:53 +0500 #2

Why did you allow your dumb electrician to rig the fan directly? Was he part of the design engineer committee at Honda?

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-09-01 10:20:58 +0500 #3

Haha sir thankyou for your response.

So I had my concerns but he said when you will run your car on ac, it will cause load on engine and since radiator fan does not turn on with ac fan by default, so there is a chance that car can overheat again etc.

Now since it has compromised the power and fuel efficiency of the car, now he is suggesting that he can install a relay to turn on radiator fan with ac fan which I’m also having concerns since honda didn’t design it that way in this model. Should i go with this?

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2025-09-01 10:37:05 +0500 #4

I can assure you that the original cooling system is overbuilt from the factory, if its actually overheating then find the issue and rectify that, keep
In mind that removing the thermostat can cause severe overfuelling issues lm this which will wear out the engine extremely rapidly.

The rad fan doesnt need to kick on as it wont do anything to help the ac, once the engine coolant warms up, it will work as required. All you have to do is to make sure everything is kept like factory, which is dead easy on any Honda.

nfssaad (Saad Ahmed Khan) 2025-09-01 10:51:45 +0500 #5

stick to the factory settings. if a component is faulty replace with new or LIKE NEW item.

how old is the engine? how many Kms? i have kept a 1997 exi, with 240,000 kms completely stock and working as per factory specs. never faced overheat issues whatsoever.

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-09-01 12:55:50 +0500 #6

@xulfiqar yes got it. So previously at the start, i got head gasket leakage which i got fixed. Then the radiator was faulty which i replaced as well. Now engine is a bit old and some pipes are worn out, other than that I don’t see any problem.
One last thing, I have another city which is 2007 model, in that whenever we turn on ac, the radiator fan also turns on as to keep engine extra cool. But this didn’t come as default in the 2000 civics right?

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-09-01 13:00:18 +0500 #7

Hi @nfssaad

So it is d16 engine, the guy i bought the car from told me he replaced it recently, but it decreases a bit oil after 2.5k kms and I’m sure the replaced engine has ran almost 150,000 to 200,000 kms.

So, i replaced head gasket, and got a new radiator. Now my coolant doesn’t decreases and also fan turns on when needle gets in middle. I got a pipe burst, which was old so it leaked, due to which my electrician turned the fan to direct and afterwards all hell broke loose.

I also was under the impression that rad fan kicks with ac on but then i found out in these models, rad fan only turns on when temp is increased.

nfssaad (Saad Ahmed Khan) 2025-09-01 14:42:38 +0500 #8

shift to factory settings. also make sure you have thermostat valve installed.

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-09-01 16:02:43 +0500 #9

Got it thanks, also can someone suggest me a good place in islamabad where i can get my car tuned? Thanks

the_mira_guy_08 (TheMiraGuy08) 2025-09-01 16:28:13 +0500 #10

Dmotorsports in G13 or Rehman Autos on IJP Road will help you.

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2025-09-01 21:36:52 +0500 #11

The reason your honda city turns on both fans is because the condenser is as wide as the radiator

Your old civic has a small condenser that can be cooled by a single fan.

talhajibrantariq (Talha Tariq) 2025-09-01 21:57:51 +0500 #12

Ok got it. So in my civic, someone has replaced the genuine condenser and according to my mechanic it’s quite big as compared to original one, but that won’t be a problem right?

Sometimes, in hot weather, it has certain load on engine which causes it to hesitate

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2025-09-01 22:16:21 +0500 #13

You need to use the original sized condenser, I dont understand why pakistani ac mechanics think they are oversmart by doing these stupid shenanigans.

An overwhelming large condenser with a small evaporator would only load up the compressor a lot for absolutely zero gain.