Cant get damn fans to work... overheating.
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 978
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From: Glendale (SoCal)
I ALWAYS run my fans because it seems that if i dont my temps are 110C+ so i always keep them on and i get a constant 86C no matter what.
Its been raining the past couple of days and I notice when i turn on the car and let it warm up, after about 5 minutes theres smoke rising from the front right side of the car right under the the passenger headlight assembly. I was thinking it was maybe cold water on the oil cooler lines or oil cooler heating up or somthing, and now that I think about it I think it was a electical wire shorting out or somthing.
Anyway, I cant seen to get the fans to work at all. Ive checked the relays and the wires and nothing.
Suggestions?
Its been raining the past couple of days and I notice when i turn on the car and let it warm up, after about 5 minutes theres smoke rising from the front right side of the car right under the the passenger headlight assembly. I was thinking it was maybe cold water on the oil cooler lines or oil cooler heating up or somthing, and now that I think about it I think it was a electical wire shorting out or somthing.
Anyway, I cant seen to get the fans to work at all. Ive checked the relays and the wires and nothing.
Suggestions?
Unplug the fans and see if the fans are bad or not.. I've bought total of 6-10 sets of fans and several of them were bad.
Over time, the magnet inside the fan motor comes off the casing (due to heat and vibration.. im guessing) fan motor stops working or stop pulling at high setting..
Good luck!
Over time, the magnet inside the fan motor comes off the casing (due to heat and vibration.. im guessing) fan motor stops working or stop pulling at high setting..
Good luck!
check that wire, if that is ok, power up the fans directly from a permament source (battery) and see if they work, i doubt that both of them died on the same time but u never know
Thats what I said, I think its a quick easy test. If it don't work, guess herblenny is right about the fans being bad.
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Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 978
Likes: 1
From: Glendale (SoCal)
theres 4 terminals on the fan connector... what should i connect with what?
the rest 2 are just signals for the temperature(so the fans can kick in ) and the other one i assume is permanent or igintion, if you connect them the other way round the fan will turn on the opposite direction anyway
No you didn't, you just said you always keep them on, which could mean several things, but that's beside the point now. Try testing the fan relay/trying a different one. Section E of the FSM has a couple of testing methods for the fans/relays too.
I think you need to get your cooling system looked at in general. Running that hot makes me wonder if there isn't something wrong. Even when I was running a FMIC, the temps leveled out at ~95C coolant.
If you are running the fans that much to control temps, chances are you burned them out. That happens often when people run their fans alot. The electric fan motors aren't designed for constant use.
If you are running the fans that much to control temps, chances are you burned them out. That happens often when people run their fans alot. The electric fan motors aren't designed for constant use.
There is a connection in the diagnostics's box that allows you to check the fans for operation. The smoke you saw from the right side of the fender was probably hot coolant being pushed into the recovery tank (if it is truly overheating0 when the fans don't come on to cool it.
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 978
Likes: 1
From: Glendale (SoCal)
There is a connection in the diagnostics's box that allows you to check the fans for operation. The smoke you saw from the right side of the fender was probably hot coolant being pushed into the recovery tank (if it is truly overheating0 when the fans don't come on to cool it.
The smoking was when i started it up it was well bellow 70C then.
Get the fsm out and look at the wiring diagram for the fans. Jump from the battery + to power supply for each fan. Hook up to any ground in the engine bay to the ground in the harness. If each fan work then all that's left is the wiring and the fan relays...
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 978
Likes: 1
From: Glendale (SoCal)
A Electrician looked at it today... he messed around with it and says everything works... its just that for some reason, the fans are getting a ground. He got a wire and manually grounded it and it worked fine. So right now I have a wire i have to screw onto a ground point when i want it on and when i need to turn it off. And the temporary fix I have, when its grounded, the fans are one whether the car is completely off and the keys are removed from the ignition. We bypassed the relay.
Hopefully ill figure out the problem tomorrow.
Could It be a computer/ECU issue? I have a PFC
Hopefully ill figure out the problem tomorrow.
Could It be a computer/ECU issue? I have a PFC
A Electrician looked at it today... he messed around with it and says everything works... its just that for some reason, the fans are getting a ground.
The fans are ground directly to ground, do you mean that its not getting power and that its getting a ground through the power wires. You will only see power at the fan when the relay is turned on and it sends power to the fans. When the relay is off it does not send power but if you check it at the fan when the relay is off you will see ground through the electric motors brushes. Remember the motor is directly grounded to the chasis. Is this what you are talking about.
He got a wire and manually grounded it and it worked fine.
If it is already grounded, what wire is he grounding, or do you mean that the fans are not getting a ground. If you ran the fans for too long you could have caused the wiring to get too hot and melt. And giving you either no ground or a bad ground. I would check the wiring to see if it is melted and i would check the fan to see if it is shorted. I would also remove the fan conroller and run a fc thermoswitch. While you at it i would remove the tstat and check it.
So right now I have a wire i have to screw onto a ground point when i want it on and when i need to turn it off. And the temporary fix I have, when its grounded, the fans are one whether the car is completely off and the keys are removed from the ignition. We bypassed the relay.
You should be careful, it does not sound like you temp fix is does not run a fuse or relay. Why not just use a switch to trigger a universial relay that turns on the fan. Its a lot safer.
Hopefully ill figure out the problem tomorrow.
Could It be a computer/ECU issue? I have a PFC
It could be anything, you have received a lot of good advice. But it seems like you are just doing your own thing. All you really need is three things to fix this problem, wiring diagram, test light and volt meter. But you would have to know how to use them. Best of luck but i would bring it to a trust worthy shop if you and your "electrician" friend is unsure of what you guys are doing. By the way is this a 120V electrician, i sure hope its not a 12v automotive electrician.
The fans are ground directly to ground, do you mean that its not getting power and that its getting a ground through the power wires. You will only see power at the fan when the relay is turned on and it sends power to the fans. When the relay is off it does not send power but if you check it at the fan when the relay is off you will see ground through the electric motors brushes. Remember the motor is directly grounded to the chasis. Is this what you are talking about.
He got a wire and manually grounded it and it worked fine.
If it is already grounded, what wire is he grounding, or do you mean that the fans are not getting a ground. If you ran the fans for too long you could have caused the wiring to get too hot and melt. And giving you either no ground or a bad ground. I would check the wiring to see if it is melted and i would check the fan to see if it is shorted. I would also remove the fan conroller and run a fc thermoswitch. While you at it i would remove the tstat and check it.
So right now I have a wire i have to screw onto a ground point when i want it on and when i need to turn it off. And the temporary fix I have, when its grounded, the fans are one whether the car is completely off and the keys are removed from the ignition. We bypassed the relay.
You should be careful, it does not sound like you temp fix is does not run a fuse or relay. Why not just use a switch to trigger a universial relay that turns on the fan. Its a lot safer.
Hopefully ill figure out the problem tomorrow.
Could It be a computer/ECU issue? I have a PFC
It could be anything, you have received a lot of good advice. But it seems like you are just doing your own thing. All you really need is three things to fix this problem, wiring diagram, test light and volt meter. But you would have to know how to use them. Best of luck but i would bring it to a trust worthy shop if you and your "electrician" friend is unsure of what you guys are doing. By the way is this a 120V electrician, i sure hope its not a 12v automotive electrician.
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