I’ve been trying to diagnose this weird problem in my 94 940 (non turbo). I'd appreciate if you guys could shoot me a few opinions!

Basically:

* I don’t think the cooling fan is operating - I’ve been driving the car by jumping the switch on the radiator and leaving the fan on whenever I drive the car. This has kept the coolant reservoir container from boiling over. The car’s temp has been normal (12 o’clock) an the heater is working fine. The cooling fan does kick on when the a/c cycles. But only for a few seconds before it kicks off again.

*I’ve been getting a burning plastic-like smell from the engine compartment for about a week. It seems to be coming from somewhere in the engine compartment. I’ve sniffed everywhere but with no luck pinpointing the smell.

*This morning, after a 25 mile drive in 40 degree weather, with the cooling fan wired to run the entire trip - the temp gauge was at 12 o’clock and the heater was working - I checked to see if my upper and lower radiator hoses were warm. The top hose was very warm. The bottom was cool. When I squeezed the bottom/top hoses a few times, only then did the bottom begin to cool a bit. Also, the engine cooing fan was blowing cold air on the engine at idle - so it seems water wasn’t necesarily circulating through the radiator..?

*The radiator, cooling/radiator hoses, heater hoses, heater valve, coolant reservoir are all new.

Could my thermostat be bad/stuck? Is this what has been causing the radiator to overheat? Could this little B230 run with a stuck therostat for over a week in Texas winter weather? Thanks for any advice!