98 escort temp problem..

Ok now I have a 98 escort here. 2.0
I have changed the head gasket, Water pump, and the stat.
I still have no fan working. I know it is overheating though.
I have installed a switch for the fan to run it at high speed.
When starting the temp guage slowly goes from cold the exactly half way to hot. then it will never move. You can tell its overheating because the engine will start to die down, and performance is affected.
I have tried unplugging the temp sensor for the ecm, and the fan will come on high speed. I will be trying the a/c shortly to see if the fan comes on then.
And the air does turn the fan on.
I think the radiator is clogged. The upper is getting hot but the bottom is warm at best, Thats when fully hot.

I have read in a great many places that there are the relays under the air box, but I only see a large box about 5 inches wide with way too many wires to be 2 relays. I found what I thought to be the relays under the dash, but If I unplug the temp sensor for the ecm and they kick on then they are working right?

Any ideas here would be greatly appreciated.
Also I have a small miss at light to medium acceleration, could this be caused by the timing belt being off a tooth at the cam? idle is great and so is hard acceleration...

Since the fan runs with the sensor unplugged and with A/C, don't worry about your relays.

It is possible that the sensor is bad and not activating the fan. What sounds more likely is what you already suspect... a plugged radiator. If the engine is up to temp and you can't feel it on the bottom hose, then water isn't flowing.

I have replaced the radiator now too. It still seems luke warm on the lower hose. The low speed fans still dont kick on though. I have read that these motors are really efficient though very low heat.

Everything you describe indicates that your Scort is normal. The fan will only come on with the AC or sitting at idle for a long time. The lower hose of the radiator is supposed to be cooler because the heat of the coolant has been dissipated in it. All of the sensors are okay, too. The temperature gauge is supposed to be about in the middle of it. Let's see you have replaced the stat, water pump and the radiator. There's little else that can be wrong with it. There is no way it is overheating. My 97 never turns on the fans unless the AC is on. The radiators on 97 98 Scorts are very efficient to say the least. As far as the miss put on some new ignition wires and some sparkplugs. The box underneath the intake is the CCRM (constant control relay module). It controls the relays for the PCM, fans, AC clutch and
fuel pump. If you buy one it will be several hundred (yes hundred) dollars. Got your message. How's it goin" Dave

I think all is solved here... Thank you very much