My condensor fan in my 1990 Honda Accord will not shut off. The problem began as an intermittent problem and is now becoming a permanent problem. To shut them off I am currently pulling the fuse. To address the problem I have placed swapped the condensor relay in the fuse box with the same relay next to it. This does not make the fans shut off. Also, the fans won't shut off if I remove the fan switch on the thermostat housing...in my wife's 1995 accord the fans turn off when I remove this switch. Any ideas on what the problem is? I have heard that the 1990 Accord may have a second fan switch or a timer module. Any advice anyone?

 

Take a close look at this 90-94 Accord circuit. Either there is a short or your fan timer unit is broken. From this diagram you can probe the output (yel) on the fan timer unit (labled [OUT -] right under the (+) in this diagram) to see if it's grounding even when the TW (not AC) fan switch is disconnected.


The wire color in question is (yel) which normally grounds the condenser fan relay for 15 min regardless.


Edit: picture link updated
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Where exactly is the timer unit located on the 1990 Honda Accord? I have tried to follow the wires from the fan switch on the thermostat housing to the timer unit with no luck. Once I do find the timer unit, if the yellow wire is grounded with the fan switch disconnected, does this mean there is a short. On the other hand, if it is not grounded would this mean that the timer unit is bad.

As a side note, when I start the car with the condensor fuse removed, there is a buzzer that sounds near the driver fender. Could this be a possible location for the timer unit? Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

The 90-94 Accord fan timer unit is under the dash the size of a cigarette pack with 8 terminals. I'm not sure what the exact location is.

It's normal for the yellow wire to ground for 18-19 minutes with the fan switch (TW) disconnected. It's not normal if it goes above that time.

Here's how the system works. If the high temperature fan switch (TW) closes, the fan timer will will ground the yellow wire for 18-19 minutes regardless if you remove the TW switch or not.

What you should look for is why the fan timer won't stop grounding the yel wire after 18 minutes. Try to disconnect the TW switch terminal and the yellow wire terminal at the timer unit. If the yellow wire terminal still grounds past 18 min. then the timer unit is bad.

Not sure what that buzzer is.


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I pulled the 8 pin connector on the fan timer unit and here is what I found. First of all, the TW switch was connected, the condensor fan fuse and relay were both connected with the ignition off. When I began, the condensor fan was running on high speed. When I disconnected the 8 pin connector, the fans immediately shut off. So I placed a test light across the 8 terminals on the connector and found that only the white wire (one of the four middle terminals) had power. The other 7 pins were dead. So in the diagram above, which wire is the white wire and why would this cause the fans to run. I assume the white wire is power to the unit and there is an internal problem with the fan unit causing the fans to run non stop. Do I now just buy a new fan timer unit? By the way, the timer is under the left dash way in the corner. Not fun to get to. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Tanker, thanks for the assistance through this frustrating problem with the diagrams. After identifying that the problem was a bad fan timer control unit, I bought one shipped to my door off of ebay for $5.89! The local Honda dealership wanted $175. I couldn't imagine what they would have charged me for diagnosis and installation. The downfall of owning a Honda. I have had the unit in for three days now and no more dead battery. Hollah!