1989 Accord Lxi, Power Windows, Cooling Fan & Window wipers do not work

[Blainethemono]

Drove into work this morning and noticed the temp gauge was pegged. Jumped the fan relay so I could get home w/o overheating my car. Power Windows worked in the mornings, but later that day nothing. Windshield wiper also does not come on. All fuses show good. As part of my research, I found the Power Relay Assembly behind the fuse box, which appears to feed all 3 of these devices.

Am I on the right track, of do I get to play find the blown module/wiring issue.

Thank you in advance for any help and/or ideas

[Blainethemono]

OK, no takers..... here is what I am figuring. Wipers, Power Windows, Cooling fans and A/C clutch motor all have relays in the engine compartment. Im going to jump those relays to see if they power up. Everything that works, headlights, brake lights, radio, fan blower, starter, EFI, interior lights, etc., all run off the under dash fuse box or direct power from ignition switch, (EFI appears to have its own relay). I will swap out Power relay with a known good part, and give you all an update, so my misfortune can help somebody else.

[Oldblueaccord]

You got two threads going now. Carrotman asked you if there is power on the green plug that goes on the T stat housing.

Pull the prints up and study on them they can be DL here someplace on this site. see why you dont have power to certain things. You are going to need a 12 volt test light or an electrical meter.

EDIT: im looking at page 26-20 of the 1988 helms book.

Fuse #3 is 20 amp for the wipers

Fuse #12 is 15A for the coolant fans

Double check both of these and pr swap with another that works. Make sure they are in the fuse holders correctly and the holder is not burnt or corroded.

IG2A yellow wire comes off the ignition switch. It powers both.

If the fuses are good and you have power AFTER the fuse to the relays I would suspect the ignition switch.

Wiggle the key around and see if this will make it work.

[Blainethemono]

Sorry about the 2 threads. Wiper & windows not working was a blown under dash fuse. They are operating now. Rest of Fuses all check good inside and out, as do relays, but Ill double check. I jumped the Temp Switch @ the Radiator and both fans came on. I replaced the Radiator temp switch last night. Radiator Fan still does not come on, neither does the A/C Fan when A/C is activated. When I removed the radiator temp switch, a little bit of water came out. Not a flow, not continuously, just about 4 ounces or so then stopped. Is this normal? Both upper and lower hoses are hot once car warms up. This morning I removed the radiator cap & started car, once thermostat opened, water level dropped a bit, observed good flow in radiator and a few small air bubbles, but nothing extreme. They quickly stopped.

11.43 volts to Green Plug. 28 year old switch, so I ordered a new one anyway, inexpensive part, and it will remove it from the equation going forward. Preventive maintenance and all. Ignition switch is on my short list Thanks for responding

[Oldblueaccord]

Sorry about the 2 threads. Wiper & windows not working was a blown under dash fuse. They are operating now. Rest of Fuses all check good inside and out, as do relays, but Ill double check. I jumped the Temp Switch @ the Radiator and both fans came on. I replaced the Radiator temp switch last night. Radiator Fan still does not come on, neither does the A/C Fan when A/C is activated. When I removed the radiator temp switch, a little bit of water came out. Not a flow, not continuously, just about 4 ounces or so then stopped. Is this normal? Both upper and lower hoses are hot once car warms up. This morning I removed the radiator cap & started car, once thermostat opened, water level dropped a bit, observed good flow in radiator and a few small air bubbles, but nothing extreme. They quickly stopped.

11.43 volts to Green Plug. 28 year old switch, so I ordered a new one anyway, inexpensive part, and it will remove it from the equation going forward. Preventive maintenance and all. Ignition switch is on my short list Thanks for responding

Sounds like you are all over it.

Im thinking the radiator temp switch should be reading coolant dunno how it would not. Might be worth a look.

I always thought when you engage the AC button that one fan comes on,regardless you got working AC or not, but ill double check on my car during the week and see if that is true.

Blown fuse means overload or a short I think you understand that so the windows/wipers something is going on.

[Blainethemono]

Up to this point the car was working fine. About 3 weeks ago, the Drivers window quit working, which was traced to a couple of bad solder joints. All was good with the world until about a week later, wipers, window and fans quit working. Something blew the Wiper fuse. I cant see a thermal switch blowing a fuse, but a black box going bad? That leaves Fan timer unit and Fan control module...... Ive looked @ the control module, weird looking bugger, and it looks totally like an afterthought on Hondas part.

http://www.rockauto.com/info/93/3651__ra_p.jpg

any thoughts to the small amount of water exiting the lower radiator when I removed the Thermal switch?

[Oldblueaccord]

Up to this point the car was working fine. About 3 weeks ago, the Drivers window quit working, which was traced to a couple of bad solder joints. All was good with the world until about a week later, wipers, window and fans quit working. Something blew the Wiper fuse. I cant see a thermal switch blowing a fuse, but a black box going bad? That leaves Fan timer unit and Fan control module...... Ive looked @ the control module, weird looking bugger, and it looks totally like an afterthought on Hondas part.

http://www.rockauto.com/info/93/3651__ra_p.jpg

any thoughts to the small amount of water exiting the lower radiator when I removed the Thermal switch?

