Radiator Fan Broken?

Hi Folks!

I think the radiator fan on my 1997 Aurora either isn't working or the switch that tells it to turn on isn't working.

I drive about 20 miles through the country to get to work, and the car heats right up to 200 degrees and stays there for the entire ride. As soon as I get into town (and don't have a 60 mph airflow from driving on the highway) the temp gets hotter and hotter and hotter, up to the next full notch on the temp gauage (240?).

If my thermostat were stuck closed, I'm sure the car would heat way up whether or not I were driving on the highway or in town (right?). Turning the heat to 90 and turning the fan to its highest setting will make the temperature gradually drop back down to 200 or so.

I'm guessing that my radiator fan doesn't start running when the car begins to heat up past 200 degrees. Does that sound likely?

Is there an inexpensive switch or something that I can replace?

My "hacker" mentality is considering running wires from the fan straight to a fusebox and mounting a toggle switch under the dashboard so I can at least manually turn on the fan when I'm driving in town or otherwise heating up rapidly....

Thanks for any suggestions!

Mike

If you get this on a scanner you will see the actual engine temp. the fans should come on at around 223, also when the ac is on of course.