Honda Repair: Civic fan not coming on causing overheat, coolant temp, engine coolant

Question
I have read several related Q & A's on this site and I really appreciate this valuable service.  Thank you.

Since the weather has warmed up, we noticed that our '92 Civic LX is overheating.  It has about 127k on it.  When the A/C is on, I noticed that the passenger side fan is not coming on.  Do we follow the same protocol as outlined in other posts (change thermostat, check radiator, then water pump) or should we start with something different since it may be something related to the fan?

I did try to look in the radiator and it is so full that I can't see into it.  I also tried feeling the hose coming out of the radiator for pressure and it seemed to have some.

Any advice you can share to get us going in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Answer
Monica, the left fan is for the A/C and will come on only when the A/C compresser is running. The left is for the cooling system and if not operating can definitely cause overheating. It could be a few things. When the car begins to over heat check the upper and lower rad hoses by touch(BE CAREFUL, VERY HOT). If the upper is hot and the lower is cold you have a sticking thermostat and must be replaced. If they are both hot you could have a Rad fan relay issue, a engine coolant temp. switch problem or a fan problem. IF they are both hot(hoses)try jumping the fan motor and see if it runs. If it does the fan is O.K. Try swapping the relay(in the under hood fuse box) with a known good one(i.e. A/C fan relay)and see if it makes a difference(f.y.i. the engine has to be at operating temp for the fan to work). If not you'll have to troubleshoot the wiring and/or the engine temp switch. Let me know, RICK