My air conditioning is out. In phoenix, in July. Bad news.

The compressor is not activating, I can tell based off of engine loading at idle. When I hit the a/c switch nothing interesting happens.
This suddenly appeared yesteryday accompanied by an almost burned/earthy smell through my air conditiong vents.

Went over the condenser fan, it works. But discovered something interesting the "radiator" fan (passenger side, FSM refers to it as radiator fan) is inoperable. jumper the relay, the drivers side fan comes on but not the passenger side fan. Continuity between #1 and the black/yellow positive wire at the 2 pin connector for the drivers side fan is absent, reads infinite indicating a broken wire/short. Anyone have any idea where to start looking for a break/short in the passenger side fan circuit?

Oh, and there is no continuity between the pins on the pressure switch, which is either no pressure or bad switch. So I believe that is causing the compressor not to activate, and as a result neither fan comes on with the a/c on. However as I mentioned before I live in phoenix, so I do need to fix my fans ASAP.

 

Does the fan motor itself work?

Just unplug and wire directly to battery. If it spins up then your fan itself is ok (wiring/motor/etc) and it is the wiring.

You don't note your Year/Make/Model/Trim though, that iwll help tremendously

 

Ah, my bad. '94 LX sedan.

And even if the fan were good (I have yet to test it) there should still be a continuity reading between the relay and the fan if I'm not mistaken.

(I might be, electrical is not my thing.

 

Where were you testing it? After the plug or before it?

And you're correct, I skimmed that part. You should be seeing continuity between before the plug at fan, and the outside of the relay for sure. If you tested the wiring going into the relay from the switch to the fan, that probably won't give you continuity due to the relay not being 'on'

So the output of the relay to the fan should have continuity since it's one wire.

If you measured from the input of the relay from the switch to the fan, and there's no continuity, then you've either got a switch not working for the relay or a bad relay.

 

I tested the wiring between the connector (Harness side) and the relay terminal number 1 (With relay removed) as per FSM instructions. There was no continuity no.

I'm thinking it would be easiest to simply just cut and splice a new wire into the harness than it would be to look for the broken wire.

 

Gotca, definitely sounds like wiring issue.

Instead of cutting immediately though, I'd just string a wire from the fan to the relay and test that theory.

 

Will the compressor run if you jumper right to it?

Also, my fan is not always on in my 92... only when the car is hot and needs it. Jumper the fan just to be sure.

 

On my accord the radiator (passenger side) fan always runs when the a/c is on even when the engine is off (although I suppose that could be only when it is hot. Never paid attention otherwise). I jumpered the fan relay per instructions in the factory service manual and the driver side fan came on. (according to the FSM this is the incorrect fan) I am under the assumption that both fans are supposed to run here. (this is what has my attention. That FSM diagnostics failed to run the fan. Unless someone decided to wire them backwards and not tell anyone. Which I doubt.)

I measured that there was no continuity between terminal number one on the fan relay in the underhood box (with relay removed) and the 2pin harness connector for the fan. (also of concern)

I have not tested my compressor yet as I had to go to work. I can tell you right now that the compressor clutch is not engaging. Turning on the air does not change engine load. I cannot tell you if that is because the compressor is broken or not however. I suppose it is possible. Will spend more time on diagnostics tomorrow.

What I was mainly trying to find out is if a harness short from the relay box to the fan connector is something someone has had happen to them before and where to start looking for said short. I don't like the idea of stripping the entire harness to replace a single wire. It's a hideously irritating thing to have to do.

 

Interesting update. The factory service manual is either incorrect or the car is wired wrong. I rechecked continuity from the number one relay terminal to the positive wire on the fans 2pin connector. Then checked between the number three terminal and the connector. Continuity. 3ohms.

Jumpered the number one and number three terminals and measured voltage between the positive connector pin and ground. 11.5 volts engine off.

Fan is getting power, gotta be the motor that is burned out.
No continuity between the terminals on the a/c pressure switch. Either bad pressure switch or there is no pressure in the system as the connector has battery voltage.

 

If the fan isn't working the first thing you should do is perform a voltage drop on the load ( fan motor ). Confirm the fan is getting what it needs at the fan motor connector. Typically, the first thing to fail is a load. This can save you a lot of time.

 

Wire that puppy to the battery and see if she spins!