1993 Acura Integra Radiator fans

Tiny
STEVEN162
  • MEMBER
  • 1993 ACURA INTEGRA
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 245,346 MILES
I just bought this car 4months ago and I just noticed that the cooling fans are wired differently and unprofessionally. There is one wire connecting the negative terminal on my battery and it leads to three other wires, two wires go to each fan. The other wire comes from what looks like my fog light plug. Then there is another wire coming from the fog lamp plug as well, which goes to three other wires. Two go the each fan and the other goes to the fuse block under the dash board, driver side. One of the fans just stops working when I drive a long distance and spontaneously come on causing my engine to over heat. What do I do? Do I just re-wire what is there but more professionally because couldn't a bad connection cause this? Any suggestions will help. Thank You in advance.
Saturday, August 15th, 2009 AT 7:13 PM

18 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Hi steven162,

I hate to see wires flying around and it would be best to rewire then circuits so that the fans or other items can work correctly.

Is the original wireharness still there?
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Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 AT 11:15 AM
Tiny
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Yes the original wire harness is still there but the wires are all burnt and melted. The cooling fan relay is also burnt. I think I need to get a whole new harness, but I dont know how difficult it would be to get one or even the slightest clue of how to put it in. Do u have any suggestions. Thank You again in advance.
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 AT 4:41 PM
Tiny
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With the amount of damages described, a complete harness would be the best option.

Alternatively you can concentrate on the section that is bad.

You can try sourcing the scrap yards, they might have the engine harness but there is a possibility you would need to reattach some as they might have been snipped off.

If you require wiring diagrams I can assist you.
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009 AT 9:49 AM
Tiny
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I went to pick a part and got what looks to be a complete uncut wire harness. I also got a nice radiator fan to go with it. The only thing is I have no idea how to go about taking the radiator out and putting the wire harness in with out damaging any other accessories. I also do not have the slightest idea of what has to come off or out to access the wire harness.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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Monday, August 24th, 2009 AT 7:14 PM
Tiny
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To remove the radiator, disconnect the top and bottom hose.
Disconnect the trans fluid cooler pipes.
Remove the brackets on top of radiator and you can pull radiator out from top. Remember to disconnect the fan wires first.

It is not easy to describe everything that needs to be done and you should be able to identify what needs to be removed for easier access to any part of the wire harnes.

All connectors are clip on and except for a few, which requires them to be removed from the holding brackets, can be removed after pressing the release clip.
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Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 AT 12:19 PM
Tiny
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I would just like to thank you for your time. You where very helpful and nice to me. I have a few other questions as well, would you mind helping me with them?
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Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 AT 1:50 PM
Tiny
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You are welcomed.

You may ask as many questions as you like and I will try my best to help.

Our aim here is to help. :)
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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 AT 9:36 AM
Tiny
STEVEN162
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Hello again.
I put in the new wire harness and I changed the thermostat. I also put a new radiator cap on. I drove maybe 10mils and it started to over heat again. One fan was on(closest to driver side), but the other wasn't. I have absolutely no idea what is wrong now.
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Sunday, August 30th, 2009 AT 4:33 PM
Tiny
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Did you bleed the system of air? Recheck the coolant in radiator again. If it is low, top it up and run engine without radiator cap, keep topping coolant till it stabilises.

As to the fan not working, driver side is condenser fan and the other is the radiator main fan.

Did you test if the fan motor is working?

If fan motor is working, check the radiator fan relay in underhood fuse box. Try swapping with the condenser fan.

If relay is good, unplug the fan switch and use a jumper wire across the harness connector. Turn ignition switch ON and if fan runs, fan and wiring circuit is good.
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Monday, August 31st, 2009 AT 1:29 AM
Tiny
STEVEN162
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I fixed the heating problem hopefully, But it seems the fans turn on when the gauge goes up about 3/4 is that normal? Sometimes the fans come on but the car still heats up and it gets really close to the red. I don, t know if that is what it is really supposed to do. The mechanic that fixed it said its normal, but I am still edgy I don't want it to get to the red and over heat. Is that normal or is there a way to fix it?
Thank you again for your time and consideration.
Steven
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Saturday, September 5th, 2009 AT 10:26 PM
Tiny
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The fan should come on when gauge reading is around 1/2 way mark. The reading is too high. Possible causes are :

1. Inaccurate reading. Engine is not overheating but reading is high. Could be caused by inaccurate temp sender unit or a bad ground connection at inner fender behind headlights.
Is the engine showing signs of overheating by coolant being pushed to the reserve tank?
Did this happen only after driving vehicle for some time after bleeding system?
Did you recheck the coolant level both in radiator and reserve tank?
Does overheating occurs only when idling or while driving?

