The fan won't turn on in front of the radiator. The condensor fan works fine, just not the other one.

OK, I've checked the following:

Fuses - under hood and in driver's side fuse panel - all ok
Relays - swapped one with another - all fine

Everything looks good. What else could it be? Any way to test if the motor is shot?

Thanks,

Neil

 

fuel pump?

 

Unplug the fan and run 12 volts to it, one the "hot" and the other a ground. It should run. Normally a 12V current goes to a relay in the water jacket somewhere and when 195F ( or whatever) is reached the current is sent on to the fan. I've seen guys hook a test light to the output side and 12V to the input side of a relay and then dunk it in a pot of water on the stove with a thermometer in there to check for correct function! Good luck!

 

Yep. If the fuses and relays are good, then the next two things to check are the fan motor itself and the sending unit. If the motor is seized it won't turn even if the relays are sending it juice. And if the sending unit is shot, the fan doesn't ever get a signal to turn on because the threshold criteria is met. Chuck has the right idea.

 

Think it could be the fan switch? #14 (bottom right)

 

Thanks Chuck and Pianoman,


It's amazing how much you rely on this board for answers and don't realize all the resources you have right under your nose.

Well I decided to pull the Helms manual which I've had for several years....and used before

Ran through a bunch of diagnostics and low and behold it tells me it's what I thought.




Stealer wanted $46 for it. PepBoys wants $30. Looks like it's off to PepBoys to fix my ride.


Really can't wait around for the Mugen one so maybe next time. BTW, car has 60K+ on it.

Thanks all for your help.


Neil

 

do i hear mugen thermostat? blxmjx (from a-cl.com) can get it for you i believe, contact him about it. might as well get some performance out of it.

 

simple question............do you have fluid in your radiator?

 

before you get the entire fan relaced make sure it is indeed the fan, I had the same problem... takje a wire and rig it in the swith, put one end in one outlet and the other in the other outlet, this will rig it so it gets continuous power, if the fan comes on, then the fan is not the culprit....

Possible causes of engine overheating:
1. Lack of water/coolant in the radiator system
2. Thermostat is fucked
3. Fans do not work (variety of reasons)

I hope you get that shit fixed and hope you caught the overheat problem before it did any real damage to the engine (i.e ruined any of the gaskets, etc.)

 

Well let's analyze....

1 - Fluid level does not effect the fans ability to turn on or off
2 - The thermostat does not effect the fans ability to turn on or off
3 - Already tested the fan, relay, fuses

Read my last post, I ran through the diagnostics in the Helms manual and everything is ok, except the radiator fan switch. The switch is not part of the fan, as shown by the picture about. It sits right next to the inlet/outlet for the radiator fluid.

 

Fixed... It was the radiator fan switch.

$30 and pride of diagnosing and fixing it myself - PRICELESS

 

Congrats!! It's always better when you do it yourself. I love having the Helm manual.

 

I just hope you didn't blow a head gasket.... mine overheated after my accident due to a slight puncture in the radiator, and I ended up having to replace the gasket.... pain in the ass!

 

this happened to a friend of mine with an older civic 4 door. hopefully you will be ok. that is kind of odd though that it went with only 60,000 miles on it, although i guess this is an age related failure. but i have to say it doesn't seem that common. anyone? anyone?

and congrats for doing it yourself! you're the man!

SSTS

 

Is the fan switch the same as the water temp sensor?

 

holy thread revival

there is a sensor for the dash guage
and a fan temp sensor which operates the driver side fan based on need

see the many current threads on same subject,
90% of the time if your driver fan doesnt come on, or runs for more than 2 to several minutes after engine shutdown, you need a fan temp sensor

1999s at thermostat
2000+ located passenger lower corner of radiator-
has 1 wire to it and it screws in
price has gone up 10-15$ to ~45, since 2004 when this thread was active

 

I know...bringing up an old thread again...for someone who is a beginner (i can change the headlights out no problem -thats as far as my knowledge goes) how hard is this fix? could someone take some pics of the entire engine bay and circle where it is? I ordered the part already...from rockauto

 

and i know i have a cl, but figured itd be similar

 

How hard? Depends on time more than difficulty..

If you wanna make you life easier remove Intake Tube.
If you wanna do it the hard way dont remove it.

Disconnect the Sensor
> Remove Sensor with Same Size ratch or Key
> Some A/F will leak (About the quantity inside the Top Rubber hose so Have A/F Ready to refill)
> Install new Sensor with some liquid gasket
> Plug Sensor
> Re-Install Intake Tube (Optional)
> Refill A/F
> Done.

 

I removed the tube and unplugged the sensor. Does a standard socket wrench set not have a big enough head? none of em fit. and a regular hand wrench wont work with the space.

 

Try a crows foot on a ratchet

 

found the right deep socket at OSH. removed a bracket to the right of the switch to have more space as well. fans are still being dumb and running continuosly so the fan switch wasnt the fix...

 

There are 3 fan switches labelled A, B and C in the service manual.

 

Yeah there must be another 2.. You just removed 1 from a set of 3
The other is in the Rad and the last one is somewhere you might wish is not going bad.

 

Why do things have to be so damned difficult ?

Good luck on the next two ! Ha, hah.....

 

Thanks for the support

The one i swapped out was the radiator fan switch so I'm just going with disconnecting the fans for now. It's cool enough in Cali, and it's better than disconnecting the battery EVERY trip

 

Radiator fan switch A is on the thermostat housing and easy to replace. Switch B is under the timing belt covers above the water pump.

 

Yeah man, just fix it now. The weather will heat up and so will your motor, those sensor switches are critical to maintaining a safe operating temp. It's not worth taking the risk of overheating and blowing a head gasket......big bucks !!!!!