How to or tips: Going from memory last fall.
Once that plate is out, or moved. Remove the lower splash shield.

Remove clamp and lower hose. Also while there disconnect the fan switch in the lower part of the rad, right near the hose. Then get the lower bolts to the cooling fan and condensor fan.....I think the connector to the cooling fan is easier to get to from the bottom???

From the top, get upper hose off. Overflow hose from rad. Remove the upper bolts holding the cooling fan and condensor fan. Remove the clip and bracket holding the ac lines. Disconnect plug for condensor fan. Push both fans back-towards engine. Pull rad out-straight up. Then remove fan or fans.

Again this is from memory and the quick look I had this morning when i took the pic.

Need anything else let me know, I'll be watching one of the kids changing oil today in the 89 LX, same one in the pic.

 

Thanks for your detailed instructions for such a newbie! After looking really closely, and consulting several You Tube videos, I finally figured out how to get the whole assembly out. It really helped loosening the plate. It has some wires attached underneath that I didn't want to mess with, so just loosening and tilting it back allowed the room needed to get the rad and fans out.

But the problem is this: I tested the fan motor for continuity, which seemed fine (hooked to it to a meter and hand spun it). Then hooked the motor directly to the battery and it worked (just touched the contacts). So have ruled out the fan motor. Checked the relay in the box and contacts look good and clean. Even put some mA thru the thermocouple and seems to look good.

So what could it be? Thermostat? If the thermostat isn't working, it won't tell the fan to turn on will it? I ask because I have had some overheating problems with this thing a few months back, but resolved them by turning the heater on high. This only occurred a couple of times and then all was ok again. I suspected the thermo then, and mechanic said it could act up. Maybe an early warning sign of it going bad?

thanks.

 

Confused, I thought the fans "ate" into the rad causing a leak? Need to resolve/figure that or it will happen again.

The switch at the bottom of the rad -near the lower hose connection - "tells" the fan to come on while driving and it gets to a certain temp (forget the range but can look it up if needed). You can test it while everything is out - got an old pan? There are relays and fuses in the underhood fuse panel that can be checked/tested.

Either way, I would suggest replacing the t-stat, kind of prevent maint, while replacing the rad. It's the housing where the upper hose connects (3rd gen's are different than the newer ones) to the engine. Then when refilling be sure to bleed the air from the system, there is a bleeder near the t-stat, while the heater is set to max heat.

 

Thanks, Poorman. sorry for confusion. Yes, as far as I can tell, the fan blades bent into the radiator, wearing a small groove into it. That created a leak in the radiator. I took a couple pics with my phone to better show it, tho they don't offer the sharpest detail. However, i think you can see the groove worn by the blades (it seems that the tips of all are bent into the rad, not just one or two), and if you look closely in one, you can see the blade tip bent. I circled in red.

These are the questions that I still have:
1. Why would the blades have bent? There was no play in the fan as it was attached to the motor. And as noted, the motor seems to test out fine. Would the blades have bent because of excessive heat in the rad? Then I have to figure out what caused that excessive heat.
2. You mention the switch in the bottom of the rad by the lower hose. Believe that is what I call in earlier post the thermosouple. A little bigger than a spark plug, and screws into the rad. You said that could be tested. How would I do that?
3. How would I test the relay in the box?
4. In the box of relays and fuses, there is a switch called the 'sub-cooling fan relay" or something like that. What is that for?
5. The thermostat. It looks like in this 88 Accord, the upper hose goes right into the thermostat, is that correct? The therostat is held on by 2 bolts.

thanks for your help.

 

1. First we have remember this is 23 years old, they are built well, IMO, but will not last forever. Heat, time, who knows. If the motor is good, look around in bone yards and you might be able to pull another and just replace the blades. Spin it by hand to be sure there is no contact between the fan and rad. The overheating could have been caused by a slow leak in the rad. That finally grew up into a larger leak????

2. Do you have a DVM and an old pan? The switch should close from 189 to 199 degrees, hence needing an old pan that can heat water/antifreeze mix to that temp.........

