Okay first of all its a Canadian 1992 Acura Integra GS 2 door equipped with A/C.
I had to take out my header to repair something on it, and before this my radiator fan was the one that would come on when it needed to cool down.
In order to take out my header (hytech replica) I had to take off my radiator fan, after reassembling everything it is now my condenser fan that comes on when the car needs to cool down, and I have yet to see my radiator fan come on again.
I did some searching and apparently how its functioning now is normal? I read on here, but is it really? when does the radiator fan come on then?
I’m going to test my radiator fan soon by putting 12v to it and make sure it still works but there is no reason for it not to.
And I already checked all my fuses they’re all good.
Try changing out the switch known as the Engine coolant temperature switch. (ECT) Shown in this pic at the top. The one with a hose coming out of it.
ECT Switch
Wire Color(s):
BLK
YEL/GRN
Location:
Located on the back of the block (to the left of the oil filter) on OBD0 b series engines. Located on the thermostat housing on 92+ b series engines. It should be noted that the ones on the back of the block look completely different from the thermostat housing mounted switches.
Purpose:
Tells the radiator fan to turn on once the coolant temp is above a specified temp.
Details:
This is a ground switch. BLK wire leads directly to ground.
YEL/GRN wire leads directly to the radiator fan motor on models w/o AC. YEL/GRN wire leads to the radiator fan relay on AC equipped models.
Continuity between terminals (radiator fan is told to turn on) when the coolant temp is above 196-203 deg F.
The 89-91 style switch is strange looking, like it’s made from green epoxy with two pins sticking out. Each of these pins is similar in shape and size to a headphone jack. A single wire connector connects independently to each of these pins. The whole unit is then covered by a black plastic/rubber “boot” in the shape of a hershey kiss. On 89-91 blocks there are THREE units to the left of the oil filter. The ECT switch is the highest up unit (see mrpenny’s picture below)
The 92+ style switch is a more standard shaped two pin connector. The switch is commonly brown and the connector gray in color.
Do not pay attention to the pic in the above post. You have a 1992, your ECT switch is located on the thermostat housing. The picture above is from an 89-91 block.
I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the switching being your problem. Before you removed your header, did your condensor fan every come on? Was it ONLY the rad fan that went on? And now is it ONLY the condensor fan that goes on? If that’s the case then it sounds like you switched the wiring. I forget if the connectors are the same or not, but possibly you just reconnected the wires incorrectly when you reinstalled everything.
If both fans worked previously and now only one works, it could be a problem with the wiring or with the relay. At least that’s where I’d check first.
First of all thanks for the info guys. heres some more info from my end:
Before I removed anything my radiator fan would come on and turn off normally when the car was in operating temp and needed.
My condenser fan would only turn on when i had the A/C on and it needed it, and it also worked fine.
I disconnected the green plug at my radiator fan and jumped 12v to it and it turns on right away and spins like a champ. and plugged that all back in nicely.
I then disconnected my ECT switch plug at my thermostat housing and jumped the 2 pins at the harness side, with the key in the ON position the condenser fan turns on right away and spins like a champ.
Thats all the new information I have, I haven’t had a chance to test a new ECT switch yet, but shouldn’t it not be the switch because its still working well enough to know when to turn on the condenser fan to cool the engine down and when to turn it off?
I didn’t mix up the plugs between the 2 fans I know that, I don’t know how anyone would even do that cuz they wouldn’t reach I don’t think. And when I removed the header I only removed the rad fan, the condenser fan wasn’t touched…
while jumping the switch, was the defrost on by chance? because the a/c system will operate with the defrost on.
if not, you may have a bad ground in the rad fan circuit. this may cause power to back feed through the condenser fan. i believe there is a ground cluster near the rad fan and condenser fan relays. check and clean them maybe
Yeah I realized it was on when I jumped the ECT switch the first time so I switched it to the feet only setting and jumped it again and it still turned the condenser fan on.
So I guess I gotta look at those grounds you’re talking about then eh?
sounds logical to me. another possibility is that the condenser fan is shorting to the rad fan circuit.
one way to figure out if that’s the case is to unplug the rad fan, then jump the switch. if the condenser fan still comes on then, you know it’s shorting
Okay so I unplugged the green plug at the radiator fan and then unplugged the ECT switch and jumped it and the condenser fan still came on. Then I unplugged both the green plug and white plug (kinda forget what the white plug is for so I decided to try it anyways) and then jumped the ECT switch and the condenser fan still came on lol.
I’ve looked up the grounds you’re talking about in the manual and I plan on checking them very soon, I have cleaned them before on my other DA but I totally forget how to get to them, do I have to take off the rad mounts and pull the rad back a bit? or take the headlight out? I forget how I did it lol.
tbh, i’m not sure. i do remember there being a ground cluster near the dr side headlight…i think. whether it is part of the rad/condenser fan circuit, i don’t know.
but are you absolutely positive that the condenser fan did not previously come on with the rad fan when the switch was closed? because on a lot of vehicles they both will.
try this. try plugging in the rad fan and back probing the pins on the connector. that is, feed 12v and ground to the pins from the back of the connector. if the rad fan doesn’t come on, the problem is in the connection
yeah i’m totally sure about how the fans behaved before.
just yesterday while I was at the rainy track suddenly my rad fan decided to come on, problem is its permanently staying on lol even with the key out and the engine cold its still on, so something is definitely going on. gonna track down and clean those grounds as soon as i can.
i don’t think it’s backfeeding. since you unplugged the rad fan and jumped the switch and the con fan still came on. rad fan circuit should have been open. sounds like you’ve got some wires shorting
so i checked the G201 and G301 which are the main grounds for rad fan and condenser fan and they looked fine and all the wires looked fine so before digging into cleaning out the grounds i decided to try swapping the rad fan relay, so i swapped it and voila now when the car heats up both fans come on to cool it down and turn off together too, perfect for me. once i get my A/C recharged i’ll make sure the condenser fan still behaves properly. thanks for the help!
