Jeff_S Posted June 1, 2018 Report Share Posted June 1, 2018 basics: 2007 edge SEL with tow package, LOTS of miles recently started overheating, checked under the hood and only the passenger side radiator fan is running. since then, both radiator fans have stopped running, and am 99.99% sure that's why the engine is overheating. steps taken thus far: 1. checked the fan fuses, both intact 2. manually reached in (car off) and turned the fans to ensure they weren't bound up 3. unplugged fan cords from FCM and plugged in wires (house hold 14ga solid copper wires) and linked to car battery. didn't spin either fan. confirmed multiple times the polarity was correct. 4. cut 4" piece off the house wire, plugged into leads, and connected up to car battery charger set on "start", both fans will run under charger power. 5. purchased new FCM from autozone (generic, only one they sell) and wired everything back up, still no fan even with AC full and engine temp reaching and just barely inching above mid. at this point, i'm at a loss as to where to go. 1. is it possible the new FCM is also bad? possible, but i'd like to hope my luck isn't that bad? is there a way to tell? 2. what sends the signal to the FCM? is there another sensor that could be bad? 3. i read that there's a temp sensor on top of the engine that's part of the system as a fault loop to keep the fan on as a safety, but that doesn't seem to directly apply here, as the fan would be on all the time, rather than off? any help / insight / suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 2, 2018 Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 Don't know if this is your case or not, but a lot of aftermarket fans are wired differently than the Motorcraft fans. May have to rewire the fan connector to get power to the right pin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1004ron Posted June 2, 2018 Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 Cant help with the fan electrics. Does it overheat on the open road under load - if so, you're still going to have the overheating problem after you've resolved the fan electrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_S Posted June 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 Cant help with the fan electrics. Does it overheat on the open road under load - if so, you're still going to have the overheating problem after you've resolved the fan electrics. no, it's fine if i can actually drive the car at even 20 mph, but we live in LA, where stand still traffic is to be expected 20 out of 24 hours on the freeway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted June 3, 2018 Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 Seems like you need to replace the fan assembly, not necessarily the FCM, as the fans did not spin up when wired direct to the battery. Lots of problems can happen with aftermarket products, as enigma mentioned. If you don't want to pay for Motorcraft, your secondbest bet would be Dorman, or TYC. In cases of engine overtemperature, there is a failsafe routine that makes the engine run on 3 (alternating) cylinders. This acts as an air pump to keep the engine cool. I don't think it incorporates fans into this failsafe. typically you will see an associated P1299 code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_S Posted June 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 that's my next step, though obviously replacing the fan assembly is a lot more involved than just replacing the FCM, so i was hoping there would be some intermediate steps before jumping to the fans. my concern is that the house wire i had wired to the car battery was ~15 feet long, so with voltage drop from the resistance, i thought it probable that the fans were still good, further confirmed by wiring it directly up to the battery charger? is that a error on my part? i'm willing / ready to replace the fan assembly, i just kinda wanna vet out other possibilities before going that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted June 3, 2018 Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 macbwt replaced the assembly in 9 minutes Actually not that bad. what voltage was the charger puttng out? what voltage are you seeing at point of delivery to the fan? If the voltage is in excess of 12V at POD then it is possible the fan motor(s) could be dying out. A slow death is not uncommon with electrical parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 3, 2018 Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 Here's the mactfordedge video on replacing the cooling fans in 9 minutes. Personally I would not consider any brand other than Motorcraft as aftermarket fans have had vibration and excess noise problems. Some of them are wired differently. (I had mine replaced under extended warranty by the dealer.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_S Posted June 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) so, went and got a Dorman assembly, took out the old fan (which was considerably longer. Video does not talk about the 3rd bolt at the bottom). before that though, i drove into the drive way, and one of the fans was running, and stayed on for about 5 seconds after shutting the car down (this is a cold start). the AC is still on max. after replacing the fan with the new one, i ran the car, and the temp is slowly getting to mid, drove it around the block to get solidly mid temp, and pull back into the drive way. the fans are not on. so, it seems like the fan assembly was probably still fine, I now need to figure out what triggers and sends signal to the FCM to start the fan. edit. it's currently 76 here, and I let it idle in the drive way for over 15 minutes with the ac on full. the AC compressor kicked on off and on, but the radiator fan never triggered. the temperature, however, stayed at 1/2, which is now completely baffling me. Edited June 4, 2018 by Jeff_S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) Couple of thoughts. First, check the fuse that controls the fans. Looks like fuse #5 in the power distribution box (fuse box in engine compartment). Should be a 40 amp (with factory trailer tow) & 60 amp without. (Please verify that this is the right fuse). Second is, you installed an aftermarket fan assembly and these have been known to be wired differently then the Motorcraft unit. There are three wires running to the fan controller. (Note of caution, I'm drawing this from a Ford service manual for 2009. I *think* they are the same, however "trust but verify". (Strange, suddenly I'm picturing Ronald Reagan driving a Russian Troika.) Anyway: One is