I have a wagon and I noticed the fan NEVER comes on. The needle on the temperature gauge has never been past the center. It does work though because when it is cold it is all the way at the bottom.

That said, today my car stalled out just after making a high-pitched clinging noise. Tried to start it and it cranked very awkwardly in a high-pitched hissing noise. Starting driving and it eventually went away. Drove only a few blocks to get home.

Starts fine now with no noises. Problem is, I noticed after only a few blocks the engine is extremely hot.

Is my water pump out? Is it the fan that doesn't work? How do I test the fan, or is it the relay?

How do I test to see if the water pump works?

its a 2.3 L automatic wagon

 

This high pitched clinging noise, did it sound like a really high pitch tapping? Is the engine running rougher than normal?

 

So...what was the temp gauge reading when the noise first was occurring?