2. Faulty fan switch. It is too slow to response to the engine temp and is delayed in activating.

3. Engine is overheating due to a bad head gasket. This would be indicated by coolant losses in radiator and reserve tank level keeps increasing.
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Sunday, September 6th, 2009 AT 6:22 AM
Tiny
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This happens when I am idling in traffic, but when I am driving above 40 -45 mph the engine reads cool. No actually I have to fill the reserve tank. Yes I rechecked the level in reserve tank and radiator its fine. I replaced the head gasket. I just want the fans to come on when it is time, how do I do that, what do I need to do that.
Thank you
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Sunday, September 6th, 2009 AT 1:54 PM
Tiny
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I drove the car today maybe 10mi up a mountain. It over heated the reserve tank was full and steaming. I don't know what happened.
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Monday, September 7th, 2009 AT 1:09 AM
Tiny
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Let us go through the checklist and see if we missed out anything.

1. Coolant in radiator is good.
2. Reserve tank requires topping up. This indicates a leak in the cooling system. A pressure test would be required to find out where the leak is coming from.
3. Head gasket replaced. Was overheating the reason for replacing the gasket? Did you reface the head? Was the condition of the engine block surface checked for eveness?
4. Radiator fan running but only at 3/4 gauge reading. This would indicated the fan is running too late. Disconnect the fan switch wire and use a jumper across the wire connector terminals to run the fan full time. Test if overheating occurs. If fan is turning on too late, the fan switch is the most likely culprit.
5. When reserve tank was full and steaming, was the fans running? After engine cooled down, was the reserve tank coolant absorbed back into radiator?
6. Radiator cap and thermostat replaced.
7. Cruising speed no problem with overheating.
This eliminates a fault with the thermostat.
Occurs only when climbing hills. This could mean partially clogged radiator or weak water pump.
Occurs when at idling. This could mean the fan is not working or there is air in cooling system.
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Monday, September 7th, 2009 AT 8:20 AM
Tiny
STEVEN162
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Took it to the mechanic and he said there is no circulation in the radiator. I took the cap off of the radiator and started the car and the coolant wasn't moving at all.
1. Yes coolant is new. Orange 50/50

2. The reserve tank fills up when the coolant is hot.

3. The gasket was replaced because it was leaking. I would assume they checked for every thing.

4. When the fans ran all the time I had no problem with overheating, only when I when up hills or long distances 80mils. Where do I get the switch(what is it called), and how much do u think it costs?

5. Yes the fans where running when the coolant was purging through reserve tank. Yes it was absorbed back.
6. Yes new
7. Weak water pump? How do I check?
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Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 AT 4:09 PM
Tiny
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When no circulation occurs, either there is a clogging of the passages or the water pump is weak.

There is no standard operation procedures for water pump terting. Runnning the engine without the thermostat is one way of testing if the circulation is good. A bad water pump would not circulate the coolant and a weak one would cause the coolant to circulate at a much slower rate.

Since fans were working and coolant is overheating, this rules out the faulty fan switch.

I would suggest removing the thermostat and testing it. I have encountered a vehicle which had a problem with the thermostat and replacement was made. 1 month later thermostat failed, stuck in closed position. Replaced thermostat, same problem occurred after a few weeks. So far 4 thermostat had been replaced and each time it lasted a few weeks. All parts were OEM. Replacing the thermostat solved overheating problem until it reoccurred.

I only did the last replacement, previous replacement were done at the dealer.

Each time thermostat was tested and they were bad. You might have the same problem.
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Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 AT 9:07 AM
Tiny
STEVEN162
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Hello,
When my car sits over night and I get up in the morning to start it, it just clicks and then nothing. Then I try over and over again and it cranks over fine. I don't know what the problem is.
Can you help me?
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Saturday, November 21st, 2009 AT 8:26 PM
Tiny
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This seems a problem with the battery or its connections.

If the problem only occurs after sitting over night and is ok after initial start, the most likely fault is the battery. It is not holding charge and would not provide enough power for inituial starting.

After the vehicle is started, the alternator replenishes the battery power and it would be ok till it has to sit over a few hours of inactivity. Get the battery tested.
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 AT 1:34 AM

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