the incoming power (from fuse #5) and is a red w/black stripe connecting to terminal #1 which is marked "PWR". The second is the signal wire from the PCM. It is a red w/orange stripe connecting to terminal #4 and marked "VAR-SPD-IN". The third is the ground, which is solid black and connects to terminal #2. There are two additional wires which run to the fan(s), red and black. No terminals listed. Edited June 4, 2018 by enigma-2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 For reference http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/12731-radiator-fan-assembly-replacement-procedure/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 Reading WWWPerfA_ZNOW's reference to the previous thread, several others who installed Dorman fans had problems with the connector. It appears that the connector needs to be forced on past tight, by pushing on o..n..e.. m..o..r..e.. millimeter, to get it to connect. I'd start there, by forcing the connector on tighter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onyxbfly Posted June 4, 2018 Report Share Posted June 4, 2018 I haven't heard anything good about after market fans for the edge. Sometimes its just worth the extra in price to skip the extra BS, that can accompany the extra savings.... Good luck hope you get it sorted out sooner than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_S Posted June 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 so, i disconnected and REALLY jammed in each of the 3 connections, no change. ran direct line to the OLD fans to the battery, and the driver side (the original running one) started with the much shorter wire (14" this time), but the passenger side still didn't. ran the new fans directly from the connector to the battery, nothing. connected new fans directly to the charger, on fast charge setting (12v, 20A), nothing. starting setting, (12v, 55A), both start up fine. both 40A fuses for the fans are fine in the fuse box. it seems like a case of not enough amps getting to the box? i'm at the point where i'm kinda ready to just rig up a relay that kicks on the fan whenever the car is on.. >_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 ran the new fans directly from the connector to the battery, nothing. ..... connected new fans directly to the charger, on fast charge setting (12v, 20A), nothing. starting setting, (12v, 55A), both start up fine. Battery chargers are wierd little creatures. They develop 12 volts on charge, but no amerge unless connected to an actual battery. So no amperage to speak of if it doesn't sense a battety load). On emergency start mode however, they make the full amperage available. Hense the fans run. As for connecting directly to the battery, if the fans run with a battery charger on start mode, no reason they shouldn't run directly connected to the battery. The only reason I can think of is the fan controller is wired differently or the battery connection was made backwards. (Try reversing the battery connections and see if the fans run). If the wiring is too small, the fans will run, drawing the current they need at 12 volts, but the wire will get hot. Once the wire heats up to the temperature rating of the insulation, (105° typically for automotive wire), the insulation will start to break down. But the fans WILL run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 (edited) ran direct line to the OLD fans to the battery, and the driver side (the original running one) started with the much shorter wire (14" this time), but the passenger side still didn't.If the fans run when direct connected, it falls to reason the it's either the aftermarket fan controller, the PCM or one of the sensor's feeding the PCM. (As you can tell, I'm no fan of Chinese aftermarket parts). Try hooking everything up and set the A/C to the MAX setting. The fans should immediately turn on. That will eliminate the fans, controller and PCM from the equation. If it doesn't and the fans run directly connected, the most likely suspect is the controller. Edited June 5, 2018 by enigma-2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Many people have reported faulty aftermarket controllers (brand new ones). That’s why everyone recommends OEM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autom8r Posted June 10, 2018 Report Share Posted June 10, 2018 Jeff: You have a tow package. The tow package controller is different than the non-tow package controller. The tow package controller uses PWM (pulse width modulation) to control the fan speed of each fan. This is why it is difficult to test. Blasting the controller with 55A is bound to blow by the MOSFETs or IGBTs that are in there. Compare the wiring and notice that the controller for the tow package has a connector for each fan as compared to the non-tow package controller that has only one. Notice that the number and sizes of the fuses serving the fan assembly also differ. Please disconnect the fan leads from the controller and test each fan. They should spool up without issue. If they don't spool up, then it is a motor issue. If they spool up, then it is a controller issue. The controller and fans come as an assembly. While the controller is available as a separate part, it does not make sense to buy it as such, since the entire assembly (both fans and controller) is less expensive. Maybe you have access to a PWM generator, I don't know what minimum and maximum PW is to produce 0-100% fan speed, but everything is on the internet. If your EDGE has been sitting for a while, apply power to the fan leads and tap the motor housing with a large box wrench. Astonishingly, this will free up the motor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDj7EDeyL3k Presently my DORMAN fan set has lasted longer (over 100,000 miles) than the original FMC part. I agree that the connector is a bit sloppy, but a firm squeeze and a tie-wrap fixes that. Everyone knows that DORMAN parts are DOA, I must be lucky with my fan set and two out of four door lock solenoids. I'll just keep cheating fate and buy the right DORMAN part. In your quest to replace the fan assembly, no wiring alterations are required in order to adapt this into your EDGE. Plug and play. Glad you found that elusive bottom screw. I know that you've been there brother. WWWPerfA_ZN0W posted a good link on the subject: http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/12731-radiator-fan-assembly-replacement-procedure/ Happy trails. Ford Edge Cooling Fan Wiring.pdf Ford Edge Cooling Fan RandR.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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