Should be a 30amp fuse in the fuse box for the fan, more often than not these get blown if the fan is a bit sticky. See if the fan spins freely, check the fuse.

Some Escorts have a fan switch in the top hose, if your's has, with the ignition on ,bridge the switch terminals to run the fan to test it. If the fan doesn't cut in on it's own may need to replace the switch.

If it doesn't have a seperate fan switch, the fact that the temp gauge is inop may have something to do with it.

Whatever you do, don't bridge out the engine coolant temp sensor for the ECU.