i went to six flags new jersey yesterday it was fun no issues driving there. about 30 min after leaving there thogh the car began overheating. it never got to the h but overheating none the less. pulled over and figured it was low on coolant nope coolants full. thought it was because i was running the a/c shut a/c off started driving again it starts overheating again. second time pulling over now i decide to plug in the green connector under the dash to find out if the cooling fans are running and i have no cooling fans both fans would not run low or high speed. i found the fuse for the cooling fans but it was good tried swapping it with one of the other fuses in the box no change. i dont know where the relay is for the cooling fans so i did not try swapping a relay unless its one of the ones in the engine fuse box i swapped all those relays around. in the end i wound up using a piece of the speaker wire from my subwoofer setup to run a constant power from the battery directly into the fan so the fan would run high speed for the 130 mile trip witch got me home. so now its home and i dont know why the fans wont ruin is there any common issues for this?

Edited April 29, 20178 yr by sirtokesalot

good macgyvering!

 

kinda wonder if the engine temp sensor or it's wiring could be bad?

 

the gauge on the dash is a separate sensor.

 

(hope you checked coolant level in the radiator - don't rely on the o'flow bottle's level in an urgent situation)

yes i checked the radiator when i checked it. i still have not got to it as i had to work today. is there a relay for the fans?

Yes, you did not put the year and model in your post but the relays for the fan are normally under the hood in the fuse box on the drivers side.  

 

You can also hook up the green connectors under the dash to put it in the Check mode and the fans will cycle on and off.

Yes, you did not put the year and model in your post but the relays for the fan are normally under the hood in the fuse box on the drivers side.  

 

You can also hook up the green connectors under the dash to put it in the Check mode and the fans will cycle on and off.

 

 

ahhh yes dam i always forget to do that. its a 98 outback. and as i stated in my post i used the green connectors under the dash to test and see if the fans were working witch is how i learned they were not working. so the relay for the fan is in the fuse box under the hood witch means its probly not the relay as i swapped all those relays around trying to get the fans running in new jersey.

live data or possibly freezframe data from a scan might tell you what temperature is being reported to the ECU .

not sure if it means anything but driving with the fan unplugged is causing a p1520 code to come up witch my scanner says is radiator fan relay 1 circuit high input.

Edited April 30, 20178 yr by sirtokesalot

got an update. the ground wire is broken off the car side of the fan connector on the main fan if i jump a ground to it the fan cycles with the green connector pluged in. i have not tried this on the passenger side yet

ok i have rpaired the ground wire for the dirvers side fan and the power wire for ither low or high speed not sure witch on the passenger side fan. now if i plug in the green connectors under the dash i have the drivers side fan running not sure if its cycling between low and high but it cycles on and off the passenger side a/c fan still wont run even if i turn the a/c on. when the a/c is on and the compressor cycles on the drivers fan spins briefly but does not keep spinning only when the compressor cycles on. im sure if i let the engine warm up it would probly come on. what should i be looking into about the passenger side fan not working?

Have you verified the fan motor is good? 

 

GD

did some more checks i jumped power into the fan and the fan does spin up. i have been looking at it backwards its the a/c fan that is running
and the main fan is not coming on. i found another relay for the main fan above the under dash fuse box and swapped it with its known working
friend the rear defroster and still have no main fan running. im pretty sure the relays are all good as they will all turn on the a/c fan. what
is the chances the ecu could be bad? the wiring diagram i have shows there controlled by the ecm. im fairly capable of electrical work but not so

great at diagnosing it.

i feel like this is a bit beyond me. would there by chance be any connecticut members willing to help me out? i can still drive the car wherever ill just jump the fan again if needed.

yet more updates. i had some help today and learned the switched side of the relays powers are all good i can bypass every relay and get the fans to come on. i also learned the relay in the drivers foot ares is the main fans relay if i jumper this relay through i get my main fan to come on and it also makes the missing power i had in the engine compartment relay be there. i believe my issue lies before the main fan relay inside the car witch im assuming is going right from that relay over to the ecu. how likely is it the ecu could be bad? anyone from the ct area willing to allow me to try their ecu?

probly a better question does it matter what ecm i get or will any ecm from a 95-99 outback work?

Edited May 14, 20178 yr by sirtokesalot

can i use any ecm from the 05-99 range on my 1998 outback? this is the current ecm thats in it now

 

Match the year if you can. Roll the dice for 1997-1999. It'll run but might throw a check code but it'll run

well im loking at ecm,s on ebay because no local pick n pull yards have any subarus in their lots. im reading alot of information saying ecu's have to be reflashed before use is this true considering the ecu i am buying is the same part number as the one i have will it not just work when i plug it in?

Considering there is no known way to flash an ECU on a Subaru built before 1999, the answer would be no... ECM's swap on Subaru pretty easy as long as you match the electronics. 1996-1999 ( except 1999 EJ22's ) will all swap out to the point the car will run. But it's best to match the year so all available equipment is operational and no ghost codes are there from equipment your car did not come with

replaced the ecm today both fans now running like they should

Well done !  

I noticed that the fans were erratically working, found a poor connection at the battery... gave a good cleaning and a good tite connection/ with new heavy duty terminal clamp.. and the fans came back on... coincidence maybe. Seemed to solve for a while  

Now back,  no cooling fans  

no engine service light. Dont have a tester for engine codes  

plugged in green connector by accelerator peddle   Drivers fans starts for a few seconds, then stops. passenger fan does not  start

both fans work if I jumper the relays. 

Humm thinking ECM or relays   

 I’m found this on YouTube  VERY helpful...,steps on your troubleshooting cooling fans

https://youtu.be/YElByNoAz90

 

Edited July 5, 20187 yr by Vert Umnus
Typo

Most definitely had a ground connection issue.  

Bought heavy duty battery terminal clamps with set screws to tighten the cable to the connector..

and cleaned up and tightened the various grounding wires in the engine compartment.  

Strange but after that fans work fine now.