2006 equinox heating up and nether fan will kick in.
 

i have a 2006 equinox. it started heating up and nether fan will kick in. can you tell me whats wrong? thanks

check the fuses for the cooling fans in the underhood fuse block.

If the fuses are good, check the temperature sending unit. One fan turns on when the temp rises above a certain level. The other one turns on when the A/C is on.

Just for clarification, a temperature sending unit is only used for fan control. Most GM vehicles since the mid-1990s have a single (engine) coolant temp sensor which provides the ECM with a temp reading which the ECM then uses to provide a temp gauge reading, regulate fuel mixture, and manage the cooling fan(s).

What does the temp gauge indicate when the engine is warmed up? Do the fans turn on when you turn on the A/C? Without the A/C being turned on, on our 2007 Equinox the gauge needs to get to at least the half mark before the ECM will activate both fans at low speed. The temp gauge on our Equinox rarely gets to the half mark. In the four years we have had it, I can probably count on one hand how many times the fans have turned on without the A/C being turned on.

on this eguinox we let the temp gauge get almost in the red still neither fan would work

Is it running that hot at highway speeds? If yes, you have bigger cooling system problems than cooling fans. At this speed fan operation is irrelevant.

The fans should be turning on low speed at 96 C and high at 102 C. Fan operation is controlled through the pcm. Check for dtc's first. If none are present check the low and high cooling fan fuses in the underhood fuse box. If they are ok check the low, high and s/p cooling fan relays.

2006 with fans not running at idle, temp very near red
 

Reading what is already posted, I have a problem with knowing if relays are good or not. They look fine? Where is temp sending unit and how do I check or temporarily by-pass to see if that is the problem?

Thanks for any help!

Kentucky Kyle

UPDATE-After seeing where one guy wiggled the wires at the fan I tried it and they both came on. What, if anything, do these connections have to do with the air compressor kicking on?

This is how I check the coil. With the circuit energized, pull the relay out, and back in you should feel the coil pick up, and contacts transfer. That however is not checking the contacts. if you have a voltmeter, put on lead on each side of the wires that go to the contact. if that part of the circuit is energized, and the contact is open, you will read battery voltage on the meter. If the contacts close, you will read 0 volts.

My wife's 2007 had the same cooling problem. I replace many fuses until I figured out that it was all 3 fan relays that needed to be replaced.

We're glad to hear that you found the course of the cooling concern you had been having, Sonicd! Many more happy miles!

Sarah (Assisting Louis), Chevrolet Customer Service

2007 Equinox heating up
 

What are the dtc's? Does this affect your a/c working properly? My a/c has been kicking off. Would these fans cause the a/c to stop working?

yes. the a/c will develop high pressure that could damage the system without the fans operating...so a high pressure cut off is enabled.

06 equinox fan issues
 

Hi everyone new member here..I just startd having issues with cooling fans not kicking on when idleing. I've changed thermostat, relays,fuses look good, bled system for air and still same problem..I thought of changing tem sensor but was told if it reading temp in the car then its working..I've read most of these posts on this issue and still stuck..any help wld be great..maybe I missed something?

Check the pigtail/plug going the radiator fans. They frequently develop a bad connection and sometimes melt/warp which prevents the necessary current from getting to the fans. Click on this link to read a thread regarding this problem.

This is correct as long as the temp gauge doesn't indicate the same temp all the time. A good example would be if the temp gauge goes directly to the half mark when starting the engine in the morning after it has been off all night. It is obvious in this situation that the engine has not warmed up yet and the temp gauge's needle immediately going to the half mark is incorrect.

Whenever you start your engine after it has cooled off completely, your engine's computer takes this opportunity to check the integrity of the temp sensors (coolant temp sensor and intake air temp sensor). The computer compares the coolant temp sensor reading to that of the intake air temp sensor. If there is enough of a difference (usually equal to or greater than 10*F) between the two readings, a DTC will be triggered for the sensor that it believes to be bad and the Service Engine Soon warning will be visible.

I wasn't aware I had any responses on this issue untill I returned to this site..and ruley73 I just want to say thanks..I went right outside unplugged both fans pluggeed them back in wow they are on..that simple and has been frutrating me for weeks..hope others will see this post and try the lil things b4 changing out a bunch of parts.

I had the same problem with my 2007. Check the electrical connections at the fans. Clean them with electronics cleaner and then lube the connection with electrical grease.

I would not recommend using electrical grease. In this case it will harm more than it will help. The plug is weatherproof to begin with and the grease will just add another resistance barrier for the already weak connection to overcome; thus making the problem worse. I would just clean the connection if necessary then give it a squirt of silicone spray before plugging it back in.

where is the temperature sending unit located?

