How To Test The Cooling Fan Motors (2001-2004 3.0L V6 Ford Escape - Mazda Tribute)

This tutorial will help you to test the cooling fan motors and cooling fan motor relays on your Ford Escape or Mazda Tribute in a comprehensive step-by-step way.

You won't need any expensive or exotic tools to do it, since all you'll only need to use is a multimeter and a jumper wire.

And if you're a serious DIY'er, I've made some tool recommendations that you'll want to have in your tool box for such an occasion (as testing any other cooling fan motor).

You can find this tutorial in Spanish here: Probando Los Ventiladores Del Radiador (3.0L V6 Ford Escape - Mazda Tribute) (at: autotecnico-online.com).

APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:

• 3.0L Ford Escape: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.
• 3.0L Mazda Tribute: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

Important Tips And Suggestions

TIP 1: This article focuses on testing the 2-wire cooling fan motors and the cooling fan motor relays of the 3.0L equipped Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute.

The fan motors on the 2.0L Escape and Tribute are 3-wire type fan motors and testing them requires a slightly different but significant approach not covered by this article (yet).

The only test in the article that applies to the 2.0L equipped Escape is TEST 4: Testing The Fan Relay.

What Tools Do I Need To Test The Fan Motor And Fan Relay?

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, you don't need anything fancy. This is the basic list of tools you'll need to diagnose and troubleshoot the cooling fan motors and cooling fan relays:

1. Multimeter
   • A digital or analog multimeter will work.
   • If you need to buy one or are looking to upgrade, check out my recommendations here: Tekpower TP8268 AC/DC Auto/Manual Range Digital Multimeter (Amazon affiliate link).
2. Jumper Wires
   • You'll need two of them with alligator clips on both ends (you can make these yourself).
   • You'll need to more with male spade terminals on both ends (you can also make these yourself).
3. Wire Piercing Probes
   • To see what this tool looks like (you can buy it here too): Goupchn 4mm Banana to Banana Plug Test Leads Kit (Amazon affiliate link).

A scan tool comes in handy, but it's not a must-have tool to take advantage of this article.

Ford Escape Electric Fan System Basics

The core function of the cooling fan motor is to maintain the engine within a certain temperature range and to prevent overheating.

If the temperature exceeds 225° F, the engine starts to overheat and this can result in serious engine damage (like a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder heads and engine block).

It's within a temperature range of 195° F and 225° F that the engine will work at its most optimal state and keep pollution down, get the best gas mileage and all this good stuff.

The electric cooling fan system uses the following core components:

1. Two electric cooling fan motor assemblies
   • Fan motor 1 (located on the driver side of the radiator).
   • Fan motor 2 (located on the passenger side of the radiator).
2. Four cooling fan relays. These are:
   • The Low Speed Fan Control Relay.
     • Identified by the number 3.
   • The High Speed Fan Control Relay 1.
     • Identified by the number 1.
   • The High Speed Fan Control Relay 2.
     • Identified by the number 2.
   • The Medium Speed Fan Control Relay.
     • Identified by the number 4.
     • The 3.0L equipped Ford Escape (Mazda Tribute) is the only one that uses the Medium Speed Relay.

Ford's cooling fan motor control system may seem like a bit of overkill with its 4 fan relays, but it really isn't.

In this tutorial, we'll test the most common failures, which usually means that one of the following has failed:

• One of the two (or both) fans.
• One of the several cooling fan motor relays.
• One of the several cooling fan motor fuses.

With the help of this article, you'll be able to easily test either (or both) of the cooling fan motors, the fan relays and of course the fuses.

Let's turn the page and get testing.

TEST 1: Testing The Fuses

The very first thing you need to do, is to make sure that the fan fuses are not blown.

There are a total of 3 cooling fan fuses. Two are located in the engine compartment fuse/relay box and these fuses will be 40 Amp fuses.

The third one is 3 Amp blade type fuse and this fuse is located in the fuse box inside the vehicle (and below the left end of the dashboard). This fuse is labeled with the number 9 on the fuse box.

Using the photos in the image viewer, you can locate the 2 fuses located in the engine compartment fuse/relay box.

This is what you'll need to do:

1. 1

   Check the fuse labeled with the number 1 located in the underhood fuse/relay box.
   
   Fuse #1 feeds the Low Speed Fan Relay with 12 Volts.

2. 2

   Check the fuse labeled with the number 2 located in the underhood fuse/relay box.
   
   Fuse #2 feeds the High Speed Fan Relay 1 with Power.

3. 3

   Check the fuse labeled with the number 9 in the under dash fuse box.

4. 4

   The fuses will be either blown or not blown.

Let's take a look at your test results:

CASE 1: The fuse or fuses were not blown. This is the correct and expected test result.

The next step is to check to see if the fan motors are OK. Go to: TEST 2: Testing Fan Motor 1 (3.0L).

CASE 2: The fuse or fuses were blown. Replace the fuses and retest.

