Bravo Toolshed Adventures. I bought a 02 Impreza OBS whos previous owner had the fans positive wire ran directly to the cab fuse panel and held in with a fuse. IDK why except for the fact the fans didn't work otherwise. So I didn't want to trouble shoot why they had such a poorly crafted remedy. I ended up running each fan each to their own relay fuse then to their own switch on the panel where the fog light button is and always turned them on as the coolant got up to temp. luckily for me I never forgot to turn them on but I recently sold it and suggested to the new owner that he bought a kit that's like $20 online so a thermo would activate the fans instead because I know that even though I never forgot to turn them on I highly doubt the next person would be so attentive and be able to remember to turn on the fans lol. Your dedication far surpasses mine. Good show sir.
Great video I had the same issue with my car and I rebuilt mine, kept getting up to temp and slowly overheating. I realized the fans weren’t kicking on anymore. Did almost everything you did so I’ll have to start digging into the wiring like I thought I was going to have too and hopefully I find the issue. 👍🏼
This is an excellent video! Maybe this is obvious maybe not to others? The processes you went through, as I’m going through fixing my used Forester I picked up, and skills you learn are invaluable for fixing other autos (such as wiring issues I’ve had on my vw eurovan) and not only autos but house wiring, electronics etc. It also teaches you patience, how to fix things in a methodical order and to not blow a fuse from your frustration of running into dead ends. Thanks much for posting.
Appreciate the feedback. You are right and its why I like to try and fix a lot of stuff myself because I love to learn how things tick. And if I enjoy it then perhaps someone else will and lets not kid ourselves.. mechanic shops these days are crazy expensive for a lot of people.
Hello. I am in New Caledonia, I have the same problem on my subaru forester SG 2.0 atmo 2005. What I did on the sub: replaced the relays, fuse, fan and temperature sensor. possible to direct to the exact fault please. Thank you.
If I was going to make that jumper ..I can use the plug from the junkyard and just twist the wires together?.. I'm assuming there's only two?. I started taking my Subaru to a shop in Spokane, Washington and these places started selling me and ripping me off. I actually bought an air conditioning pump when I didn't need one. I was told my s*** was leaking and I remember having my car for 3 years and I never had to add freon. I was lied to . Now my ac is worse in the summer.. I needed the condenser . Now my fans stopped working.. And my alternator bearings are going out.. They keep squealing really loud when a load goes on the alternator
All your testing shows that the main fan was working THE WHOLE TIME If you let the car come up to temp or just turned on the AC switch, you would have seen that only the sub fan was inoperable and this would have greatly reduced your diag time! I'm glad you got there eventually but if anyone is watching this video for help with this issue please do not follow this process! Confirm the relays are good. Jump the load side pins on the fuse box and if both fans run, IT MUST be a control side issue. Test the pos side of the control circuit by KOEO ground the ctrl side pins with a test light ($3 at HFT). If you get a light on 1 ctrl pin on each socket, you KNOW the pos side is good! Run the engine, turn ac on and check continuity between neg battery post and the grd pin on the ctrl side. If you get NO continuity on that pin, you've narrowed your diag down to ONE arm of the circuit in 20 min or less! No trip to the junk yard, no ect swaps, no fuse testing needed Final tip: USUALLY for cars this old, you can get a pdf factory service manual online for 25 bucks or less!
First you assume the AC in the car was working... it was not. Second you assume it was a temperature in which it wouldn't take long for the car to warm up to temp.. it was not. I then also pointed out in the video through very simplistic means of how to check fans and said they both worked as did the relays and this point it was a control side issue of no power getting somewhere. The rest of the video is going through how I troubleshooted that and why I had to do what I did and in the end is was a break in the wire in the main harness running up the driver fender. I was only able to determine this from doing continuity tests from inside the car to the fuse box and locating the fault. Your methods and my methods will be different in figuring out something, but it does not mean either is right or wrong. Figuring out the problem and finding a solution is the end goal.
