OK guys. My first post, though I've been a long time lurker and used the forums to help me out immensely. I've been going through a diagnostic procedure (maybe not the best one) and am kind of stuck. Below are the details of what I've done chronologically. I don't know if all of it is related, but I'm going to include it anyway.

Car Info:
1996 Honda Accord LX
2.2L L4 FI F22B2

The first issue I had was was with the cooling system. I pulled in from driving home from work and noticed there was coolant in the overflow reservoir boiling over. After talking to a co-worker he thought it was probably the radiator cap not sealing properly and keeping the right pressure and thus temperature and causing to boil.

I went to the auto parts store and the guy there convinced me that he thought it was the thermostat. I replaced that and of course that didn't fix the problem. Next, I replaced the radiator cap, added coolant and bleed the system. That fixed the boiling issue.

The next time when I'm driving, I notice that the car is cool when I'm at speed but warm air when I'm idling. I also notice the temperature gage fluctuating and sometimes running hot, but not overheating. I read up on here and I noticed the condensor fan wasn't running when I turned on the AC. I wired the battery into the motor and realized it was dead. So, I went and bought a new fan and replaced the old one. Wired it to the battery and it worked. Hooked it up normally, and it came on when I turned the AC on.

The next day driving home (most of my issues popped up on the way home when it was much hotter out and I had to idle while sitting in more traffic), I noticed the AC felt cool when idling, but not as cool as before the start of the incident. I also noticed (and I don't think it was doing this before, but I could be wrong), but the air speed coming through the vents seemed to be less while idling (idling seemed a bit rough too) and would speed up when I engaged the clutch and gave it gas. This made me think it was the alternator on it's way out. I got this checked and it turned out to be fine. Later that same day at some point I lost ALL cold air.

Today, checked out the cooling fan I just put in last weekend and it wasn't turning when the AC was on. I wired the battery to it and it doesn't work at all anymore. I then checked out the fuses. All were fine but the fuse for the cooling fan (in fusebox under the hood), which was blown. I replaced with a spare and started up the car and tried the AC. Fuse immediately blew again.

I have 2 questions and will solicit ANY and all help I can get. Sorry for the BOOK of a writeup. hahaha

1 - Is there something in the electrical system that could cause my new cooling fan to short out, or is it most likely defective.

2 - Let's say the fan IS defective. Is that what could cause my 2 blown fuses, and is there a way to independently verify that there are no other issues in the system (i.e. relays, compressor ground connection, etc.)

Again, thanks in advance and I'm sure I've gone about diagnosing this much less efficiently than I could have. I'm still a bit unclear on the details of how to test relays and things of that nature so bear with me. I'll answer any questions that I can.

 

Anyone...?

 

i would disconnect the fan and c if it still blows the fuse. if not then a defective fan, if so theres a hot wire grounded somewhere. thats my two cents

 

I'm assuming you don't have testing equipment to properly diagnose the circuit with. Try plugging up the condensor fan connector to the radiator fan harness side connector and turn the system on. I'm thinking they should plug up. Both the rad and cond fans are supposed to run with the a/c sys running. If you're fuse doesn't blow then you know its the fan motor.

 

where did you get the fan?

could be a short in the system, but it sounds to me like your fan motor is toast now...

 

I have a multimeter, but I'm not sure how to properly test the circuit. Tried reading some other threads about it, but still wasn't clear.

 

Got the fan motor at Advance Auto Parts. Yeah, I'm 100% sure the fan motor is toast. I'm just not sure if it was defective or something else in the system caused it to get toasted.

 

OK, so I pulled the fan motor out of the system and ran with the AC on. I have cold air again and didn't blow the fuse.

When I pulled the fan motor out it was sort of seized up. I took some pliers to it and freed it up, but stuff was definitely rubbing inside. Sounds like a mechanically defective fan motor to me. That sound right to you guys? Also, could a defective fan motor cause the fuse to blow?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

Well...still having issues. I went back to the DIY A/C Cooling Thread and decided to try and see if any other parts of the system were bad. I did the paperclip thing with the Thermoswitch A and without the fan in the system (I hooked up a multimeter to the connector plug that the fan WOULD connect to, I got 12+ Volts when the engine was running. I'm pretty sure that means the fan would be running. So, I could have a bad thermoswitch there.

I decided to check the relays for continuity. I hooked the battery into C/D and the ohmmeter into A/B. It stayed on infinity. I tried switching the relays and hooking up the voltmeter to the condenser fan plug and got no voltage for either one. I reinstalled both normally and found I got no cold air. Checked the condenser fan fuse. Blown again.

I'm scratching my head at this point. Not good enough with the electrical stuff to really nail this down. I'm about ready to just replace both relays and the thermoswitch A.

 

Well...I have success. I put in the new fan housing assembly (to replace the replacement fan motor I had put in), the thermo switch mounted by the thermostat, and both relays. I haven't had any issues since I replaced on Monday morning and AC is cool like it used to be. Not sure if it was the thermo switch, one of the relays, or a combination but I am back in business. Thanks for the help.