So, on my Honda Accord 2000 4dr DX, my car would overheat if I had the AC on and I was in traffic but it would mostly be fine on the highways. Anyhow, the mechanic called and told me that both the radiator fan motor and the condenser fan motor need replacement, and that replacing the assemblies in whole is cheaper. He said that since my card has a Valeo radiator, the assemblies are quite expensive, mainly the radiator fan assembly, and quoted me about $650 or so in parts, with one hour of labor and the check up fee, it comes to about $750..
Is this reasonable?

 

Go junkyard diving. I found a near-new replacement in a car and got it for $35 with a warranty. I bet you could find a good one near you. A brand new radiator is about $100 at autozone, and I'm guessing nothing is wrong with the fans, but the relays that control them. Doing the radiator/fans/coolant took me about an hour. With copious amounts of 'silver bullet time'.

Find a new 'mechanic' because he's ripping you off.

 

He said that the motors were shot, but replacing the assemblies whole would be cheaper.

 

http://tasauto.com/Product/Browse.aspx?d=952&p=1

$300 total for both parts new aftermarket ones. The make of the radiator doesn't matter at all.

I have had the blower motors go bad on my 97 Accord's fans before and just replace them. It was 4 10mm bolts that hold it on.

Here are some others on eBay for under $50 each

http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-99-00-01-02-HONDA-ACCORD-CONDENSER-A-C-FAN-BLADE-MOTOR-SHROUD-2-3L-4CYL-NO-V6-/360708803006?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2000%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item53fbeb89be&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radiator-Cooling-Fan-Denso-Replacement-Driver-Side-for-98-02-Honda-Accord-2-3L-/130944515073?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2000%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item1e7ce6bc01&vxp=mtr
You need a new mechanic.

 

Called another mechanic who told me that it would be less than $350 to fix, but he's not certain since he doesn't have the car in front of him, but didn't highlight the difference of the radiator being Valeo vs Denzo, so I'm hoping that doesn't bite me in the *** if I do decide to take it there instead.

I called up the original mechanic and asked him to look around for cheaper part prices, as I told him what I was quoted and what I found online, and he said that whoever gave me that low of an estimate was not looking at the right assemblies for Valeo (basically, highlighting the "difference" again). If he doesn't come back under $400, I'll probably just take it to the other guy who gave me the on the phone quote, even though I already owe the original mechanic $43 for the check-up.

 

There shouldn't be any real difference in the radiators beyond maybe the mounting points on the fans but I'd imagine they're identical.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...cgry5=RADIATOR

19030-PAA-A02 is the OEM Honda part number for a Valeo radiator fan motor @ $180 brand new at a dealership.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...28CONDENSER%29

38616-PAA-A01 is the OEM Honda part number for the AC cooling fan, which makes no distinction between Valeo/Denso as the above part number does and is $175 brand new.

Likely, if your car only overheats at stop with AC on you only have one of the two fans bad. Just pop the hood in your driveway with the AC on and watch the two fans to see which one doesn't turn on.


*edit*

I'd also like to point out that the Denso radiator fan motor is under $10 difference brand new OEM.

Some additional links too -

$100 for a new 'Valeo' aftermarket replacement

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radiator-Cooling-Fan-Assembly-for-98-02-Honda-Accord-2-3L-Valeo-Style-/121151632903?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c35333607&vxp=mtr

 

Muffin and Chris, thanks, seriously.

 

Honestly, even if he does bring the price down to something reasonable, I don't know if I want to give him my business at this point.

 

Yep, the first estimate was clearly taking advantage of you. I swapped out my S2000's radiator and fan assemblies in probably 3 hours on a Saturday having never done it before and bled the system.

My guess is your AC cooling fan is bad, replacing both isn't a bad plan if you can do it cheaply just to make sure the other doesn't crap out on you in a month or so. If you want to get get it up and running too, you could pick up just the required fan from eBay, Majestic Honda (HondaAutomotiveParts), or your local dealer (have them price match Majestic) and swap it yourself.

Even cheaper than all that is go by like Advance Auto and pick up a universal fan OR junkyard.

 

Those fans can be had at the local pull-a-part for 10 buxs each or about 30 buxs from ebay brand new. I have bought radiators for 90-2002's before from ebay for 50.00. No issues.
Tell that mechanic to delete your number...