Bravo Toolshed Adventures. I bought a 02 Impreza OBS whos previous owner had the fans positive wire ran directly to the cab fuse panel and held in with a fuse. IDK why except for the fact the fans didn't work otherwise. So I didn't want to trouble shoot why they had such a poorly crafted remedy. I ended up running each fan each to their own relay fuse then to their own switch on the panel where the fog light button is and always turned them on as the coolant got up to temp. luckily for me I never forgot to turn them on but I recently sold it and suggested to the new owner that he bought a kit that's like $20 online so a thermo would activate the fans instead because I know that even though I never forgot to turn them on I highly doubt the next person would be so attentive and be able to remember to turn on the fans lol. Your dedication far surpasses mine. Good show sir.
The quickest way to test if the fans are working is to connect the green self diagnostic connectors under the driver side dash.
Hey mate, i got the exact same issue, p0691, i really doubt the wire is broken like yours but yeah, really good video nice explanation
Great explanation! I'm having a P0692 so this helps a ton.
Outstanding job 👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video I had the same issue with my car and I rebuilt mine, kept getting up to temp and slowly overheating. I realized the fans weren’t kicking on anymore. Did almost everything you did so I’ll have to start digging into the wiring like I thought I was going to have too and hopefully I find the issue. 👍🏼
Yah the obscure issues are always the hardest to figure out
This is an excellent video! Maybe this is obvious maybe not to others? The processes you went through, as I’m going through fixing my used Forester I picked up, and skills you learn are invaluable for fixing other autos (such as wiring issues I’ve had on my vw eurovan) and not only autos but house wiring, electronics etc. It also teaches you patience, how to fix things in a methodical order and to not blow a fuse from your frustration of running into dead ends. Thanks much for posting.
Appreciate the feedback. You are right and its why I like to try and fix a lot of stuff myself because I love to learn how things tick. And if I enjoy it then perhaps someone else will and lets not kid ourselves.. mechanic shops these days are crazy expensive for a lot of people.
Hello. I am in New Caledonia, I have the same problem on my subaru forester SG 2.0 atmo 2005. What I did on the sub: replaced the relays, fuse, fan and temperature sensor. possible to direct to the exact fault please.
Thank you.
Damn that’s frustrating. Dealing with the same thing on my 05 Outback xt. Only the driver side fan stays on
Yah definitely many areas that can cause fan issues if its not just the fan itself.
If I was going to make that jumper ..I can use the plug from the junkyard and just twist the wires together?..
I'm assuming there's only two?.
I started taking my Subaru to a shop in Spokane, Washington and these places started selling me and ripping me off. I actually bought an air conditioning pump when I didn't need one. I was told my s*** was leaking and I remember having my car for 3 years and I never had to add freon. I was lied to .
Now my ac is worse in the summer..
I needed the condenser .
Now my fans stopped working..
And my alternator bearings are going out..
They keep squealing really loud when a load goes on the alternator
All your testing shows that the main fan was working THE WHOLE TIME
If you let the car come up to temp or just turned on the AC switch, you would have seen that only the sub fan was inoperable and this would have greatly reduced your diag time!
I'm glad you got there eventually but if anyone is watching this video for help with this issue please do not follow this process!
Confirm the relays are good.
Jump the load side pins on the fuse box and if both fans run, IT MUST be a control side issue.
Test the pos side of the control circuit by KOEO ground the ctrl side pins with a test light ($3 at HFT).
If you get a light on 1 ctrl pin on each socket, you KNOW the pos side is good!
Run the engine, turn ac on and check continuity between neg battery post and the grd pin on the ctrl side.
If you get NO continuity on that pin, you've narrowed your diag down to ONE arm of the circuit in 20 min or less!
No trip to the junk yard, no ect swaps, no fuse testing needed
Final tip: USUALLY for cars this old, you can get a pdf factory service manual online for 25 bucks or less!
First you assume the AC in the car was working... it was not. Second you assume it was a temperature in which it wouldn't take long for the car to warm up to temp.. it was not.
I then also pointed out in the video through very simplistic means of how to check fans and said they both worked as did the relays and this point it was a control side issue of no power getting somewhere.
The rest of the video is going through how I troubleshooted that and why I had to do what I did and in the end is was a break in the wire in the main harness running up the driver fender. I was only able to determine this from doing continuity tests from inside the car to the fuse box and locating the fault.
Your methods and my methods will be different in figuring out something, but it does not mean either is right or wrong. Figuring out the problem and finding a solution is the end goal.
You could be an automotive instructor great info thanx
Appreciate the feedback 👍
The relay