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Coolings fans not working

W

wadespencer99

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
75
Location
Wellsboro, Pa
This seems to be an incredibly complicated problem, but I hope someone has a very simple answer. I've been through every troubleshooting method I can think of (with striker2's help).

The car is a 2000 SVT with a 3L hybrid. The build thread is here.

The cooling fans are not working. The temperature gauge does come up, but the car hasn't overheated yet. Here are the trouble shooting steps I've been through:


If I remove either fan relay from the distribution box and jump with a wire, the fans work...both low speed and high speed (depending on which one I'm jumping). This tells me that the fans themselves are good, and I believe it tells me that the grounds and the resistor are good as well.

I tested the relays, and I can hear them click open and closed. I have also swapped the relays with the ones in my Cougar. The Cougar fans still work, and the SVT fans still do not work.


Since the ECU tells the fans to turn on based on the temperature it is getting from the sensor, I thought the sensor might be bad. I connected a scan tool and was able to read the data from the temp sensor...so the sensor must be good.


Thinking the ECU was possibly bad, I swapped it with the one in my Cougar (I'm running an XGT1 ECU in it as well)...still no change. Fans in the Cougar still work, fans in the SVT do not.


With a lot of help from Striker2, I tested the resistance in all wiring, from the pin on the ECU connector all the way through both wiring harnesses to the connections in the distribution box under the relay. The wiring in the car is fine.


We also tested to see that the connection under the relay is getting 12 volts of power, and it is.


The high speed fan should come on when the AC is turned on, but it does not (does in my Cougar). In fact, absolutely nothing happens when the AC is turned on...the clutch doesn't kick on either. The system does have some pressure in it, but I don't know how much. I'm wondering if these two problems could be related?

I swapped the AC relay from the SVT to the Cougar, and nothing changed. AC and fans still worked in the Cougar and did not work in the SVT.

I found this thread that seems to be dealing with a very similar problem and symptoms, but no resolution was posted. I PM'd the OP to see if ever found a solution, other than wiring them to stay on all the time.


So, a couple direct questions:

1. The scan tool was able to read the cars temperature. This tells me that the sensor is good, correct? Could the temp sensor still be causing it either or both problems?

2. By using the wire under the relay connections to force the fans to come on...does that mean all the grounds and the resistor are ok?

3. Is it possible that the AC problem and fan problem are related? If so, what controls both of them...other than the ECU and wiring?


Any help would be greatly appreciated!


Cliffs: Relays are good, ECU is good, wiring is good, fans are good...but still don't work. AC also does not work. :help:
 
You may have to start ohm testing wires. Like maybe find out which wires are hot on the cougar and test those. You may have a bad ground somewhere. Just some thoughts.
 
Wade my 2000 I just finished doesnt have a/c and the fans wont work but once the car heats up the cans do come on on their own.


Have you let the car sit and idle for 15-20 mins?
 
jolly8286 said:
You may have to start ohm testing wires. Like maybe find out which wires are hot on the cougar and test those. You may have a bad ground somewhere. Just some thoughts.
Click to expand...

I've done all that :-/



svttour said:
Wade my 2000 I just finished doesnt have a/c and the fans wont work but once the car heats up the cans do come on on their own.


Have you let the car sit and idle for 15-20 mins?
Click to expand...


Yes, it's idled well past that in the garage with the hood closed. Temp gauge get to about halfway.
 
I'll give you a synopsis of my fan troubles last year. Maybe you got the same problem I did. My A/C went out in the summer of '08, which tripped the low pressure safety switch, and disabled the A/C from running. The A/C ties into the low-speed fan circuit during normal operation, and it also controls the high-speed when the A/C pressures get too high.

During the time that my A/C was out (about a year), I don't recall EVER hearing the fans come on by themselves. Mind you, the car was used for local trips only, so it didn't heat up that much. Well I did a temporary A/C repair last summer. Then last November, my fan resistor finally bit the bullet. My A/C still worked and everything, but no fans. I got the part for $67 at my local Ford, and had it installed by a friend. My fans have worked ever since. They are on most of the time now because of the climate control system asking for A/C.

Anyways, my guess based on your symptoms point to the A/C system. If you got some gauges handy, hook them up to make sure.

I recall reading that unplugging the ECT sensor will make the high speed run constantly. But don't trust me on that. Some others said that their engine wouldn't start after for some reason.
 
I wonder if my car has some of the same issues. How often are the fans supposed to run?? I just charged my A/C up today (forgot to do it after the 3.0L swap...and wasnt thinking that that may have something to do with the fans....DUH! lol). But i keep having a P0118 high input code for the coolant sensor. Praying it isnt my PCM....going out in the shop now to test the wiring and PCM itself.

I wonder if your A/C system isnt alot to do with it....or maybe one of the sensors in the A/C system is screwed up?? Idk...just thoughts....curious because mine (is/was) acting funny too.

Not sure yet if I solved my fan issues....seemed ok on the way home from work. But the CEL coming on and once that P0118 code kicks in...car is a MUT....dumps too much fuel and runs rich as heck.
 
Last edited:
Interesting. Byron, what was wrong with the AC?

Did you do any of the tests I had mentioned to test the fans while the AC was out? (jumping connections, etc).

79Mustang...reply back if yours are working now..
 
not sure depending on what tstat you have. If it goes past 220 and the fans dont kick on ok. but id let it idle for 20-25 mins while you are cleaning or working on something else so you dont think about the car running and then glance at the temp guage now and then... if it goes past halfway and starts to climb towards the redzone and the fans havent kicked on yet I would check the sensor leading to the PCM. It may have gone bad. If not maybe the fan switch that is located on the fan shroud.
 
wadespencer99 said:
Did you do any of the tests I had mentioned to test the fans while the AC was out? (jumping connections, etc).
Click to expand...

Actually, I did do a number of tests while the A/C was out. I did in fact jump the low speed, and high speed to make sure they were still working. The fans are a crucial part of the A/C system, so I tested them. They both worked, so my fan wiring, resistor, and motors were still good. Heres the weird thing though. It seems like the cooling system in the Duratec is very efficient. To this day, I still don't recall hearing the fans come on by themselves without the A/C. Probably for two reasons: In the winter, its only used for local trips, and the freezing exterior temperature will help cool the rad. In the summer, I never drive with the climate control in the OFF position, so the A/C system is always activated.

As svttour said, one or more sensors could have gone bad, giving false info to the PCM. The majority of sensors related to the fans are on the A/C system for safety reasons. High pressure will override any fan signal given by the PCM, and turn the fans on high. I also believe that the fans shut off with A/C on under these circumstances: The high side A/C pressure is within a certain level, the vehicle is moving above a certain speed, and the coolant temperature is below a certain level. So as you can see, the fan system is complicated if you ask me. What would we do without the PCM??
 
Mine was as simple as charging the A/C back up....lol. I forgot to do that after the swap...so fans are fine now. And I found the problem with my car...broken wire!! DOH.....going to put things back together now. Good luck with this issue man....keep us posted...curious to know whats wrong.
 
It appears the problem has been fixed!

On a whim I decided to replace the temp sensor yesterday...mainly because it was the cheapest part to throw at it, and it fixed the problem.

Keep in mind that I was able to read the temperature of the car with a scan tool, so I had ruled out that sensor, since it appeared to be working.

The air conditioning still doesn't work, though there is pressure in the system (maybe not enough) so I need to take that somewhere to be tested. Glad to have the fans working though...thanks for the help everyone!
 
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