03 Impala cooling fan schematic
 

I am looking for the schematic for cooling fan 1 for an 03 Impala with a 3.8 engine. I am getting an error code indicating a problem with the circuit of cooling fan 1. The 25A fuse for cooling fan 1 has blown several times. The problem started on the 1st 90+ degree day while in bumper to bumper traffic. Engine temp was running ~200 deg when the check engine light came on. Temp spiked 20 deg and gradually climbed into the red. Car runs normally when temp drops back to the 60s & 70s. This problem started at the end of last summer and went away when the weather cooled. I have swapped the relay with others in known good circuits with no change to either circuit.

Here ya go :) Welcome the the forum!

Thank you. Before I start troubleshooting, is there a common point of failure or defective component?

No problem, the fan could be bad. Is your coolant nice and full with no air in the system?

Lets see if any of the ASE guys here can chime in on the common problems.

Where in the balls did you find that..

BTW who volenteers to teach me how to read schematics?

The coolant is full, no air bubbles in the system that I can tell. Reservoir is at "full-hot" so I think I am OK with coolant. Looks like the fans have a high & low speed...didn't realize that. My assumption is the "left" fan is the driver side since the "right" fan stops when the Fan 1 fuse blows.

Dude , anytime. I can AIM you sometime and give you some basic sheets to explain it all, its what I did for 15 years , reading them for complex computers systems for huge amusement rides, roller coasters, etc.. I know them prety well and have access to a NAARSO www.naarso.com database that includes cars all makes and models. Its for techs to get factory info on equiptment, My membership is expired so I cant inspect and repair at the moment but I still have a login and password ;)

A schematic is like a "pipe or plumbing view" a circuit

Google "how to read schematics" and you will find lots of helpful items, most will cover electronics but there are also mechanical, plumbing, electrical diagrams too. keep in mind there is a difference between an electronics and electrical schematic, the electrical one is probably more helpful in automotive trobleshooting, the electronic ones go deeper into the actual device.

Here is one for understanding most symbols for automotive schematics...

Still have not found the source of the problem. The check engine light came on in cool weather then went out a couple of days later. The 25A fan 1 fuse did not blow. I am not naive enough to think the problem went away.

I found some discussion of a similar problem at http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...-fans-One-runs

The article describes the circuit logic (which I understand) and provides the temps that cause the various relay actions. Since the temps are far in excess of my temp gauge range, I would like to know what the temp points are for the low speed fans to come on and for the high speed fans to come on for the 3.8L engine with dual heat zones.
Thanks

It is possible that the problem is gone, computers take averages to trigger the CE light, they also take time to turn off if the code was not cleared right away.

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Comments and suggestions are requested.

How did I get emotocons in my previous post? I didn't put them there!

Finally got some time to get the car into the shop. Turns out the problem was an intermittent short. Seems the wires were contacting the AC pulley which eventually rubbed off the insulation. Normal engine vibrations would cause the short. Troubleshooting the problem gave my mechanic fits - he had to call a buddy in a local dealership. The buddy had worked on a similar problem that took him many hours to find - guess it pays to network. My total repair cost was less than $80.

For anyone else with this problem, did you recently have any work requiring the belts or hoses to be moved? If yes, check the location and mounting of the wiring harness. Last year I had a tune up - plugs, wires, belts, hoses - and I suspect, but can't prove, the wiring harness was bumped as the problem initially surfaced a month or so after the tune up.