I have a 2.4L 05 Honda Accord with 292,000 miles.

Yesterday, I noticed that the engine was hot while driving in town. We stopped the car and checked fluid levels, all good.
We continued driving and noticed that the radiator fan was not functioning.
Next, we checked the fuses, all was good.

My next tasks are to check to make sure the radiator is receiving electricity (12V) and to check the water pump.
I've been told it could also be an issue with the Engine Temp Sensor.
How do I check the Engine Temp Sensor?
Is there anything else that I can check or any other issue that may be causing this problem?

I scanned the car with an OBD II Scanner and received the following codes:

P0141
P0443
P0497
P0301
P0303
P0300
P2646
P2647

My research on these codes does not lead me to believe that any of these can cause an overheating issue or cause the radiator fan to not function properly. However, I am not a mechanic and do not know for sure. I will be working to fix these problems as soon as possible, but I would like to solve the overheating issue first.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I love this car and am not ready to let go of it yet. Thank you!

 

I think that 2005 has the radiator fans controlled by the PCM, based on the water temperature sensor in the radiator. That's unlike older Accords that have a "fan switch" that looks like the same kind of sensor. So the old method of shorting the wiring harness with a paperclip won't help you.

You can do a couple things to check what's going on.
- Look at the front of the radiator to make sure it isn't all clogged up with bugs or leaves or ???
- When the engine is cold & not running, spin the radiator fan to make sure it's not completely seized up. Or maybe the fan blades are hitting something.
- When the engine is hot and running, unplug the wiring harness to the fan motor and measure whether it's getting power.
- Swap the radiator-fan relay with another same-type relay from somewhere else. (I don't have a 2005 shop manual so I can't tell you which relay position and/or which other relay is the same.)

 

Tagging into this thread with similar issue. 2006 Honda Accord EX-L 2.4 L 4 cylinder engine (7th generation) with 174,000 miles. My son was driving in stop and go traffic last weekend, 85 degrees F with probably 95 degrees F on the highway surface, with air conditioning on, and he noticed the temperature gauge starting to go high, as high as the "H" when he called me. I told him to shut air conditioning OFF and to pull over as soon as he could. Shortly after shutting air conditioning off, he called to say the temperature gauge starting dropping, and 10 minutes later when he finally got to a spot he could pull off, the temperature gauge was back to normal. Long story short, he made it home the remaining distance, used air conditioning, and never had the temperature gauge move above normal range again. He never saw or smelled smoke/burning engine smell, he never saw any leaks under the car, and the coolant reservoir was at or near the MAX mark. At home, I've done some troubleshooting and found the following cooling fan issue. Passenger side fan is the A/C Condenser Fan, it comes on with air conditioning on. It goes off when air conditioning off. After 15-20 minutes of idle time after starting engine, the A/C Condenser Fan came on (with A/C OFF) and then cycled off again after 1 minute or so. The Driver side Radiator Cooling Fan never came on. This whole time, I was idling in the driveway, 85 degrees F outside, and the temperature gauge never went above normal range (roughly 45% or so, slightly below center point). I haven't checked to see if Radiator Cooling Fan motor is bad yet, but I have checked both fuses 9 and 11 and both look OK (not broken). Both fuses that have "FI-ECU" on them look OK as well...I checked those after reading last post on this thread. I am waiting to check if fan motor is bad or not. If it's a bad motor, I'll just replace. If the motor spins when I apply power directly to it, what else could it be? Am I missing something else as to why the car started to overheat in slow traffic on a hot day. If not the fan then what else? No leaks, water pump seems to be working, thermostat seems to be working because the other fan turns on and off. Never had any problems with cooling system before this. Appreciate the help.

 

Most of what you're asking needs the wiring information for 2006, so I hope someone chimes in.

But you don't say anything about the coolant level in the actual radiator. Check that there is NO air in the actual radiator, and don't rely on the reservoir bottle. There are a couple of scenarios where the radiator will be low but the reservoir bottle is OK.

 

I took off radiator cap (cooled down engine)and there is coolant in the radiator all the way up to neck. I squeeze upper and lower hoses and can see fluid rise to overflow tube and top off opening. Could there still be air? I had fluid flushed and exchanged about 60,000 miles ago. Still haven’t check continuity of motor or if it runs with direct power. Still driving around locally and hasn’t overheated again. Thanks for any more help.

 

It's good that you checked. Sounds like you ruled out the situation of air in the radiator.

 

The radiator fan should have been running too with A/C on, etc.

For the radiator fan to not be running already is an issue.

 

Looks like radiator cooling fan motor is bad. Jumped relay for that fan and it didn’t run. No ohms at motor plug however good 12 volts at the wiring harness connector. Also tried directly powering fan from the battery without success. I’ll replace motor next week and post then with results.