 

So, I picked up the car from the guy and asked him to show me what was wrong. He told me both of the fans were not rotating (one is apparently a fast vs a slow or a high vs low), but they were both receiving power. I've attached a picture of what he was talking about.

https://i.imgur.com/PeYTLrh.jpg

I drove it home with the AC off, parked and popped the hood, and saw that neither fan was turning. I then turned the AC on and the fan on the left started turning, yet seemingly very slow for what I imagine how fast it should be turning.

 

I gotta be honest here and I'm not trying to sound harsh but if you go back to that first guy you're a complete moron.

Someone has to say this.

 

Only reason I did go back to him was so that I could pick up my car after telling him not to touch it

How does one, in general, look up the correct car parts to replace? Is it done by VIN or can we be sure by the make/model/year/trim?

 

check to make sure they're both plugged in and the connectors are in good shape, first off. Also try to check the relay. There should be a writeup in the FAQ or by doing a search within this subforum.

Honestly, you should really just take your chances and go see if you can find one at a pick-n-pull junkyard. I bet you can find one within 10 miles of your place, it'll cost $1 to get in, you'll learn a CRAPTON just by pulling the fan, and the fan itself will probably be about $20, possibly get a warranty with it to. You're probably taking a gamble with junkyard stuff, but it'll save you a lot of money. I've had nothing but success with pick-n-pull parts in my experience. I'm a pretty DIY kind of person, and if you're here... chances are you are as well.

 

At Pep Boys you can get just the motor for around $45 and the whole unit for around $90. But, yeah, I would to the the salvage yard first. They usually have a 30 day guarantee on parts, and even if it fails at day 31 you aren't out much.

 

Chrisnick is dead on with this info^

Also run 12v directly to each fan and report back. Did they spin? Do you own a multimeter? You can also check with the multimeter to see if the fans are getting voltage from the connectors.

 

The mechanic did say that power was reaching the motors, but the fans wouldn't turn/motor doesn't work. I don't have a multimeter handy unfortunately :S

 

I would think rockauto.com would have these even cheaper, and if you know how to turn a ratchet these items can be installed by yourself.

 

Personally I've had it replaced in a 1999 v6 for around 600 ish (body work being done at the same time so that is a guesstimate) and on a 1994 4cyl it was 350-400 at a midas on a saturday morning right before a vacation. so i would say 750 is pretty steep imo

 

I switched around the 3 relays that are identical, and got the same results, so I'm assuming the relays are fine.

I did however notice something. When the car is off and I turn it on and then turn the AC on and just look at the fans, some times, they BOTH don't work. If I give the fan (driver side) a nudge, it'll start and continue spinning, but it also seems to vary greatly in speed. It only once got fast enough that I was worried to stick my finger on it, and that was when I gave it a pretty good manual spin. Otherwise, it's fairly slow and it'll sort of go up and down in speed somewhat periodically.

Now, I swapped the connectors going into the two fans, well actually only put the connector for the driver-side into the passenger-side fan but not vice versa because it couldn't reach and tried the same test. This time, the nudge didn't do anything, so I shook the top part of the fam assembly, and it suddenly started turning, albeit somewhat faster than the driver-side. I then swapped the connectors back (so now, connectors are as they originally were), and did the same test, and it also worked. I give the driver side fan a nudge and it spins (if AC is on), and I grab the top of the passenger side assembly and shake it strongly and it starts spinning too, but then something will happen and they will both stop, and I can't get either one to start spinning using the nudge or the shake for driver and passenger-side respectively, until the engine does a sort of change in sound, that's almost similar to what happens when a manual car shifts (slight pause then a little louder engine noise). At that point, the nudge and shake work again. I managed to take a video, it might not help at all, but here goes. It does seem to be a short of some sort, something electrical.

In the video: I do the nudge first, and then you can hear the engine change sounds when when it stops and won't start again. I then proceed with some Ph.D level troubleshooting consisting of banging **** and wiggling wires (trying to see if it's a connector/short problem), which does nothing even when I do the nudge and shake. Then, the engine changes noise again, I do the nudge, it spins, I do the shake, the other one spins, and then within a couple seconds both stop again.


Thoughts?

 

hmm, seems the youtube link wasn't working, but it should be fine now.

 

I'd stop toying around and get those fans replaced ASAP, if you allow your car to keep overheating it will cost a lot more then $700. Not that it does cost $700 to replace 2 fans.