[skaplitt]

2018 EX-L 79880 miles. Yesterday in heavy slow traffic in NYC 83F, suddnle got overheat/shut engine warning. Engine Temp at upper . Pulled over, shut engine and opened hood. Very hot and some steam but no real smoke. Coolant reserve tank half above max.
Waited less than 10 min, restarted, all good. Got home innNK fine.

Today, no repeat of overheat but noticed that AC only cold while moving above around 12 mph. Above that speed ice cold, below12 or stopped, immediately warm air.

Any thoughts bf I bring to dealer much appreciated.

 

[WiiMaster]

It sounds like you may have an issue with the fans. Check for fan operation at low and high speed.

 

[skaplitt]

It sounds like you may have an issue with the fans. Check for fan operation at low and high speed.

Thanks much. I turned the engine on in park, w AC on Auto Lo. Neither radiator fan was turning, is that normal or is that the issue? Researching web looks like it could be a number of different things. But odd that its ice cold as long I'm driving above 12-15 mph.

 

[WiiMaster]

Thanks much. I turned the engine on in park, w AC on Auto Lo. Neither radiator fan was turning, is that normal or is that the issue? Researching web looks like it could be a number of different things. But odd that its ice cold as long I'm driving above 12-15 mph.

That's not odd at all. It's because when you're at speed, air is flowing (ever feel the wind when you open the windows?) and thus it overcomes the lack of working fans. But when you're stopped, the fans are what provides the air flow and they're not working.

Check the fuses for the fans.

 

[skaplitt]

They're the big ones, 30A. I can't tell if they're blown, looks like a continuous single connection. But wouldn't it be strange for both fuses to go?

Guess I'll stop by Advance Auto and ask them to look at fuses.

 

[WiiMaster]

But wouldn't it be strange for both fuses to go?

Both fuses don't have to be bad for the fan to have issues. If this fan system is anything like the fan system in previous generations, the fans run in series when they're in low speed mode, but they run in parallel when in high speed mode, which means in some cases the condition of one of the fuses doesn't matter.

 

[Daniel_H]

But wouldn't it be strange for both fuses to go?

It wouldn’t be unheard of. Often times one can go unnoticed until the other goes out. I had that happen in an Element. One fan went out and I didn’t notice it until the fuse blew on the other.

 

[skaplitt]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check the fuses at AA and report back.

 

[Daniel_H]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check the fuses at AA and report back.

In my case, one fuse went out and the other fan itself went out. So if one fuse looks good, it might be the fan itself.

 

[bandit400]

I'll guess rodent eating the wires...

 

[skaplitt]

Brought it to Firestone, after $100 diagnostic charge, said radiator fan has to be replaced total $572+tax. Told me fan assembly has to be ordered from Honda, on invoice/estimate lists "1700224 Radiator Fan Assembly". I assume that's a Firestone part no. What I'm confused about is there are 2 fans, engine cooling fan and AC condenser fan, and I was told by Honda online parts vendor they are 2 separate fans, not a dual assembly. I may bring to dealer for second opinion, and I'm already $100 in the hole, should I just have Firestone do the repair?

BTW in anticipation of Firestone-trashing, I know but they are a 10 min walk from home so super convenient for drop off and I've never had a problem w repairs like this (eg, AC, starter).

Thanks again for any thoughts.

 

[Daniel_H]

Brought it to Firestone, after $100 diagnostic charge, said radiator fan has to be replaced total $572+tax. Told me fan assembly has to be ordered from Honda, on invoice/estimate lists "1700224 Radiator Fan Assembly". I assume that's a Firestone part no. What I'm confused about is there are 2 fans, engine cooling fan and AC condenser fan, and I was told by Honda online parts vendor they are 2 separate fans, not a dual assembly. I may bring to dealer for second opinion, and I'm already $100 in the hole, should I just have Firestone do the repair?

BTW in anticipation of Firestone-trashing, I know but they are a 10 min walk from home so super convenient for drop off and I've never had a problem w repairs like this (eg, AC, starter).

Thanks again for any thoughts.

I would definitely get a second opinion. I just did a quick parts search and it looks like you might just be able to replace the fan motor instead of the whole assembly. On the first site I looked at, the cooling fan motor was $70 and the condenser fan motor was $127. I don’t know why the whole fan assembly would need to be replaced if it’s just the motor.

 

[WiiMaster]

I can't imagine the fans being a very difficult DIY either.

 

[skaplitt]

Update: not surprisingly, seems I was jerked around by Firestone. They told me they had to do the $100 diag to figure out what the electrical issue was. I looked and for the first time tried to spin the coolinig fan, and realized it had completely separated from the motor. Just hanging loose inside the frame. So bolt came out somehow. I called Firestone back, asked to speak the actual tech and he admitted he did the diag to "confirm" the motor was getting power, and only saw the loose fan after that.

I have an indy to do it, but if motor is getting power, couldn't it just be that the fan needs to be replaced w bolt/nut? I plan to order those parts, along w OEM assembly to just remove and replace the whole thing if need be.

Any more insights welcome. Thanks again.

 

[Daniel_H]

I have an indy to do it, but if motor is getting power, couldn't it just be that the fan needs to be replaced w bolt/nut? I plan to order those parts, along w OEM assembly to just remove and replace the whole thing if need be.

Any more insights welcome. Thanks again.

I would hope it would just be the fan. If you are good with basic hand tools I would just take a look myself. I have a subscription to AllData for my ’12 and the compressor fan looks fairly easy to remove, if it hasn’t changed much for your ‘18. I would try removing it and see if I could reattach the fan before you spend a lot of money at another mechanic. I would start with the cheapest solution first. I wouldn’t even order the whole assembly unless you saw there was something actually broken. It appears from my diagram that the fan just attaches to the motor. If the motor is still attached, it shouldn’t involve the whole assembly being broken.