Engine fan not turning on till engine way hotter than normal

This is normal, there is a temperature sensor. If they do not shut off after a few minutes then replace the sensor and or relay.

This is normal on many vehicles, so it is a question of how long does it stay running, and if your engine is hotter than normal, so you need to check enginer operating temperature first if this is unusual in your normal driving pattern. Usually fans will only run a few minutes after turning off engine on hot day as example. Check your radiator water level if this never happened before.

probably your fan switch, it is a therostatic switch in the intake that tells the fan when to turn on. cheap to replace and easy to get to, you will loose a bit of water when it is removed so have a gallon of dexicool on had to replace what is lost. And make sure the engine is cool or you can get a bad scald.

Probably not.
The fan clutch uses oil to regulate the speed of the fan depending on air temp.
The hotter the air the faster it should turn. The faster the engine speed the slower it turns.
At idle in normal air temp it should be too firm to stop with your hand, which is pretty dangerous by the way.

Whats happening? Does it over heat? Does the heat work? If not over heating, does the engine run hotter than it did before you noticed the problem?

Yes there is a sensor. It tells the PCM the engines temp and from there a number of things are going on.

Have the car running and turn the a/c on and look under the hood at the cooling fan(s). If the fan is not on immediatly wait for a minute as they may come on when the a/c pressure rises and not right when the a/c is turned on.

The a/c condensor gets very hot. That would make the air being drawn in hotter than normal. The engine temp may rise higher than normal as well. Is it really over heatting or just running a bit hotter.

This should be normal operation of the fans they do not run all the time as most people think as the engine temperature increases the fans will come on to help cool down the engine once the temperature decreases then the fans will cut off and it will continue to cycle that way there is nothing wrong with that its normal. You will notice however that when you turn on the A/C the fan will turn on and stay on till you turn off the A/C this is also normal some vehicle have two fans one for the A/C the other for engine cooling unless your engine is getting too hot then they will both come on but normally one is for the engine cooling the other for the condenser A/C and this one will only come on when the A/C is running.

REPLACE THERMOSTAT.ITS STICKING CLOSE TO KEEP COOLANT FROM CIRCULATING THROUGH ENGINE AND RADIATOR. THE FANS SHOULD COME ON WHEN VECHICLE SETTING AT A LONG IDLE.THE COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR GET TO CERTAIN TEMPERATURE WHICH WILL COMPLETE CIRCUIT PCM SEND POWER TO COOLANT SENSOR THEN TO COOLANT FANS RELAYS AND FANS.IF VECHICLE OVER HEATING WHILE MOVING THERMOSTAT FAULTY.IF YOU TURN AC AND COOLANT FANS DONT RUN CHECK COOLANT FANS FUSE AND RELAY.IF COOLING FANS DONT TURN ON WITH AIR CONDITIONER ON EITHER COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR FAULTY OR PCM FAULTY.IF ALL LOOKS GOOD.IF ENGINE OIL LOOKS LIKE MILK SHAKE.YOU HAVE BLOWN HEAD GASKET.

check electric fans to see if they are coming on. and also make sure there is enough anti freeze in system. if fans do not work proper, check the fan relay if relay is ok. then the problem is either a bad wire or the fans itself are bad. to check fans-- take wire connector off of fans, then run a wire from positive on battery to positive on fan, ground other wire if need be. if fans do not run then thats your problem.

It's probably the sensor. Read your manual to find it. If not it's probably the motors which can be replaced much cheaper than the assembly, however you can sometimes get a complete used assembly off Ebay for cheap.