Radiator fan refuses to turn no one can find the solution

**phoenix05** · 09-25-2012, 10:03 AM

To preface my car was towed two days ago and when I went to pick it up my battery was mysteriously dead. Apparently my radiator fan just randomly decided to not turn off even after I turn my car it just keeps going. Had no idea why this would start up or what would cause the issue so brought it into a shop yesterday to have it checked...they still have no idea what the problem is.

After the first few hours they said it was a computer issue with it not telling the fan to shut off so they unhooked the computer to double check the issue but even after the computer was disconnected the fan kept running. So now they say it is short somewhere in the wiring but they have no clue where and have been working on this for over a day now.

Mainly my question is do you guys have any ideas where/why/if it would be a short that is happening? I need my car to make money and this is all unfortunately taking a lot longer than I originally expected when I took her in. I have been trying to bounce ideas off their heads but have run out of them.

I have personally not had any electrical work done on the car recently other than putting in a radio deck months ago. This just started and wasn't an issue until now. I'm pretty sure there was an amp or something previously installed in her as I know there are wires under the passenger seat.

Edit: This is for my 99 trans am not the 97

**Knight** · 09-25-2012, 11:05 AM

It's possible for there to be a short. And they are a pain to trace. Whether the shop is milking the job or not, only they know.

**kingls1** · 09-25-2012, 04:25 PM

If you need the car maybe you could get the fans hooked to it own switch to run manual(you would have to keep a close eye on the temp) until you look more in to it or have time for them to trace like knight said problems like this could take forever

**0rion** · 09-25-2012, 05:12 PM

stuck relay? I'm sure the shop would've checked that I would think.

**pajeff02** · 09-25-2012, 06:54 PM

Agree. Stuck fan relay or a bad temp switch maybe.

**phoenix05** · 09-25-2012, 08:58 PM

The shop is good honest people definitely weren't trying to milk the job or anything suspicious was mostly just trying to get more ideas to bounce of their heads. Relay was the first issue they had thought of but after replacing them turned out they were fine.

We did though finally discover the problem today apparently their was a harness wired to my ashtray that apparently had fan control switches on it(which is a bit funny since my original hypothesis was there must be some type of switch somewhere but couldn't find a damn one). It was wired in a way that simply pushing in the coin slot on the ashtray could in fact send the fan into an always on high position. It was wired in really well and professionally but we were both stumped as to why/what purpose someone would have had in wiring that in there. So put the switch back to its proper position and removed the harness so the problem wouldn't arise again and everything appears to be back in perfect condition now.

Thanks for the input though guys just wish I could have found the switch myself when I was originally looking for it but I can also honestly say never would have thought to push in the coin slots on my ashtray. The shop gave me a bit of a "discount" since the shop manager found the issue to be pretty interesting and prides himself on electrical work so I guess that works.