I recently bought a 1983 DL 4wd wagon ea81 engine, 104 k miles from a dealer with "a bad carburetor that can't be fixed". I got it running smoothly with a can of cleaner and a few tanks of fresh gas w Lucas gas treatment. It still kept stalling at decel and only got 18 mpg, so i bought a carter carb kit w manual choke kit from redline and installed it.

 

I got it idling nicely-accelerates great, but now the radiator fan won't turn on, and of course it runs hot. I plugged the old vaccuum /emissions hoses during the carb install till i see what can be removed (never will need emissions inspection).  The only thing i can find in a manual that may affect it is a :thermosensor" in the old carb.

 

Is the fan not turning on because of a vaccuum/emissions hose that needs opened up, or the old carb sensor missing?---can this be by passed?

The fan is controlled by the thermoswitch located in the radiator. Its under the upper hose on the passenger side. It controls the fans ground (no relay) so its a common enough failure. The connector is also a corrosion point as well. Also check the little ground strap on the top of the radiator. You can test the fan by grounding the thermoswitch connector directly.

Edited October 16, 201510 yr by ihscout54

Thanks--will check it on my next free day. I know there had to be a relay problem causing the fan not to turn on, but it was weird that it began when i put the new carb on. As an aside,  I thought i read on this site a few weeks, ago that disconnecting certain of the emission hoses would cause the engine to run hot?

If your car has/had a/c then there should be 2 fans and there is a relay. Im not sure what hose you could pull that would effect the fan. The only thing coming to mind is that a big vac leak could cause a lean condition possibly making the car run hotter.

Thanks- the fan switch/thermosensor is bad---ordered a new one, and temporarily plugged the wire to a ground wire  so the fan runs constantly when the ignigition is on.  New problem----i discovered a crack in the passenrer side radiator tank just below the switch, and successfully soldered it so it no longer leaks. However---when I pulled the radiator i discovered that the top mounting bracket is not soldered or attached to the radiator tanks--it came off the radiator when i unbolted the fan bracket.. Should it be attached?? Was thinking of using an epoxy resin or JB weld to re-fasten if it is supposed to be attached.

It should be attached. Just solder it back on, it's how it was done at the factory.

It should be attached. Just solder it back on, it's how it was done at the factory.

Yup and I have had this happen to me as well.