You'll see this "Radiator fans won't run on my Equinox" all over the internet if you do a search. I had the same problem with my 2007 Equinox. It was driving me crazy troubleshooting it. I'd think I’d fixed it by changing relays or even removing the incredibly complex fuse box to trace the wiring and then re-installing it. The fans would mysteriously start working again after I tried something and then a few days later they'd stop working. What I eventually found in BOTH fans was that the electoral connectors were burned out. I was accidentally "fixing" them by unplugging and plugging the connectors at the fans in again. I didn't really see the problem until I removed the battery tray so I could get a closer look. BOTH fans had connectors with one side that was burned and melted. I've attached a picture of one of them below. These connectors are incredibly overpriced. They are also a design defect. They are too small for the current and hot location. That's why they are burning out by the thousands. Many don't notice the problem until both of them burn out since even without either fan running, just driving over 20 mph pushes enough air through the radiator and condenser to keep the A/C working more or less. It was the stop-and-go traffic here in Florida that made me aware of it. If it wasn't so ridiculously difficult to get at them, the best fix would be to cut the connectors out and solder the wires directly to the fan motors. I found an easier fix that has lasted for the past four weeks in the hottest time of year. I got a can of contact cleaner from Radio Shack. I sprayed the cleaner into both male and female connectors and let it sit for 5 minutes. I then blew the residue out of the connectors with clean dry compressed air. I repeated this until the brown gunk stopped coming out of the connectors with the air. The next part is VERY important. Because of the stiff blue seals, it is VERY hard to make a proper mechanical connection. You have to push the male and female together with a lot of force. Test the connection by trying to pull the two apart. If the black plastic latch (seen in the top of the connector in the picture below) doesn't catch, the heat of the poor electrical connection and the vibration will cause the plug to come loose and the fans will stop one at a time again. I'll bet GM is just as aware of this design defect as they are of the ignition switch problem. They have no (other than moral) incentive to correct it because it bring lots of out-of-warranty cars in for service and if they can sell you on the idea of changing the two fans and brackets they'll have you on the hook for hundreds of dollars. To get at those fans the whole front bumper and grill have to come off and the condenser and radiator have to come out through the front to get at the fans. Lot's of labor charge there. I’d be willing to bet that a few engines have been destroyed because of this defect. They probably sell a few new cars too by telling the owner they'll take the Equinox as a trade in instead of the owner paying to fix it. Here's the picture below. Both Fan connectors were burned like this one;


http://67.225.186.215/~techzea/1zeag...-Connector.jpg

Cooling Fan S/P relay?
 

I can not find anything in the fusebox labeled Cooling fan S/P. I see Cooling fan low and cooling fan hi but not cooling fan s/p. Does it go by another name?

Alex

its below the left headlamp.

thank you!
 

The plastic on the connectors were melted and he cut the melted plastic off the connectors, wiped the terminals off and plugged it back in...both fans started working! We'll see for how long!

It's the Electric Plugs!!!!!
 

This is an update on my rather long answer a couple of replies before this one. I got into some unavoidable stop and go traffic that I couldn't pull over from, to turn off the motor. I heard alarms and read warnings on the dash that I had never seen before as the engine cooked. After going through that experience I took it to the local Chevy dealer to complain about the poor design and inaccessibility of the fan motor plugs. He was very apologetic and said GM had learned from that particular design flaw and showed me the current Equinox with one radiator fan with a bigger more accessible plug. Even though I described the two incidents of severe overheating he offered a top trade-in price and low purchase price/interest rate on a new Equinox. My wife really wanted an Equinox so we bought the new one which has enough of a warranty to reduce the anxiety of a repeat of the same problem. This worked for us but I understand that many cannot just buy a new one.

For those people doing an internet search for answers to questions about "fans not running" or "no A/C" on Equinoxes built around 2007, PLEASE even though they are EXTREMELY hard to get to, check the connectors on the two fan motors FIRST. It's a good education on how electrical systems on GM cars work, but taking the system apart and checking every relay and sensor is probably a waste of time on this model.

I have a 2006 Equinox and when I turn on the A/C the fans go on and then after a minute or so they go off with the A/C still on.Can it be a relay that has a bad contact?Or should I just replace all of them?

Thanks a lot.I`ll check the plug tomorrow as it is to dark to see now. now

2012 over heating
 

My 2012 Equinox (4 Cylinder) AC is blowing hot air when idle and eventually overheating throwing all the bells and whistles and going above red FAST. After cooling, I run car and see no cooling fan EVER. Help! It's hot in TX summer!

