Cooling Fan Relay Issue now a recall campaign

Yes someone may have already mentioned this but if you do need this done when you bring it in, make sure to bring both sets of keys and those little metal tags because they will have to reprogram your remotes for the new ECU.

FIXED!!!!!! Finally my car doesn't sound retarded. More to come...

So I FINALLY got this done at the dealer. They replaced the fan relay on Monday and said they had to order the ECU. So I unmarried my accessport and brought it in this morning to get the ECU replaced.

 

So there are two strange things:

1) After this was done my radio stations were still correct, and thecd cd was still in the middle of the song that was playing when I brought it in. Wouldn't an ECU replacement clear all that?

 

2) I got home ready to reload my stage II maps, but my green connecters were GONE! They were hanging out before I brought the car in since I just unmarried my AP. I pulled the rug up, and they were no where to be seen. I took that big metal plate off and still didn't see them. Then I looked behind that big bundled of taped-up cables and I found them, pushed way back and way down. Over here:

http://premium1.uploadit.org/yevans//DSC00825.JPG

 

So I assume this is where the ECU is, in the big metal box in the picture, right? Why would they jam the test mode connectors where they did?

 

Did anybody else go through this, or did everyone else still have easy access to their connectors after their ECU was replaced?

 

Weird.

Unknown w/regard to Question #1. If they did not physically disconnect your battery and subsequently discharge the vehicle's electrical system, then no, those settings would've been retained.

 

As for Question #2, that's a funny one. Honestly, there's no rhyme nor reason that I can see as to why they went ahead and tucked-in the test-connectors (and yes, that's the ECU, that grey box with the Denso sticker). Perhaps they thought it would be better not to have a loose pair of electrical connectors, exposed, near the passenger's footwell? No idea why they did that, but I'm sure that in their minds, it made sense.

Unknown w/regard to Question #1. If they did not physically disconnect your battery and subsequently discharge the vehicle's electrical system, then no, those settings would've been retained.

 

As for Question #2, that's a funny one. Honestly, there's no rhyme nor reason that I can see as to why they went ahead and tucked-in the test-connectors (and yes, that's the ECU, that grey box with the Denso sticker). Perhaps they thought it would be better not to have a loose pair of electrical connectors, exposed, near the passenger's footwell? No idea why they did that, but I'm sure that in their minds, it made sense.

 

As strange as it may seem that you would not disconnect the battery to replace the ECU, I noticed when i got my car back that my seatbelt chime disable was still in effect so they must not.

^ I guess since they're the dealership, they're not afraid of the possibility of frying an ECU or two.

 

I know that when I spliced into my ECU for the TSX Knock/Shift Light, I darned well unplugged the battery *and* unplugged the ECU.

Where are people buying the new relays (for those of you doing the replacement yourselves)? I can't seem to find them on any of the parts sites I usually buy from.

I got mine from the dealership.

I just had the recall performed and it still is doing it. I think I am on my second ECU. It is hard to keep it straight because when my wife had an 05 GT wagon it had the same problem a few times. I will be most likely turning it in off lease in a few months, but if I decided to keep it I would be seriously concerned this problem would keep coming back.

^ Then get a new one and be firm at the dealership.

Okay, my car was fixed last winter. And it was stock then.

 

Now I'm stage 2 and out of B2B warranty, and the fans stay on whenever I use the AC. God the suckage.

My radiator cooling fan will run when I cold start the car (sit overnight / engine is cold) for about 20-30 second. Everytime i start up my car when the engine is cold and it make a louder noise under the hood in the first 20-30 second and i heard something turn off. Is that normal The car run normal and very quiet when it warmed up.

Kin,

 

You're ok. That is normal for the fans to start up and then stop. The problem is when the fans come on and stay on, all the time.

I never noticed this thread, but Ive been having a prob with my fans lately. My fans seem to be turning on after the car warms up and then not turning off. I thought it was due to the lost coolant from the turbo swap but after topping that off I still see it happening. Im guessing this is from the bad sensor. bla

The first post has the procedure for checking if your relay is toast. Try it out...

Yep, turning on my car cold causes the fan to kick on high and stay on. So the recall is for a ECM that gets damaged by a relay. So Theres 2 possible problems? Is there a way to tell if the ECM was damaged and needs replacing too?

Guess I will grab the relay first and go from there.

Guess I will grab the relay first and go from there.

 

If the fans are running that means the relay has failed which means that the ECU has almost certainly been damaged.

The dealership should replace it though since its a recalled part right? Even if my car isnt under warrenty?

^ Yes. The ECU is part of the emmisions system and is covered for 8 years as I understand it.

I just had the two relays and ECU replaced for the second time. The first repair was done in 05 before the recall campaign - I wonder if the replacement parts were upgraded since my first repair was done.

My relay is dead again, time for another one.

 

Recall and instructions on how to replace them:

http://www.thel7.com/Recalls/WVB-12.pdf

Glad I finally ventured into this forum and found this thread. The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that my car is totally stutter-free right now and I'd hate to start experiencing that problem after my ECM is swapped out (my fans are on all the time.)

Just dropped mine off the other day for the problem. Suppose to pick it back up today. They had to give me a rental car and order off for the part.

Change the relay again and nothing happened. Since my car's warranty has expired, I sent an email to SOA to see if they will honor to fix this on going issue. I'll post their comments as soon as I hear back from them.