Actually look thru your last 12 post and there all about electrical problems with the car.

[Blainethemono]

Actually look thru your last 12 post and there all about electrical problems with the car.

Yeah, and the 2 most expensive parts to diagnose/replace are the electrical fan control modules. Im replacing the physical, cheap shit for now. Thermal switches, thermostats, fuses, etc..... 86 Accord I had with over 200,000 miles on it, fans went out one day for no reason after decades of flawless behavior. Donated the car before I ever dived in to fix it. This 89 only has 124,000 on it, and is extremely clean, no matter though, time can be a bitch. Obvious these cars have an issue with fans, lol.....

Plan on keeping this one for quite some time, so I will keep digging, and post my findings here for future reference.

[Oldblueaccord]

Yeah, and the 2 most expensive parts to diagnose/replace are the electrical fan control modules. Im replacing the physical, cheap shit for now. Thermal switches, thermostats, fuses, etc..... 86 Accord I had with over 200,000 miles on it, fans went out one day for no reason after decades of flawless behavior. Donated the car before I ever dived in to fix it. This 89 only has 124,000 on it, and is extremely clean, no matter though, time can be a bitch. Obvious these cars have an issue with fans, lol.....

Plan on keeping this one for quite some time, so I will keep digging, and post my findings here for future reference.

what plug are you unpluging to test your fans work or not? I got some time to look into it on my car. maybe a picture would help.

I would also look for a water leak or trace of one near the fuse panel. My passenger side has leaked a little for years and actually rusted one of the inside brake lines. Im guessing things are getting wet.

[Blainethemono]

I am jumping the plug for the Thermal Sensor @ the bottom passenger side of radiator. Both Fans come on.
Owned the car for 3 years now, and have never had to add water to radiator, nor do I ever smell anti freeze. Thermostat has been replaced, once warmed up with radiator cap off, observed water flow.

[Blainethemono]

IG2A yellow wire comes off the ignition switch. It powers both.

Yes, and after staring at a 88-89 Prelude Ignition Switch/Fan wiring diagram, I finally got it! DOH! In this diagram, Black/Yellow comes straight out of the ignition switch to the Fan Timer Unit, & it appears that Blue/White(?) to Yellow/Black goes to the Compressor section, which powers my A/C Fan.....

It looks like I can replace just the electrical section which includes the contact points. Yep Yellow & Black wire. Thank you for the ideas, lets hope thats it.

[Blainethemono]

Replaced Electrical plug from Key switch to Fuse box. No effect. Fans and A/C Clutch still do not come on.

Pulled every fuse in Engine compartment sad vehicle. All good

Any other ideas?

[netplus]

Have you checked the relays in underhood relay box ? Power window relay is top 1 below that is Cooling fan relay.

[Blainethemono]

All Fuses and relays have been checked and double checked, but Ill go thru them again. One night I get home and the A/C sub fan is running. WTF? Pull the relay, next morning, engine cold, I plug it back in and Sub Fan stays off. As mentioned above, I have an electrical short. Ill buy that, but my 1986 Lxi Sedan had the SAME issue @ 180,000 miles, so this sounds like a common failure of some Honda component. When I get some time, Im going to check voltage to the Fan timer unit. However, if Im getting voltage to the main Fan relay, it almost sounds like the relay isnt getting a voltage trigger.....

[Dr_Snooz]

When I removed the radiator temp switch, a little bit of water came out. Not a flow, not continuously, just about 4 ounces or so then stopped. Is this normal?

It sounds like something is blocking that rad. That could block flow to the temp switch, throwing off the cooling fan operation. It would also cause your overheating, which shouldn't be happening. You can test for blockage to a degree using an infrared thermometer. Take temps from different areas across the radiator. If you get a lot of variance, or some spots a good deal hotter than others, it's time to replace the rad. How old is it? What color is the coolant? When was the last time it was serviced.

Of course, it's also possible you got rats...

[Dr_Snooz]

When I removed the radiator temp switch, a little bit of water came out. Not a flow, not continuously, just about 4 ounces or so then stopped. Is this normal?

It might be normal. If the rad cap was on, then vacuum would have prevented a lot of flow. It could also be that something is blocking that rad. That could block flow to the temp switch, throwing off the cooling fan operation. It would also cause your overheating, which shouldn't be happening. You can test for blockage to a degree using an infrared thermometer. Take temps from different areas across the radiator. If you get a lot of variance, or some spots a good deal hotter than others, it's time to replace the rad. How old is it? What color is the coolant? When was the last time the cooling system was serviced?

Of course, it's also possible you got rats...

[Blainethemono]

Ok, Ill check it out and let you know. Rad appears original, and replacing it has crossed my mind.

[Blainethemono]

Ok, Ill check it out and let you know. Rad appears original, and replacing it has crossed my mind.

Well I must apologize for not updating this thread once I fixed the issue. It was the radiator. Once I replaced the radiator and timer unit all was good with the world. Car is running the way its supposed to run fan coming on when it should. I abandon my fan timer override switch that day and have had no issues since then.