Fan not working question

[Sunny]

Hey, all! I am TOTALLY new to the Vibe family. My 2005 have been partners in crime for just over a year now, and I am starting to hit some minor/major repairs (ECU under warranty, MAF sensor, soon to have a right front wheel bearing replaced).

Today, I went to come home, and I notice the fan (the big one, by the radiator) would not kick on. I tried turning it on and it didn't come on. My car never got hot, but now I am concerned about what could be wrong (IE: "HOLY CRAP, my serpentine belt pooped out on me" kind of worried) I know that didn't happen, by the way.

Any preliminary diagnostics would be most welcomed by experienced Vibe handlers.

PS: Me and the baby are headed to the mechanic in the morning because that's about as far as I dare drive it.

[Chiadog]

I tried turning it on and it didn't come on.

Hi Sunny, welcome to the group! How did you try to turn on the fan? My 2005 Vibe rarely runs the radiator/AC fan - except it runs continuously with the AC on, of course. When I bought my Vibe I found it had a blown radiator fan fuse! I don't know how long it was run like that. From my experience, excepting running AC, my Vibes cooling fan only comes on when idling/running without the car physically moving - as when stuck in traffic. Once the car is moving, the natural air flow seems to keep the radiator and engine cool!

[trb]

Welcome! You came to the right place for help with your Vibe.

If the AC is on, then the fan should be on too. So that is a sure way to test if it is working properly. If it is not, then I would first suspect a relay is the culprit. On things that use a lot of power, a relay is the switch that turns them on and off. The fan relay is under the hood in the fuse box on the driver's side. Usually there are a few similar relays in the box that you can swap out to test the bad one.

If you don't have your owners manual, here is the online one. The fuse block is on page 5-98 and it looks like there is a radiator fan fuse labeled RDI FAN on the diagram, while the relays are labeled FAN 1 and FAN 2. I didn't know that there was a fan fuse, or that there are two fan relays. Maybe someone else has more info on them. But I would swap out the fuse and relays with others in the block to test it out.

http://www.pontiac.com/content/dam/pont ... manual.pdf

Good luck and I hope it is a cheap fix!

[Sunny]

Thanks, guys. I love my Vibe, so she is maintained well.

The fan and AC would not come on at all, and even sitting at idle it did not kick on. Hopefully it is just the relay switch.