Guest Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Check engine light came on but solid color not flashing. Hooked up my scan tool and it shows a P0480 code. This is "cooling fan #1 control circuit malfunction". I want to start with some easy stuff and am hoping the relay is accessible and not under the car (I don't have a lift). Hoping a bad relay or a ground issue. Have read a lot on the big board about connector meltdowns at the fan which will require a lift to check. Can anybody here give me an idea as to relay location, please? Thank-you, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadC Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 all of the relays are located in the fuse panel under the hood. they will be labeled for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Excellent, thank-you Chad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I checked and the cooling fan fuse is labeled as such. However, all the relays....not a one mentions cooling fans. I can't fathom what relay fans might be grouped with but nothing is pointing to the correct one.....darn it. I felt certain there would be a relay for low speed and then high speed. Anyone had this code? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 The fan connector is easy to access from the top. To verify if the fan functions, start the engine and turn on the AC. If it's a no go, the 3 wire connector is the usual problem. disconnect it and look for burned/melted wires or pins. The stopgap measure is to bypass the culprit wire, which will allow the fan to function on either a temporary or permanent basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadC Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 by the way (strong assumption) there is no Relay for the fan. its PWM (?) style DC fan. meaning it is not a ON/ OFF style fan, but a PROGRESSIVE speed fan. the amount of speed/juice/electricity is controlled by the PCM signal to the fan control module (a Silver looking module located on the fan housing itself. about the size of 2 pack of smokes stacked on each other, with 3 pencil thickness wide wires going to it. ) the connector itself commonly melts, you cannot see it until you disconnect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 You guys both helped me a lot today, thank-you. I'll start with the connector then. I have seen some threads on the big board. I'll just have to get some heavier gauge wire and engineer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 You guys both helped me a lot today, thank-you. I'll start with the connector then. I have seen some threads on the big board. I'll just have to get some heavier gauge wire and engineer it. It's not so much the wire gauge, but just the fact the connector is not waterproof that causes corrosion and eventual failure. My OEM failed and I bought the GM replacement (POS) that actually has lighter gauge wire. Later, that one failed too, so I simply put a jumper wire to bypass the one bad wire and left the other two alone. It's been that way for nearly 4 years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I need to buy a shop manual I think, always did for my prior Corvettes. You mentioned the connector can be accessed from the top side. I need to removed the top shroud piece then? Appreciate any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I need to buy a shop manual I think, always did for my prior Corvettes. You mentioned the connector can be accessed from the top side. I need to removed the top shroud piece then? Appreciate any suggestions. You probably need to remove the air cleaner assy. The connector is located about halfway down the right side of the radiator next to the fan. It has 3 wires. The GM replacement is a universal POS with PN 12116243. It'll cost about $40 and not last as long as the OEM one. Once you disconnect it, you'll see where it melted and lost continuity. Just splice in a bypass and you'll be good to go. There is a Ford fan connector that may be a good replacement, but I haven't seen one in person to know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 ^ OK, got in there and disassembled the connector. It looks cherry, no burns, no melts (probably just jinxed myself, lol). Sprayed some MAF cleaner and used dielectric grease at the seal when I reassembled it. The code is showing as permanent and sent from the power train module. The A/C fires right up, strong and cold. Car was running really hot the other day and high speed fan ran long after I shut it off and opened the hood. Just so confusing for my 60 year old brain to wrap around this type of problem. Seems like it is simply the low speed relay but car has no relays for fan circuits. "Cooling fan, number 1 control circuit". Where to look next? Need to buy the manual, darn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOXXOH Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 When I mentioned in post #5 to turn the AC on to verify the fan worked and the conversation continued about the connector, I guess I assumed the fan didn't operate at all, but now I see that it does run. I'll look in my shop manual tomorrow to see if there's any additional diagnostic for your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I am beginning to think it is the module but I don't know the location of it. If you can find a test I can run on the module that would be great (that and the location of the darn thing). This newer technology is a challenge for my old car brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Plug you checked comes right out of the module. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Cool, thank-you very much :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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