I have a 2013 chevy Cruze 98,000 miles and the radiator fan is not turning on. I know the fan itself works because I hooked up some alligator clips to the fan connector attached to a battery and the fan turned on. I checked the fuses, relays everything seems to be in tact. Every electric connector seems to be connected.
Your Cruz uses 5 fan relays to control the fan speeds (actually 6 because the Engine Controls Ignition Relay powers some of the fan control relays) ((jeezus!)).
It has 3 fan speeds. Low, Medium, and High.
The computer controls 3 of the 5 fan relays.
It wouldn't be too hard to write up a 10 paragraph system description to explain this bloated circuit but let's just concentrate on the Low fan speed because that's the one that should kick on first (and you say it isn't) ((but you aren't complaining about an overheating issue either)).
The Low fan speed should kick on at 210 degrees.
The Medium fan speed should kick on at 220 degrees.
The High fan speed should kick on at 235 degrees.
(With the Ignition Switch in ON) For the Fan Low Speed to kick on at 210 degrees the Computer has to provide a Ground to socket 86 of the Cooling Fan Relay.
The relay is energized and the Load Side of the relay closes and provides a Ground to socket 86 of the Cooling Fan Low Speed Relay.
That relay is energized and the Load Side provides Power to the WHT/BLU wire on the Fan Wiring Connector (Low Speed).
@chucktobias is right, this is easy to troubleshoot with a bidirectional scanner but you can troubleshoot this with an incandescent test light (NOT LED), a paperclip, your finger, and a cheap $40 scanner.
So here's the Low Speed fan circuit that I just described.
I highlighted Red for Power. Green for Ground. Blue for Computer Controlled Ground. I also circled the relevant fuses in low speed operation.
Begin by re-checking fuses 42 and 46 in the engine compartment fuse box.
Then (Key ON) use a "U Shaped" paperclip to jump the Cooling Fan Relay sockets 30 and 87 while your finger is on the Cooling Fan LOW Relay to feel for a "click" (energizing) ((and the fan should run on Low)).
If you don't feel the click, then suspect the Cooling Fan LOW Speed Relay is fried.
If you do feel a click then maybe the Cooling Fan Relay is fried. Swap it out with a good one.
If you do feel the "click" and the Cooling Fan doesn't run then use a test light to check for Power on the WHT/BLU wire on the Fan Connector. If you have Power there then replace the cooling fan motor/resistor pack (it's one unit).
But what if you did this test and everything checks out OK?
Then the problem shifts to the computer Control Side of the Cooling Fan Relay.
Hook up a cheap scanner (Live Data) and when the ECT Temp is between 210 and 215 use the test light to check for Ground on Cooling Fan Relay socket 86
Did you check for a temperature sensor that triggers the fan?
I did not! Thank you
@ryandepas - Some cars have a separate temperature sensor for the fans and some don't. If yours does that's a very likely culprit. If it's not that you may be looking at a computer module problem which would take a bidirectional scan tool to diagnose.
Changed out the temp sensor on the water outlet and the radiator and it turned on. I turned the car off then started it back up and now the fan isn't working.....
Check the wiring.
All the wiring looks good. Today I was messing around with the car and I noticed when I turn on the car let it warm up, after a little while the temp gauge would be reading normal but no fan. I decided to unplug the thermostat temp sensor that connect to thermostat housing the fan would kick on seconds later and the temp gauge would go to completely cold immediately.
All that stuff is computer-controlled so you may be getting to the point where you need a sufficiently high-end scan tool for diagnosis. Or with a wiring diagram (maybe @jack62 can find one) perhaps you can trace out where the fault may be.
On more than one occasion Scotty has recommended in this kind of situation that a manual switch be installed in the car to operate the fan.
I tried all the stuff about the fan. Still not working.
did you try bypassing the low speed relay, per the diagram jack posted?
