Expert: Roland Finston - 7/25/2011

Question
I have my daughter's 2003 seabring, the coolant overflows.
She had a few guys look at it and they told her that the fan for the radiator does not work.
She was told that it could be a fuse
We live in a small town and i tried to get mechanics to look at it but they are to busy and won't be able to look at it until next tuesday.
Is it dangerous to drive around town until next tuesday?
Is it dangerous to drive it an hour away to a bigger city to have it repaired?
If it is the fuse, which one will it be?
thanks

Answer
Hi Monique,
I assume this is either a convertible or sedan, not a coupe, because those are different vehicles.
On the convertible/sedan model, there are two fuses involved in the radiator fan operation, both in the power distribution box located under the hood. In the wide back row of fuses, fuse #12 at the outboard end of the row (40 amp) supplies power the fans, and fuse #23 at the inboard end of the same back row of fuses, third from the end (20 amp), is used by the fan relay to turn on the power supply for the fans. So both those fuses are needed to make the fans work. Make sure neither is frankly blown or has a subtle crack in the internal wire of the fuse.
Whether is is dangerous depends upon the weather and whether the load on the cooling system is such as to call for fans. Avoiding the use of air conditioning will reduce the load.
The main danger, assuming that if the temperature gauge rises to the H level, is that the coolant will overflow again, and if she safely allows things to cool down before opening the refill bottle so as not to be burned and she is carrying additional fluid for refill, then she could reach a shop.
But I would believe you may find a blown fuse which you can replace without her having to do that, at an autoparts store or autoelectric shop.
Let me know if she has the coupe model instead.
Roland