Cougar

I think the cooling fan may have two speeds but I don't think there is a resistor in the circuit to do that. I think they have a split coil winding in the fan motor itself for that. It is good to hear that the fan turns on when you remove the sensor connection. I remember a comment from another board member in the past about that happening and was going to mention it here. Since the fan works that way it would appear that the sensor is the problem. I thought that the sensor resistance would go lower as the engine warmed up but it looks like it is the other way. Did you ever measure the sensor resistance?

Being proactive on the maintenance is good but before you spend money on a new battery have you asked yourself how the current battery has worked out for you so far. If you haven't had any trouble with it you still may get a few more years of service out of it. One thing you could do is have a load test done on it to see what it shows you. You may find it is still a healthy battery. I like the Sears Gold Series myself and have had great service with it.

I don't think there are any more relays that need to be checked. You already proved the fans work. It would really help if you compared the resistances of the sensors on both cars and let me know what they are. You might also just try shorting the sensor leads that go to the sensor on the problem car to see if the fans will turn on then. I think as the engine gets hotter the resistance of the sensor goes lower.

I doubt there is a short causing this trouble but there could be a bad connection somewhere. Did you try measuring the resistances of the sensors and compare them to each other?

Having 10 volts there sounds about right. Since you have another vehicle to compare with, check what the resistace of the sensor is on the good vehicle when the engine is warm and the wire connector removed. Then measure the other sensor the same way. See if they compare the same. If the resistances are within around 10 ohms of each other then the sensor is probably ok. Another way of doing this is to compare the voltage at the sensors with everything hooked up correctly. I am guessing that the resistance of the coolant sensor may be around 30 ohms when the fans are supposed to turn on. You could place a resistor across the sensor leads to see if that turns on the fans.

The engine control unit can have internal problems just like anything else on the car. They are normally very reliable and usually the last thing to suspect for trouble, unless some sort of major electrical surge has happened. A good shop shouldn't have to guess if a sensor or the ECU (PCM) is bad. Using the proper test gear and test procedures will tell them if the problem is with the sensor or the ECU. If your current shop is guessing at the condition of these things you should find a better shop.

I suggest you inspect the relay for the compressor clutch. If it is bad you may see signs of heat damage to the connector terminals. Hopefully the relay is the problem but, as was stated already it could be a number of other things.

So now you know the fan circuits are good. The real problem is due to either the coolant temp sensor for the ECU isn't working as it should be or the ECU circuit for the fans is bad. The first step is to see if the sensor is the correct resistance when the engine is at normal operating temperature. One thing to check is make sure the connection to sensor is clean and tight. Sometimes that is the trouble. I don't have access to my service data right now so I can't tell you much more info on it. I will be home on Wednesday if you don't get more help on this. OB99W- Hellllp!

If the light goes out while the engine is running then you should be good to go. Glad you got it working ok. There may have been some shorted output diodes that caused the trouble with the old unit.

The compressor may be shutting down due to a power delivery problem to it so see if the clutch is working when this happens. The relay contacts may be bad.

Ok, I will, since you don't want to be the one to have to do it. Sorry for the drama here DrK.. We just had a little ribbing going on at your expense. What we were eluding to is the little harmless looking battery light in the dash actually has an important function in the operation of the alternator. The current that is needed to excite the alternator field passes through that light so if the light doesn't work then the field in the alternator doesn't work and now I guess you know what that means. No output. A perfectly good alternator looks bad but really isn't. The moral of the story is if the alternator doesn't work the first thing to check is the light and make sure it works in the test mode. It turns out in your case you did need to replace it so you didn't waste your time after all. I learned this lesson years ago when I couldn't figure out why the alternator in a truck I was working on wouldn't work and I knew the alternator was ok. I spent hours working it until I finally was lead to the bulb by following the wire from the alternator. Replaced the bulb and then it worked. A lesson learned the hard way.

OB99W, DrKrazy may not like to hear what you have to say about the "battery light" after he has replaced the alternator already.

Glad you got it working. Its the simple things a lot of times that can cause a problem. Wipers are working and we have another happy USMB board member. Its a good day.

If I remember correctly I don't think there is a relay for the wiper circuit. Unfortunatly I don't have my data close by to check that for sure. I may be wrong. One thing you could do is to check for voltage getting to any of the wires at the plug for the motor. If there is some voltage there then the motor is most likely bad.

You stated that one of the wires is red/blue and that matches one of the wires my data showed that goes to the ECU. You should be able to tie that wire to ground and the main fan should turn on if the rest of the circuit for it is ok.

I recently learned about the Nokia WR tire at a local store. Just looking at the tire it seemed special to me. The salesman stated the tire gets harder in the summer and softer in the winter. I think that is something special. If I was looking to buy a set of tires for my Outback this is what I would get. Especially if the area gets snow in the winter. One set of tires is all you need with this one. Check them out for yourself.

Good deal. Thanks for the update. That was kind of a strange one.

I assume that the wire burning smell happens when you try go to the Start mode. This would most likely mean the starter motor is jammed somehow. To see if that is correct you could try putting a jumper lead directly between the battery and the starter motor contact. If the motor doesn't turn then you need to fix it. If that is ok then check the ground leads for a bad connection. Also check the fusible links for a bad connection. Look for signs of burning.

Tony, I made a foepah when I stated crank sensor in my previous post. It is a cam sensor. Sorry for the cornfusion. Glen

Don't give up hope yet. It sounds to me that the ECU is doing its job though the CEL should have turned on with the key turned to ON. See if the lamp is burned out. If it isn't then the problem is most likely internal to the ECU but this won't keep the car from running. I'm not sure what you mean by "things die down" when trying to start it. Some electrical items are shut off with the key in the Start position. To see if the fuel pump is working you should be able to hear it turn on briefly when the key is turned to ON. If you hear the pump run then try checking for spark at the plugs. If that is good then try spraying a small amount of starter fluid into the intake and see if that gets the engine running. If it just runs just for a brief time then check for a fuel problem.

Your remark made me think here. By pulling fuse #5 it may turn out the lights. If it does, then my thought of the shorted Park switch is correct.

The sensor is in the tank and is near the level sensor I believe. You should see the wires for it going through the access cover. Look for a cover on each side of the rear area near the back seat. Remove the carpet covering the access panels.

Gloyle, I understand your point about the codes and engine stalling. Going from Tony's last post I think they got the engine running ok now after the relay and power wire repair. They now just need to clean a few things up.

The error code 13 is for the CAS or crank angle sensor or circuit. I didn't see any info for a code 39 so I assume you may have read that incorrectly. Glad you got the relay problem figured out. You are getting closer to having all the bugs worked out.

Did you try the test I mentioned in my previous post? If not, follow the instructions there and let us know what you find.