3. If you jump the wires going into the switch (connect them together with a paperclip or some sort of wire) with the key to on, the fans should come on. If so, the rest of the circut is good (fuses, relay,ect). If that does not get the fans going, let me know and we can get into the relay testing...again a DVM/testlight will be needed.

4. Sub cooling fan- going on memory here- I think that is the cooling fan relay we are talking about in #3.

5. Yes all 3rd gen (86-89), the t-stat is in the housing where the UPPER hose connects to the engine. Two bolts (10 mm head) hold the housing on. Make sure you get the correct gasket for the t-stat (more of an o-ring that "slips around the outside of the stat). On the LX you sould be able to get to them without much trouble....and be sure the "jiggle" pin is up.

 

Thank you for response, but I need some pretty exlicit instructions:
1. Engine is OK. has a pretty nasty oil leak. But I gotta stop driving the Suburban and get it sold. Gas and insurance costing me.
2. Testing the switch in water and anti-freeze: How? Heat the mix up, lay the switch in it, and see if it closes? can it just be water?
3. Could you be specific about jumping the switch with a paper clip? Do I screw the switch into the rad, connect the 2 contacts on the switch with a paper clip...then what? What do I attach to the paper clip -- a wire direct from battery? How would the fans turn on? Do I have to install the whold assembly to do this? I don't know much about this stuff...need to be pretty specific.
3. Please give details on testing relay.

thanks!

 

1. All I was saying is there is almost no way of knowing why they bent. Get new blades (junk yard, complete fan assy, ect). Just when you install be sure the new one(s) are not contacting the rad....where is the oil leak, or lets get into that after the cooling issue.

2. Water boils at 212, so you might slip in? You will not "see" it close, the pins are "open", no continuity when cold. As it heats up, internally the switch "closes". This is where the DVM/volt meter comes in....resistance testing

3. The "wires" going to the switch. That "pigtail" (as I call it) is what you jump. Connecting the two wires together (#2 the switch "closes"...ie connecting the two wires together). You can insert a piece of wire/paperclip/something to join the two together. Of course that battery has to be connected...see if pic helps...

3a. If #3 does not make the fans work, then... I was wrong before, sub cooling fan relay is not the one for when the car is running. Right next to that should be two other "black" rectangle relays. The one closest to that round one is for the cooling fan....easy test, switch the cooling fan with the power window relay....do the power windows (you have an LX, right) work..relay good....of course there is also a 15 or 20 amp fuse, its late, (in that same box) that needs to be tested.

 

Sorry, poorman, but I'm lost on #2. You say:
What do you mean 'you might slip in?'
It helps to know I won't 'see' anything (remember, I need specifics . But with the DVM, set to resistance testing, what am I looking for? How do I know when to start testing...when water starts boiling?

I am thinking I should just go buy a cheap switch and replace.

Thanks for the easy relay test...I actually understand that one.

Still don't get #3 very clearly. but sounds like I can use boiling water to test. I don't want to put the assembly just to test switch.

BTW - found an excellent resource on many Honda cooling problems, troubleshooting, testing here: Overheating Troubleshoot for Honda's Cooling System

Thanks for all your help.

 

Water boils at 212, the sensor should close ~190= "slip in".

Set to resistance, the DVM would be touching the pins on the switch (one lead to each pin). At room temp the DVM should read one or close to it = "open". As the temp gets around 189, the switch should "close" causing the meter to move towards zero...just like touching the two leads of the meter together...closed circut, zero resistance.

Yea, techauto is a good source....forget about that one.

Did you look at the pic, jump the wires together. What happens.

Then who knows, if the blades were bent enough to "eat into" the rad.....what really caused the over heating. To be sure, yes get a new fan switch, fix/replace the fan blades, install new rad (check blades). Put it back together, bleed the coolant, and see what happens.

 

On the 3rd gens, yes they are plastic. We need to remember we are dealing with a car that is 23 years old...last time I checked many Chevy owners (I am one so don't go there...mine is 40+ years old) would be happy if their cooling fans could last half that long....my opinion.....