Hello everyone, I come to you not as a mechanic novice, but as a Honda Novice. My moms 2005 CRV needed a new alternator (maybe just voltage regulator, but decided to replace the whole unit considering age and mileage 130K). While the new alternator fixed all the other problems (flickering/dim lighting, 16v reading from the battery, etc) I may have create a few ancillary ones.

1) we overlooked disconnecting the thermo fan switch harness, and tore up the harness moving things out of the way. Luckily, we were able to solder/rep in/repair the pin/harness and fix that problem. However, only one fan activates, same deal with the AC. It's driver side in both instances.

The car is not overheating. We let it idle for 10-15 minutes, and went for a highway/street drive and pushed it pretty hard for another 15 minutes. The temp gauge didn't move from the middle of the range - it simply won't get hot. After some further coercing, we finally got it hot enough that the driver side fan engaged for about 20/30 seconds, then shut off. We rechecked all connections, and everything looked fine. Temp gauge never went passed the middle range (ticked slightly up, but immediately dropped to its normal level). It was about 80 degrees yesterday here in NY while we were doing the work.

It looks to me as if the passenger fan needs replacing but we simply never noticed it not working before the alternator swap. I'm going to look up and run tests for each fan, but can you think of anything else I could be overlooking? I'm amazed by how difficult it is get this motor hot, so I'm happy overheating is not currently an issue, but if the fan needs replacement that'll be easy enough.

2) we also snapped the retaining clip on the AC compressor. If I tape/zip tie it he AC runs, but is the compressor side wire replaceable? That's the locking clip that broke, not the connector/connection itself.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Aside from the passenger side fan not running the truck is fully functioning and in much better condition (lights don't flicker, headlights are brighter, volts off the battery are 14.4/5, etc).

Thank you in advance!

 

Additionally, concerning the thermo switch fix:

It was simple enough. I removed the white retaining collar inside the connector, which let me remove the pins. We soldered pig tails onto the pins, and reassembled the connector. Then we check for continuity, all good. We then spliced the pig tails onto the harness (taking care the wires were in the correct orientation). It was taped to temporarily protect from the elements, but once I figure out the other fan issue in going to heat shrink/solder the splice.

Edit: if the harness isn't too difficult/expensive to find used, I'll replace the whole thing. My concern is repair quality at this point (which might be hard to believe considering the mess I got myself into).

 

1. The passenger side fan should be the AC condenser fan. First check that under-hood Fuse No. 1 (20A) is okay.

You can also apply direct battery power to the fan to see if it runs. Blu wire is + and Blk is - for the 2P gray connector for the AC condenser fan.

2. The wire harness on the AC compressor, which is part of the thermal protector, is separately available. #5 in the parts diagram. You can try a salvage yard, if cost is an issue.

http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Pr...0442%201479551