I had problem similar to yours. I was stuck in traffic (real bad accident, I was basically stopped) and my fan wouldn't go on. I was ****ting bricks because the temp guage was at MAX. I didn't notice it initially because as long as the car was moving, the temp never got too high. Something was wrong with the thermostat. After getting the thermostat fixed my mechanic told me that these engines run hot. My fan does not kick in until the temp guage is approx 3/4 max. The engine still runs fine, so hopefully yours is O.K. too.

The tensioner pulley on my car also broke and the exactly same thing happened, my steering was gone. when I opened the hood, the belt was off and the tensioner pully was broken. I had the hardest time fixing that pully. I ended up havign it towed to the mechanic to continue my attempts to fix the tensioner pulley.

Good luck.

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JR
1986 Gold 300E 4Dr automatic