Holy nuts batman!!!! Overheating problem!

Hey everyone, my TC is running rough lately, gonna fix the not so costly stuff on it thursday. Anyways, I went to pick girlfriend up from her house last night, and car kicked the heater off, starting flashing, then when i looked over at the temp, it was in the red part above the n in normal....WTF???? Is the fan not kicking on?? If it was the water pump gone bad, wouldn't it leak??? I have a 3 core radiator, and a 180 degree thermostat upgrade form the 2 row rad. and the factory 195 thermostat. I replaced all the hoses that i could while engine head was off in december, so whats the deal??? Its driving me nuts!!! It stays cool when driving freeway, but as soon as i get in the city, it takes forever for fans to kick in usually, but now... not at all... at least i think.... could the motors have gone out finally??? do i need, or can i upgrade this now that the radiator has been upgraded to a 3 core???? any help would be nice..... my TC is an 88 with codes being pulled hopefully wednesday morning.
thanks in advance, for any help and replies!!! Dennis a.k.a. ThunderChicken

Does the passenger side fan come on for a few seconds each and every time the engine is started?

Pull the connector to the ECT and jumper the connector. Start the engine. Both fans should run. If they do this tells you the fan motors, the fan relays and all the wiring is good. If not you got a motor, relay or wiring problem.

If the fans do come on in the test above but are not coming on when the engine needs cooling, suspect the ECT being bad or the hose fitting on th ebottom of the lower intake is clogged or both. You can pull the codes and see if the ECT comes up, but a bad one won't always set a code.

[This message has been edited by Pete D (edited 11-10-2003).]

THANK YOU PETE,
I will try that test and see what i get, as to the fan coming on when i start it, i haven't the slightest, never paid much attention to that as soon as i start the car, only after a couple of minutes of driving do i pay attention the the fans. If it does come on, does that mean the ECT is bad??
Thanks,
Dennis