Need some help diagnosing this. My wife's car has been overheating while stopped but is fine while air is flowing over the radiator. I know the AC fan is spinning but I can't get the main radiator fan to spin. Not sure if there's a way to force it. Here's what I've checked: - Fuses are good. - Relay was replaced last year prior to realizing rad fan motor was gone - haven't tested it again yet - Fan is good - hooked direct to battery and it spun - Coolant seems to be flowing as the system stays cool while moving So here are my questions and thoughts I need confirmed: - Could it be the temp sensor - would it necessarily throw a CEL if it wasn't working? Would the temp indicator in the car be working? (indicator is working, and no CEL). - How can I get the car to a known state where the fan *should* be on? I know I can force the AC fan by running the AC on high. - How can I easily test the relay? It's a pain to pull (I damaged the old one last time I replaced it). I just want to apply 12 and ground to confirm it clicks, but can't remove it easily enough to attach leads to the pins directly. Thanks!
Just found this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/92849-cooling-fan-not-working/?p=781969 Does connecting the green diagnostics connectors under the dash and turning car to ON (not started) work for the '06 as well?
If the thermostat wasn't working, wouldn't it overheat whether at speed or not? All I need is airflow over the radiator and the car stays plenty cool (read: driving). It's just when sitting idle where the fan would need to be blowing for airflow that the issue occurs.
afaik, plugging in the test pin should let it run. I think it turns on the fans, fuel pump and electronics. Have you tried testing the plug for the fan to make sure it's receiving power? The fan may work, but what about the lines running up to it?
If while sitting still with the a/c off the engine reaches operating temp and beyond without the cooling fan(s) coming on then I would start with the fans.electrical.you still may have a thermostat or other problem(s).When you say overheating do you mean needle in the red and coolant pouring out the overflow or is it just reading a little higher than normal?
It'll get fully up into the red if we let it, but my wife has been on top of it enough to just roll down the windows and kill the engine to let it cool off rather than sitting with the A/C running. My gut is that this is electrical as well because I simply haven't been able to get the fan to turn on, and it seems that all will be fine when it does.
No loss of coolant? My old 97 accord did the exact same thing. There was a hole in the radiator, and pissed coolant. So when it idled, temps climbed out of control. Moving air cooled it back down when driving.
4 pin multispeed fan (has Hi and Lo windings) maybe your fan is not able to run on certain speeds (at idle). Could be issues with the connector or can also be the fan motor. p.s. not sure in our cars but normally when AC is on the radiator fan also comes on
No loss of coolant, and the fan is 2 pin single speed. Cab someone confirm whether the recall for thus issue was limited to the 05/06 turbo 5mt models? King seemed to think it was more widespread. If Subaru will fix this for me for free they can have it. Otherwise I need to figure this one out myself. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Have u tried un-plugging the fan connector and jumping it straight to power to confirm the fan motor hasn't gone bad
Yup that was the first thing I did. (Read the OP Lol). I found the recall but it only calls out the turbo 5mt version of the car. Still gotta test the diag connectors, I couldn't find them yesterday, they're not in the same place as on the impreza. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
There, I fixed it. Ok got it sorted out. Found the test connectors, got the relays clicking so those seemed fine. Per Drew's suggestion I connected my meter to the plug and confirmed power was available at the connector. So the fan works, the power connector works, must be something between the connector and the motor... Looking *very* closely at the pigtail on the fan (hard to see in the depths of the engine bay), I see that one of the pins is broken. :| Had a spare motor (which I thought was bad but apparently spins fine) and swapped it (because some engineer at Subaru thought it'd be brilliant to run a lower radiator hose *through* the damn fan housing so it can't be removed without draining coolant. :evil: So I'll have to keep an eye on it still to confirm the fan isn't marginal, and if it is, I'll just cut the good pigtail off and splice it to the known good fan. But thanks everyone for the help! Glad it was something simple and not an ECU or sensor issue (and that I had a spare fan/connector kicking around lol).
Sweet.And I forgot to add that almost all normal cars run the fans when the a.c. is on to help cool the freon ..
legacy and outbacks don't have the green connector under the dash like forester's and imprezas. you could swap relay's with another known one that works and see if it comes on.. it's possible it could be a thermostat still though. if it's stuck just flowing and no air is moving your radiator really isn't doing anything to cool it down at that point. if the thermostat is stuck open it's just going to flow hot out of the radiator and back in hot unless moving/driving. the other thing you could do is have a test light and start chasing power. if you say you hook it directly up to battery power obviously the motor works. if the fuse isn't blown it means it could of stopped somewhere else. with out really being there it's hard to diagnose anything really. you could remove the relay and test light the relay and see if it clicks or if you're good enough test light the connector and see if you can make the fan spin. (easier to just swap relays with a known good one) also i believe 05 legacy/outbacks had recall open for i think it's WVU-31 which is a thermostat monitoring and a couple other things. don't quote me on if your year fits in that because it's been to long since i've done one..
Err I know all 2005-2009 Legacy GT have them under the dash on the passenger side by the center console.