Hi.
The fan on mt PSU unit needs a little push with a small stick to get it going, is it pooped? and should the the fan be constantly working in normal use or are there ones that work when they need to?
Thanks.

Hi rich, welcome to itsallPC

Yes, if you have to manually start a fan, the bearings are on the way out. If you' notice increased sound or whine in the fan, the bearings are almost completely gone.

While some PSUs have multispeed fans, none have fans that shut down completely. This would cause overheats and progressive damage to the power circuitry that will ultimately result in the PSUs failure.

I urge you to look into a replacement PSU. If a PSU overheats and dies, it's not uncommon for it to take out other components in its death throes.