cooling fan trouble

I recenlty noticed that my 90 accords cooling fan was running hours
after I turned the engine off, and kept running until the battery was
dead. I recharged the battery and started unpluging sensors while the
fan was running to locate the problem. When that didnt work I
unplugged the cooling fan relay located in the fuse box under the hood.
That finally shut the fan off. I then noticed that I could here some
clicking while I was replacing it. Nothing unusal, but it continued
clicking after it was pluged in (and the fan continued to run). I
unpluged the relay and called it a day. The next morning I pluged the
relay back in and the clicking noise was gone, and the fan wasnt
running. I thought the problem fixed itsefl until I drove it to work
and the damn thing started overheating. Now the fan wont come on at
all. I replaced the relay, and that didnt work (no clicking either).
I dont think there is any power going to the relay, but I dont know how
to check for that. I was told that it could be a bad cooling fan
switch that screws into the radiator. I was going to replace that next
but I want to get some professional feedback before I start replacing
parts. Any advice would be much apreciated.

 

It is not a good idea to go replacing electrical components with the battery
plugged in, unless you are an expert and know for sure, that the component
in question does not have any power to it. "I then noticed that I could
here some clicking while I was replacing it." That could have been relay
contacts welding themselves together and making relay coils burn themselves
out.

The switch is a likely candidate. If it is responsible for the original
problem of the fan staying on, then the terminals should be shorted together
internally, which you can verify with a multimeter or test light. You
probably want to get a circuit diagram first. The Haynes Manuals usually
have fairly accurate ones, but they can be hard to read because they are in
black and white and because they try to cover several years in one diagram.

Earle

 

The Honda newsgroups have seen a fair amount of reports of
the timer for the cooling fan failing. The solution is to
replace it. Group.google the archives. Also, see the
troubleshooting procedure for cooling fan controls at :
http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/AccordManual/400/16-103.pdf

It's for a 91-93 Accord, so it may not dead-on duplicate
your 90 Accord.


Do not let the car overheat again. You are putting your
Honda's head gasket at great risk, resulting in an expensive
repair.