Electric Fan problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

bwade261 · 09-14-2009, 01:48 PM

So I noticed that my electric fan is not coming on when my 06 S. Is this a fan problem or a sensor problem? How can I tell?

NMGeorge · 09-14-2009, 04:52 PM

At this point, has your engine reached opperating temp yet?

JasonA · 09-14-2009, 09:04 PM

Are you running the air conditioner? If not, the engine may not be reaching the temperature required by the ECU to turn the fan on. It takes quite a bit of idling to get the engine warm enough for fan operation. If the air conditioner is running, the fan should turn on immediately.

bwade261 · 09-14-2009, 09:40 PM

The A/C is on and the fan does not come on at all. I have also noticed that the Maintenance Required light flashes 6x after ignition. Could this have something to do with it?

tigerclaws1318 · 09-14-2009, 11:30 PM

Have you notice the temperature rising while idling for a while?

bwade261 · 09-14-2009, 11:36 PM

Yes. I let the car sit idling for nearly a half hour on a warm day (70s) and it nearly hit the red hash on the coolant temp gauge. But before it hit red I got the car moving and then the temp went down, and the AC started working again.

JasonA · 09-15-2009, 07:43 AM

The maintenance light is simply a mileage counter. It'll start flashing at start up after 4500 miles since last reset, then it'll stay on constant after 5000 miles since last reset. It's an oil change reminder and has nothing to do with your fan problem.

It definitely sounds like you have an issue with the fan. It should come on right away with A/C use. You'll want to do some diagnosis if you want to fix this yourself. If you apply 12V to the fan motor, it should spin. If the motor itself is good, it's likely that the fan relay is the problem. It could be that the fan/motor itself is locked up, but the relay is the more likely culprit.

bwade261 · 09-15-2009, 03:59 PM

Ok, excellent. How do I reset the milleage counter, because I just changed the oil last week?

Do you think I could go to an AdvanceAuto or Oriellys and they can put 12v to the fan? Do they have power supplies for that sort of thing?

JasonA · 09-15-2009, 09:39 PM

To reset the light, look here: How to reset the "Maintenance Required" light...

I'm not sure that an auto parts retailer would be able to do that. If you don't have any electrical tools (like spare wire, alligator clips, etc), you may visit a local mechanic and just ask them if you can pay them some menial amount of money to test the electric fan motor for you.