Radiator cooling fan not working
08-23-2020
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Radiator cooling fan not working
Here's the backstory; the 03 civic ex overheated while sitting at a drive thru in the Texas heat. So I checked the cooling fan by turning on the a/c. Both fans should be on. Only the compressor fan is working. So I pulled the radiator fan plug, and tested for voltage. It tested good, with over 13 volts. But the fan isn't working...so I hooked the fan up directly to a 12v source by using jumper wires. Still not working. Obviously a bad fan. Or so I thought. And I ordered a new fan.
Just installed the new fan this morning. It doesn't work either. So I repeated all the steps above. Only with the new fan. Still no joy. Here's where it gets weird.
I used my jumper wires on the old fan, that's now sitting on the bench. Works just fine. Walked over to the car, hooked it into the cars fan plug. Works just fine. But the new one still can't be jumped, and won't work with the original plug.
It just seems to be, that it just won't work when it's installed. There's absolutely no interference with the fan blade. It spins freely. I've tried jiggling the wires, in case of a loose connection. It hardly seems likely that it could be a grounding issue, since the electrical system provides both power and ground. What am I missing?
Just installed the new fan this morning. It doesn't work either. So I repeated all the steps above. Only with the new fan. Still no joy. Here's where it gets weird.
I used my jumper wires on the old fan, that's now sitting on the bench. Works just fine. Walked over to the car, hooked it into the cars fan plug. Works just fine. But the new one still can't be jumped, and won't work with the original plug.
It just seems to be, that it just won't work when it's installed. There's absolutely no interference with the fan blade. It spins freely. I've tried jiggling the wires, in case of a loose connection. It hardly seems likely that it could be a grounding issue, since the electrical system provides both power and ground. What am I missing?
08-23-2020
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Here's a follow up, and while it explains some of the problem. At the same time, it really doesn't give me the answer I needed.
Since it wasn't working like it was, I pulled the new fan back out. Tried bench testing the new one, and it's apparently dead on arrival. So I attached the jumper wires to the old one. Then reinstalled it. Checking operation as I installed each bolt. It worked each time I tried it. I wanted to know just exactly, at which point, that it stopped working. But of course, it's still working, and I have no idea what happened to make it not work in the first place. The only thing that I can figure out, is that the fan motor has an internal problem that causes intermittent working. Couple that with the new DOA fan. And what seems like a real mystery, possibly isn't all that strange. Who knows? But since it's working now, I'll leave it like it is for now.
Since it wasn't working like it was, I pulled the new fan back out. Tried bench testing the new one, and it's apparently dead on arrival. So I attached the jumper wires to the old one. Then reinstalled it. Checking operation as I installed each bolt. It worked each time I tried it. I wanted to know just exactly, at which point, that it stopped working. But of course, it's still working, and I have no idea what happened to make it not work in the first place. The only thing that I can figure out, is that the fan motor has an internal problem that causes intermittent working. Couple that with the new DOA fan. And what seems like a real mystery, possibly isn't all that strange. Who knows? But since it's working now, I'll leave it like it is for now.
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