Cooling fan unit issues

Tiny
TONY SAUCEDA
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 MERCURY MARINER
  • 3.0L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 155,000 MILES
My car's cooling fan unit is having issues. When I got the car about 10,000 miles ago the A/C worked perfectly and coolant stayed at a good temperature. Then it started overheating and the A/C only blows cold while moving. So, I understand the problems are caused by my fans not cooling the radiator and A/C. My troubles are diagnosing why and how this is happening. I remember hearing the fans come on and go off while parked with engine running before the issue but I never really payed attention to it because I did not have a reason to. So before this issue I could not say for sure what speed the fans were running at, which fans were running or when they were operating. So I will list what the car is doing and what I have checked and scenarios.


Symptoms:

. Car over heats when sitting still too long.
. A/C only works when moving (above thirty to thirty five mph if it is hot outside).


What I have checked, tested and observed:

Tested all three fan relays and both 16 and 17 fuses. Everything seems to be fine. Only way I did not test the relays was by supplying power and then checking resistance. I tested continuity and added power and listened for the clicking (good). The fuses were at.6 resistance.

Checked for power in the three resistors pin holes on the PCM while key on power off (no 12 volts) key on engine on (12 volts) key off (nothing).

Unplugged the driver side fan and checked for power on the plug and had the same results as when I was checking the pinholes on the PCM. When there was power it was close to 13 volts.

Checked power to passenger fan and same results as driver side fan.

Checked for power and signal at the coolant temperature sensor and that checked out (I did not remove the sensor and check the voltage signal while in heating up water).

Jumped both fans one at a time to the battery and only passenger fan turned on.



What I have observed:

Only passenger fan works.
Passenger fan seems to only operate at high speed.

Fans do not turn on when I turn the ac on (all settings)

The passenger fan will turn on and off after the engine has reached opening temperature (only sometimes).

If and when the engine starts overheating, the passenger fan does not always turn on. In fact it rarely turns on.

The only times I have observed the passenger fan running was after I had been driving for a while and then parked to get out and physically look at the fan (A/C on or off did not matter).

A few days ago I got home from work and I parked in the driveway and the A/C did not warm up right away so I sat there for about ten minutes and the car never overheated and the A/C stayed cool. The passenger fan was also functioning. Cycling on and off. Then the next time I took the car for a drive it went back to its old ways.

Yesterday I checked for power at the driver fan plug and had my 12 volts ref (key on engine on engine warm but not blazing hot) and then disconnected the three fan relays one by one and would lose the voltage when the high and low speed relays were removed. Not the main unit relay. (Odd?)

Same results on passenger fan.

Hooked the fans back up and passenger fan would not turn on this time (previously it worked when jumping it to battery).

Then drove around for about twenty minutes and parked and the passenger fan was running.

MIL came on during that drive checked DTC’s: P0193 P0480 (I accidentally pulled the fuel pump relay while previously checking the relays, oops.

So I have been searching the internet for wiring diagrams and all the information I could possibly think of looking up and so far all I can think of is the fan unit is bad. Driver side motor is out and the passenger fan in intermittently failing. Does anyone have any more information on what could be the problem or maybe I am overlooking something? Sorry for the super long post but I felt the need to be detailed. Thank all that can help me!
Thursday, May 31st, 2018 AT 12:28 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 43,468 POSTS
Hello.

It does sounds like the fan motor are going out only working sometimes. Here is a guide top help you test for power at the motors when the AC is on and the cooling fan wiring diagrams so you can see how the system works:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.

Cheers, Ken
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Saturday, June 2nd, 2018 AT 1:51 PM

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