Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

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Limey
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Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:04 pm

I just got my 2009 v6 PF back from having the rear coolant hose assembly replaced the one that fails and exploded on me recently.. Noticed the what seems to be the electric fan always on and in high speed mode whenever the vehicle is turned on.

Could it be the hose rupture under pressure damaged a relay or something else ?

It definitely wasn’t like this prior to the hose breaking off and being replaced. Thanks.


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VStar650CL
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:22 pm

To be clear, we're talking about the auxiliary condenser fan under the hood, or one of the blowers inside the car?

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:07 pm

VStar650CL wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:22 pm
To be clear, we're talking about the auxiliary condenser fan under the hood, or one of the blowers inside the car?

One of the fans in under the hood. Thanks.

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VStar650CL
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:50 pm

Your main fan will be mechanical, but if the clutch is seized the fan will roar all the time. The condenser fan should only run under certain conditions, you can see the parameters on EC-44 here:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 9%2FEC.pdf
If it doesn't run all the time but runs constantly on high when the A/C is on, then they may have overcharged your A/C system. If it runs constantly even with the A/C off then it could be a stuck relay. One of the relays is accessible of you have the white IPDM (not sure if it's high or low), you can see it here on PCS-21. I don't think either one is accessible if you have the black upgrade IPDM:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... %2FPCS.pdf

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:18 pm

VStar650CL wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:50 pm
Your main fan will be mechanical, but if the clutch is seized the fan will roar all the time. The condenser fan should only run under certain conditions, you can see the parameters on EC-44 here:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 9%2FEC.pdf
If it doesn't run all the time but runs constantly on high when the A/C is on, then they may have overcharged your A/C system. If it runs constantly even with the A/C off then it could be a stuck relay. One of the relays is accessible of you have the white IPDM (not sure if it's high or low), you can see it here on PCS-21. I don't think either one is accessible if you have the black upgrade IPDM:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... %2FPCS.pdf
It doesn’t sound like the viscous fan. Since I hear that particular roar during initial startup and then it settles down after a few moments. This appears to be the electric fan running at high speed mode even with AC turned off.

After opening the fuse and relay boxes on the passenger side engine bay I couldn’t locate any related relays. I’m not sure what the white or black IPDM refers to.

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VStar650CL
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:00 pm

The IPDM will be under the cover of a larger box all the way in the passenger rear of the engine compartment, next to the ECM. It looks like a fusebox, but there's actually smartwork inside it. There will be a small fuse-and-relay array in front of it under the same cover. I'm pretty sure the '09's were among the ones that got fitted with an upgraded part if the original failed. If the IPDM plastic is a white or yellowish-white color then it's original, if it's black then it's either been replaced or it had the upgrade to begin with. I'm not at the shop so I can't look that up at the moment.

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:11 pm

VStar650CL wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:00 pm
The IPDM will be under the cover of a larger box all the way in the passenger rear of the engine compartment, next to the ECM. It looks like a fusebox, but there's actually smartwork inside it. There will be a small fuse-and-relay array in front of it under the same cover. I'm pretty sure the '09's were among the ones that got fitted with an upgraded part if the original failed. If the IPDM plastic is a white or yellowish-white color then it's original, if it's black then it's either been replaced or it had the upgrade to begin with. I'm not at the shop so I can't look that up at the moment.
It’s the large black box near the smaller box which are both near the power steering reservoir area ? I had look inside. It looked white meaning the area that all the fuses and relays pushed into was white in color.
8AAA6479-A6FA-462F-8E4B-153CF23D29D7.jpeg

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:21 pm

Here’s a photo of my actual cover open.
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71C7DF46-B131-48BC-A475-624980CDDC9D.jpeg

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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:25 pm

I just remembered something, I asked the mech to look for radiator bypass solution, could something like a sensor or such could have been disconnected, no SMOD bypass was done but he looked at it apparently with a view to do it next time I go there.

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VStar650CL
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby VStar650CL » Mon Jun 20, 2022 8:09 pm

Yep, that's the IPDM. I guess it's possible he could have disconnected the A/C Pressure sensor, I don't think there are any codes for that. It can't be the engine temp sensor (ECT), you'd be seeing that on the dash plus getting a lit MIL.

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:37 pm

VStar650CL wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 8:09 pm
Yep, that's the IPDM. I guess it's possible he could have disconnected the A/C Pressure sensor, I don't think there are any codes for that. It can't be the engine temp sensor (ECT), you'd be seeing that on the dash plus getting a lit MIL.
Thanks 🙏🏼

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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:02 am

Just an update. This morning the symptoms didn’t persist anymore. I dislike issues like this. Could it have been air perhaps trapped in system ? Only thing I did was open ipdm , press the harness that connect to the electric fan to make sure it was seated. Also opened the reservoir coolant tank and it let air out.

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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:20 pm

Maybe it’s normal. I don’t know. It’s in the 90s here today and when I pulled into my garage and turned the AC off the electric fan remained on high speed again today.

How would I go about diagnosing if an issue exists or not ?

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VStar650CL
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby VStar650CL » Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:09 pm

Limey wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:20 pm
How would I go about diagnosing if an issue exists or not ?
If you look at the chart on EC-44, the only thing that should ever make that fan run at top speed is coolant temperature above 221F. If your gauge is showing lower then there has to be a bad gauge, a problem with the temperature signal on the branch that goes to the ECM, a cross-talk problem between the high and low circuits, or a bad ECM. You can test for cross talk using the IPDM self-test, it should run the fan at both low and high speeds. If it only runs high then there's an issue in the fan, fan control relays, or wiring. A streaming scanner can tell you what temperature the ECM is seeing, if that doesn't correspond to what the gauge says, either your gauge is bad or something else is. Use a point-and-shoot IR thermometer right next to the temperature sender, that will tell you which of the disparate values is real and which is bogus.

Limey
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Re: Electric radiator fan stuck on high speed mode

Postby Limey » Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:47 pm

Thanks. I’ll look into procedures to perform the ipdm self test. I recall seeing it on the web before but didn’t take note. Will high and low be performed or high low and medium speed for the fan ? I’m assuming the ipdm test can be done when coolant is still hot ?

Where is the location the area I can point and shoot an ir sensor to read coolant temp value ?


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