Fuses don't get blown for no reason, so when you do see a blown fuse, it's usually because the fan motor is starting to draw too much amperage.

TEST 2: Testing Fan Motor 1 (3.0L)

As you may already know, your Ford Escape (Mazda Tribute) comes equipped with two cooling fan motors held together in one big plastic assembly. In this test section, we'll test fan motor 1 (this is the one that's on the driver side (left side) of the radiator).

Each fan motor's connector has two wires coming out of it. On fan motor 1:

1. One wire gets 12 Volts from the High Speed Fan Relay 1.
   • This is the gray with red stripe (GRY/RED) wire of the fan motor connector.
2. The other wire feeds chassis Ground.
   • This is the black (BLK) wire of the fan motor connector.

The most common way to test fan motor 1 (or any cooling fan motor) is to just add 12 Volts to the gray with red stripe (GRY/RED) wire of the fan motor connector with a jumper wire (or a tool like a Power Probe) and then see if the fan comes On or not. If it doesn't come On, then it's fried and needs to be replaced. If it does come On, well then you now know that it's good.

Personally, I've always found this method a pain in the neck since the fan motor wires are really hard to get to in the Ford Escape (or Mazda Tribute).

So, I'll give you a choice of testing the cooling fan motor. You can do it as described above or you add these 12 Volts at the fuse/relay box that's in the engine compartment (and avoid having to muck around with the fan motor connector and its wires).

OK, this is what you'll need to do to test fan motor 1 (driver side fan motor):

1. 1

   Remove High Speed Fan Relay 1. This is the fan relay labeled with the number 1 in photo 1 of 2 (in the image viewer above).

2. 2

   Jumper female terminals 30 and 87 together (shown in photo 2 of 2).
   
   Female terminal 30 is the one that has 12 Volts present (from the fuse labeled with the number 1 in the photos in TEST 1).
   
   Female terminal 87 is the one that connects directly to the gray with red stripe (GRY/RED) wire of the fan motor (and will deliver the 12 Volts).
   
   IMPORTANT: Whatever you use to jumper these two female terminals CAN NOT be thicker that the relay male spade terminals that fit into them or you run the risk of damaging the relay/fuse box.
   
   IMPORTANT: Female terminals 86 and 85 should never be jumpered together! Or the PCM will get damaged.

3. 3

   As soon as you install the jumper wire (there's no need to turn the key to the ON position), fan motor 1 will do one of two things: 1.) It will immediately start or 2.) nothing will happen.

Let's take a look at what your results mean:

CASE 1: The fan motor came ON. This is the correct test result and it let's you know that fan motor 1 is OK.

The next step is to test fan motor 2. Go to: TEST 3: Testing Fan Motor 2 (3.0L).

CASE 2: The fan motor DID NOT come On. This tells you that the fan motor is fried and needs to be replaced.

Before you do replace the fan, you should take your multimeter and make sure that female terminal 30 has 12 Volts. If 12 Volts are present, then you can confidently replace the fan motor. If the 12 Volts are not present, then the Fuse/Relay box has a problem.

Now, what stinks about having a bad cooling fan motor is that you've got to buy the entire radiator cooling fan motor assembly.

If you run down to your local auto parts store, you can expect to pay around $200 to $220+ (US) and this isn't pocket change we're talking about.

You do have another option, and that's buying it online. It'll save you about $100 (US), if you have the time to wait for it in the mail. If this is the option for you, click on the link of the fan motor and find out more about it.

TEST 3: Testing Fan Motor 2 (3.0L)

Fan motor 2 (which is the fan motor on the passenger side of the radiator) also has two wires coming out of its connector (just like fan motor 1). These two are:

1. A red with orange stripe (RED/ORG) wire
   • This wire is the one that feeds 12 Volts (from the Low Speed Fan Relay).
2. A light blue with black stripe (LT BLU/BLK) wire.
   • This wire feeds Ground only when the PCM activates the High Speed Fan Control Relay 2.

Remember back in TEST 2, you could add 12 Volts directly to one of the fan motor's wires and if the fan was good, it would activate. Well, with fan motor 2 you need to add one more step and this is to manually add Ground to it too.

Let me explain: Fan motor 2 doesn't have a direct path to Ground like fan motor 1. Therefore, if you plan to jumper 12 Volts directly to the fan motor connector, you also need to connect a jumper wire to the light blue with black stripe (LT BLU/BLK) wire that connects to the battery negative (-) terminal.

This method, in my opinion again, is a total pain in the neck since the fan motor wires are really hard to get to. But if you feel comfortable with this method, by all means have at it.

In the following test instructions, I'll show you how to make all of your connections at the fuse/relay box.

OK, this is what you'll need to do to test fan motor 2 (passenger side fan motor):

1. 1

   Remove the Low Speed Fan relay from the relay/fuse box.
   
   This is the fan relay labeled with the number 3 in photo 1 of 3 (in the image viewer above).

