Hi all,

I have a 1993 Honda Accord EX and one of the cooling fans is not coming on and causing my car to overheat. I am trying to figure out which fan is the radiator fan and which is the condenser fan. Also, where the switch is located for each of these fans. It is the fan on the drivers side that is not kicking on.

thanks

 

When the engine is running, there's one fan switch, located in the thermostat housing. It's SUPPOSED to cause BOTH fans to run when the temperature gets hot enough.

The other fan switch is in the upper radiator hose nozzle (against the head) but that one is only active after you turn the engine off.

Spin the fan. Excessive friction?
Blown fuse? Does the fan run when you provide power directly from the battery?

 

Thanks for the insight. I replaced the switch by the radiator hose already. Checked all of the fuses they are all fine. Have not checked for friction of the fan or hooked it directly to the battery yet, I will try when I get home. The one fan on the passenger side comes on when the car is running and when it is turned off, the other does not come on at all. I haven't been able to locate where the switch in the thermostat housing is, I will have to look further into that.

 

It's roughly underneath the throttle body, shown here #14.

 

I believe I found the other switch, does it also have a green exterior on the connector? The fan also does not have any friction.

 

Jumper battery power to the plug at the fan and see if it runs ! !
There is no sense, to run around finding and replacing parts if the fan motor is dead.
If the fan runs with battery power jumpered to it, then you can start checking switches and relays, and I'll be more than happy to give you step by step testing you can do with a simple test light or voltmeter.
FYI the smaller 'pancake' motor fan on the drivers side is the condensor fan.
The engine should not overheat if only the main radiator fan [passengerside] is running.

 

OK I got that extra switch but have not installed it.

To hook up the fan to the battery, do you just disconnect the wiring on the fan and then run a jumper cable directly to the battery from the fan?

The one fan runs at times but the vehicle is still getting hot. The fan on the driver's side does not run at all. The upper radiator hose gets hot and the lower tube warm. There is plenty of coolant in the radiator.

Any ideas on what might be the issue, or what I should do next?

thanks

 

I should have suggested you use a paperclip to jumper the wire for that switch. I BET that only the one fan will run. That means the switch itself is not the problem.

Yes, run wires directly to the battery to see if the fan motor runs.

If the lower hose doesn't get very hot, that sounds like not enough flow through the radiator. Maybe your thermostat isn't opening up all the way? How old is your thermostat?

Maybe the water tubes in the radiator are obstructed with crud? How old is the antifreeze?

 

So the one switch (labeled B in diagrams) by where the top radiator hose connects in should turn on both fans?

 

No. The one labeled #14 in the drawing above (post 4) switches BOTH fans together. It has authority to do that switching while the key is turned ON.

The one labeled #15 in the drawing above, only has authority after turning the key OFF, for about 15 minutes, and it switches only 1 of the fans. I think it switches the right-side fan (passenger side, "radiator" fan).

About 15 minutes after turning the key OFF, the fan timer disables both the fan switches.