We have replaced the thermostat, coolant, fuses and relays. Fans generally not coming on. One came on unexpectedly when vehicle got just above the half way mark on gauge, but not consistent when needed.

It's the Fan Connectors
 

Hello everyone, I wrote on this thread several years ago about my experience with overheating on the older Equinoxes and I see the problem is still vexing many owners. If you've looked at "everything" and the fans still won't run I'll bet you doughnut that the problem is burned out connectors at each fan. These identical connectors are too small for the heat and high amperage at this location and depending on the climate and how much the A/C is used in slow traffic conditions (I'm in central Florida). they will inevitably fail. You won't notice when the first fan fails (usually the larger one) because as others have said, once the vehicle is moving more than 20 mph (particularly in cooler climates) the vehicle can survive without the fans. Think about it. If you could get at them, The FIRST thing you would have checked was whether or not voltage was getting to the fan connectors. You didn't because you couldn't see them let alone unplug them. I to went through the tedious job of digging out the main circuit connectors under the fuse block and even pried the black covers off of the relays to manually close them. I finally bit the bullet and bloodied all of my knuckles standing on my head to reach and disconnect those #&$%%& fan connectors. At first I just wiggled them and the fans started working, but couple of weeks later the engine was overheating in stop and go traffic again. I would have replaced the connectors except that female connector is molded to the side of the fan and at least while the fans are in place you can't separate them from the fan body. Then I looked up the method of replacing the fans. YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE FRONT FASCIA THEN DRAIN THE FREON FROM THE A/C AND REMOVE THE CONDENSER THEN DRAIN THE COOLANT AND REMOVE THE RADIATOR TO GET AT THE FANS! I traded the Equinox in and bought a new one. I was honest and told the salesman why I was getting rid of my old Equinox. He admitted HE WAS AWARE OF THE DEFECT IN THE FAN CONNECTORS and gave me a good trade-in. If you're less scrupulous, sell you older Equinox in the winter😩.

2007 3.4l 162km Chevy equinox
 

I have a 2007 equinox 3.l I changed the water pump, thermostat, temp sensor, flushed the heater core and flush the rad, put brand new coolent. The car ran fine for a few days and then it started acting up. It blows warm to cold are only and over heats on idel. When driving it runs like normal. Head gasket is good got it checked out at the shop. No leaks and no smoke coming from the tail pipe. Also never had to top up on coolent at all. Any suggestions..? Plz and thanks

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Did did you bleed the cooling system after you put new coolant in? Also, check the cooling fans and make sure they are running. They should always run when the AC is turned on. If they don't run check the plug going to the coolng fan assembly. It also wouldn't hurt to replace the coolant lid.

I did bleed the system using the nipple on the water pump housing..and the fan does run when the a/c is on ..the fan kicks full blast ones the car is turned off ..the wires are fine I re-taped them n cleaned out the plug

Red hot and no fans
 

Had the same problem, no fans temp almost in red in traffic, read all the posts, checked fuses, all good. took the next easy step, took fan connecters off the fan an sprayed with contact cleaner, ran the A/C and the fan started like it should, Ran the car up to temp and fan started. connectors are not exactly easy to get off, but a little effort from the top and they pop off, we'll see how long this lasts. Sometimes going the easy steps first pays off.

One question= do Both fans start when you turn on A/C? I only have the one on the passenger side running. I have yet to see the driver side come on. Might be the connector, I cleaned both sides and only the one is running. Might have to check for voltage on the connector, which I priced at over 30 each.

@PHOTOFPD, in that case you may have to check/replace the COOL FAN LO relay. It controls the LEFT Cooling Fan which is in the driver's side. Then you may see both cooling fan running at LOW speed. However, if the relay is good, then you may have to start digging on the wires and connectors. Note that it is coupled to another relay which is located underneath the driver side's headlight, which is called the Cooling Fan S/P relay. Be ready to remove the trims close to the driver side front tires to reveal the relay. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply!! I always like to check the easy stupid stuff first. in this case it was the connector I cleaned with contact spray. I found the connector had fallen out so with the A/C on, I pushed it back on and the fan started, but when I let fo of the connector the fan stopped. Your kidding me, right? so I wiggled( that's a tech term, I think) the plug and it started. so I wrapped a wire tie around the plug(connector) and the heater pipe real tight. fan running, still running after a few weeks, but I ordered a new connector from Amazon for around 33 as a backup.
so far so good. Its always the stupid stuff that gets you!!!

Hi how are you I dont need to write a paragraph but it could be your control module
 

2006 chevy equinox