Cooling Fan Operation Question

1990 Escort
1.9L CFI
Automatic
A/C
Normally, the cooling fan kicks "ON" at the bottom of the 'R' on the temperature guage and stays "ON" until the needle reaches the 'M' which is about the center of the guage. (Bare with me, I feel very stupid talking like this but the temperature guage has no temperature markings on it.) This operation seems correct to me and the car runs fine.
Today, I pushed A/C button to the "ON" position but did not turn on the blower fan in the car. I noticed that even though the A/C compressor clutch does not engage, the cooling fan turns "ON" while the guage is reading between the 'L' and the 'A' which is at the bottom of the scale. The engine is running cool enough and doesn't appear to need the fan to be on. This seems incorrect to me. I thought that the cooling fan should only be on when the engine is too hot or when the A/C is on with the blower fan. Is the fan working properly or could the A/C controller be faulty? Thank you very much.

Anytime the A/C button is in the 'On' mode the cooling fan should run regardless of coolant temperature. Everything sounds normal except you say the A/C compressor is not engaging. Is it low on freon?

If the button is pushed to the "ON" position but the blower fan in the car is "OFF", why would the cooling fan be "ON"? I thought the A/C clutch kicks "ON" only when the blower fan is "ON'. Right?

Anytime the A/C button is in the 'On' mode the cooling fan should run regardless of coolant temperature. Everything sounds normal except you say the A/C compressor is not engaging. Is it low on freon?

Not 100% sure about your 90..BUT I am guessing that it should be the same as my 93.First..the fan is in HIBERNATION from about Sept. to June..the engine simply cannot get hot enough..to get fan to come on unless it is at least 65 or so degrees. I press the a/c button.3 things happen:(even with the blower off)the comp. kicks in..I can hear it/feel it.I can hear the fan run,the temp/gauge starts to go down.Normally in my car..the dash temp gauge climbs to the end of the normal range..then the fan comes on high(I have NEVER heard it on low!..maybe busted?) for about..15-20 seconds,the temp gauge then drops QUICK! to about the middle of it's range..takes another usually several minutes of stop and go/idling..warm..75 deg weather to heat up again..and on the cycle goes.There are times that to cool it down faster..(before it gets as hot)if the temp is like 90 I hit the a/c button..this brings the fan on sooner.If it is just stupid hot humid /stop and go idling..I just leave the a/c on..this keeps the fan running and the engine temp..about half way between normal and the end of it's range.

Thanks for your reply. I have installed two air conditioning kits which didn't seem to work the same as my Escort. One was in a 1989 Suzuki Sidekick which was designed to use 134 freon. The schematic connects the cooling fan to a relay which turns on the cooling fan only when the A/C compressor clutch is engaged and the blower fan is on. If I turn off the blower fan, the compressor clutch disengages and the coolant fan shuts off even though the A/C button is still pushed on. The same was true for a Honda Civic air conditioner kit which I installed myself. My car seems to run cooler than yours without the fan on, under normal operation without the A/C button pushed on. I just don't understand why the coolant fan should be on at all until the engine gets hot, just because I pushed the A/C button on. The compressor clutch is off because the fan in the car is off. I can remedy this by just pushing the A/C button out, to the off position when I'm not using the A/C. I looked at the schematic for the A/C and there is an A/C controller which connects tot he computer. Gone are the days of the discrete components circuits where you could test parts individually. So, is this a design flaw or is something not operating properly? Maybe its just planned obsolescence. I think most people just drive there cars without wondering if everything is working alright. You may recall that I posted about the pinging problem which I never figured out. I tested every sensor under the hood and ran diags numerous times to no avail. When my temperature and fuel guage "ran amuck" I fixed the problem by banging on the plastic in front of the guages. I originally thought that the temperature sender was bad. This car only has 35,000 miles on it. My 89 Toyota Celica has 285,000 and doesn't have half the problems. My 79 Corolla had 304,000 when I drove it to the junk yard at 75 miles per hour. The body was shot but it ran great. I got a feeling I'm in for a tough time with this car. Help!



Not 100% sure about your 90..BUT I am guessing that it should be the same as my 93.First..the fan is in HIBERNATION from about Sept. to June..the engine simply cannot get hot enough..to get fan to come on unless it is at least 65 or so degrees. I press the a/c button.3 things happen:(even with the blower off)the comp. kicks in..I can hear it/feel it.I can hear the fan run,the temp/gauge starts to go down.Normally in my car..the dash temp gauge climbs to the end of the normal range..then the fan comes on high(I have NEVER heard it on low!..maybe busted?) for about..15-20 seconds,the temp gauge then drops QUICK! to about the middle of it's range..takes another usually several minutes of stop and go/idling..warm..75 deg weather to heat up again..and on the cycle goes.There are times that to cool it down faster..(before it gets as hot)if the temp is like 90 I hit the a/c button..this brings the fan on sooner.If it is just stupid hot humid /stop and go idling..I just leave the a/c on..this keeps the fan running and the engine temp..about half way between normal and the end of it's range.