- 1). Apply the parking brake and block the rear wheels with the wheel chocks. Position the floor jack under the front sub-frame and lift the car until it is high enough to comfortably work under. Place jack stands under the front sub-frame and lower the jack until the car is resting on the stands.
- 2). Start the engine. Unplug the electrical connector from the cooling fan, and allow the engine to run until it reaches normal operating temperature on the gauge in the instrument cluster. The electrical connector, located on the bottom of the fan motor, is easily accessed from under the car. Use a small screwdriver or to depress the plastic latch on the connector and pull it from the fan
- 3). Attach the power cables from the circuit tester to the battery terminals. Touch the probe end of the tester to the pins in the electrical connector that was unplugged in Step 2. One of the pins should indicate ground at all times. The other connector pin should indicate power when the computer energizes the relay to turn the fan on. If the second wire suddenly indicates power, as the engine temperature rises, the cooling fan should function correctly.
- 4). Plug the connector back into the fan. If the fan does not come on, the fan motor is faulty. If the temperature continues to rise without the power being turned on to the fan, the problem is somewhere else in the circuit. Common sources of faults are the cooling fan relay, coolant sensor and the on-board computer.
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