My vehicle, a 1994 Honda Accord EX with 83K miles (I’m original owner) has developed a problem and I’m hoping to gain insight into a possible remedy.
I rarely drive it (have been out of work) so usually have to jump the battery with my “BEAST”. I leave the car running while doing errands in order to charge the battery.
It’s starting to have an annoying quirk that only happened a couple (literally, two) times in the 22 years of ownership.
After I turn the car off the radiator fan continues to run UNTIL I go under the hood and pull and reinstall the C22 fuse.
Today I did that and for several hours kept putting the fuse back in and the radiator fan would start right back up again.
I’m pondering that perhaps with my habit of leaving the engine idling I’m overheating components and that’s why I can’t get the fan to shut off.
I should mention that this evening after this happened I restarted the engine several times with AND without the C22 fuse in a very vain attempt to stop the fan. Each time a high pitched squeal came from the engine compartment as the engine turned over but quickly subsided.
I need to educate myself with your assistance on possible causes for this.
Of course things of this nature happen at most inopportune times such as now! Being out of work for a very long period of time and finally some interviews are on the horizon.
Some cars will run the fan for a short time after shutting the car off as normal. It is so the car won’t heat soak and blow coolant out the pressure release. Your habit of pulling the fuse may have arced the contacts on the fan relay causing it to weld itself open. Replacing that relay should fix it but it still may run the fan after you shut the car off.
Eek! Didn’t think of that! The car only recently started doing this.
I’ve only had to pull the fuse a few times over the years but last night was ridiculous! I left the car turned off for many hours and everyone I put the fuse back, fan would start up.
I think I’d best keep my hands off of it until Monday (have the never ending tire issues that came with 1994 Accords also…Have to slime them) at which point if issue persists I can get to a mechanic.
The high pitched squeal you heard is from the belt that drives the alternator and probably the water pump and power steering pump. Either it’s a bit loose and should be tightened a little, or it’s really old and worn and slippery. You should deal with it as it can lead to problems with the charging system, overheating, and sudden failure which will leave you stranded.
On another note, repeatedly draining your battery is going to reduce its lifespan considerably. This is also hard on your alternator. You should use a trickle charger.
The BEAST, as I understand, can be used as a trickle charger as well. I just don’t know how. I purchased it so that I’d not get stuck begging for help with a battery jump or the never ending but never admitted to, by Honda, rim leak issues that I’ve had since day one.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to be jump starting the car several times a week. I know not driving it much in Chicago climate just causes me to have to do it BUT I think it’s a bit excessive, even for Chicago.
I had a pretty good hunch it was a belt. I had all belts and hoses changed a few years ago.
Of course, with little driving they can and do become brittle and even a new one fail or be improperly placed.
I’m going to make appointment to take car in for Monday.
I’m sure I can go out there and slime and inflate tires, get it driving, etc., but DON’T care to get stranded! YIKES!
This is likely something a decent mechanic can fix rapidly. It doesn’t sound as complicated as I’d anticipated it could be BUT if I drive the car it could quickly escalate into a very expensive nightmare.
I would not slime the tires. Its water based and will cause corrosion on the insides of your rims if left in there for very long. If the tires won’t hold air and you are going to replace them, then you could slime them but make sure the tire place cleans the rims completely and gets all the slime out before mounting the new tires.
The radiator fan module has a ten minute timer in it that allows the fan to come on if one of the temp sensors detects a coolant temp over a specified temperature. This is when you shut off the car and the fan stops, but a minute later is starts up again. Since you could pull the fuse for more than ten minutes and then put it in and the fan starts makes me think you may have two problems, one sensor and the control module.
Thank you, Keith. I did end up replacing the relay and that seems to have stopped the issue.
On sliming the tires, didn’t get that far as the stems are literally not pullable!
I thought a tech was joking when telling me that Honda actually glued the rims and valves to “solve” the issue with the 1994 EX…shockingly, I guess not!
The car only has 83,000 miles on it and has had four sets of tires so I don’t think I’m replacing them AGAIN! The rims have been a huge issue since the week I bought the car. Oh well!