2. 2

   Jumper female terminals 30 and 87 (shown in photo 2 of 3).
   
   Female terminal 30 is the one that has 12 Volts present (from the fuse labeled with the number 2 in the photos in TEST 1).
   
   Female terminal 87 is the one that connects directly to the red with orange stripe (RED/ORG) wire of fan motor 2 (and will deliver the 12 Volts).
   
   IMPORTANT: Whatever you use to jumper these two female terminals CAN NOT be thicker that the relay male spade terminals that fit into them or you run the risk of damaging the relay/fuse box.
   
   IMPORTANT: Female terminals 86 and 85 should never be jumpered together! Or the PCM will get damaged.

3. 3

   Remove the High Speed Fan relay 2 from the relay/fuse box.
   
   This is the fan relay labeled with the number 2 in photo 1 of 3 (in the image viewer above).

4. 4

   Jumper female terminals 30 and 87 (shown in photo 3 of 3).
   
   Female terminal 30 connects to the light blue with black stripe (LT BLU/BLK) wire of fan motor 2 (which is the Ground circuit).
   
   Female terminal 87 connects to a wire that is bolted to the chassis and provides a full time Ground circuit.
   
   IMPORTANT: Whatever you use to jumper these two female terminals CAN NOT be thicker that the relay male spade terminals that fit into them or you run the risk of damaging the relay/fuse box.
   
   IMPORTANT: Female terminals 86 and 85 should never be jumpered together!

5. 5

   As soon as you install the jumper wire (there's no need to turn the key to the ON position), fan motor 2 will do one of two things: 1.) It will immediately start or 2.) nothing will happen.

Let's take a look at what your results mean:

CASE 1: Fan motor 2 came On. This test result lets you know that fan motor 2 is OK.

The next step is to test fan motor relays (all three in the engine compartment fan/relay box). Go to: TEST 4: Testing The Fan Relay.

CASE 2: Fan motor 2 DID NOT come On. This tells you that the cooling fan motor is fried and needs to be replaced.

Before you do replace the fan, you should take your multimeter and make sure that female terminal 30 (where fan relay labeled with the number 3 connects to) has 12 Volts. If 12 Volts are present, then you can confidently replace the fan motor. If the 12 Volts are not present, then the fuse/relay box has a problem.

Now, you may already be aware that you can't buy just one fan motor, you've got to buy the whole assembly.

If you run down to your local auto parts store, you can expect to pay around $200 to $220+ (US) and this isn't pocket change we're talking about.

You do have another option, and that's buying it online. It'll save you about $100 (US), but you do have to wait for it in the mail. If this is the option for you, click on the link of the fan motor and find out more about it.

TEST 4: Testing The Fan Relay

The 3 relays (in the engine compartment relay/fuse box) that the cooling fans use to activate are all the same type (they're all interchangeable), which makes testing them a breeze.

In this section, I'll show you how to bench test the relay off the vehicle.

You'll need three very important things:

• A multimeter (analog or digital).
• Two jumper wires with alligator clips on the ends.
• A helper.

OK, to get this test going, this is what you'll need to do:

1. 1

   Remove the relay you want to test.

2. 2

   Using a jumper wire, connect terminal 85 of the relay to the battery's Ground terminal.
   
   NOTE: Using a jumper wire with alligator clips on both ends will make the process easier.

3. 3

   Place your multimeter in Ohms mode and connect the leads to terminals 30 and 87.
   
   It doesn't matter which color lead goes where, since the polarity does not matter for this test.
   
   You'll need a helper for this operation, unless your multimeter leads have alligator clips on the end of the leads.

4. 4

   Connect the male spade terminal 86 to the battery's positive (+) terminal.
   
   When this last connection is made, the relay will activate
   
   Again, if your jumper wire has alligator clips, it'll make the process a whole lot easier.

5. 5

   Once the last connection is made, your multimeter should show continuity.
   
   If it doesn't show continuity, recheck all your connections and retest.

6. 6

   Remove and reconnect the jumper wire to terminal 86 several times, as you eye-ball the multimeter.
   
   When the jumper wire IS NOT connected to power, the multimeter should show NO CONTINUITY
   
   When the jumper wire is connected to power, the multimeter should show continuity.

7. 7

   Repeat steps 1-6 on the other 2 cooling fan relays.

OK, let's interpret your test results:

CASE 1: Your multimeter showed continuity. This tells you that the relay is OK and not the cause of the problem.

CASE 2: Your multimeter DID NOT show continuity. This tells you that the relay is bad and needs to be replaced.

More 3.0L V6 Ford Escape Diagnostic Tutorials

You can find a complete list of 3.0L V6 Ford Escape (Mazda Tribute) diagnostic tutorials in this index:

• 3.0L V6 Ford Escape Index Of Articles.

Here's a sample of the tutorials you'll find in the index:

• How To Test The Ignition COP Coils (2001-2007 3.0L V6 Ford Escape).
• How To Test The Throttle Position Sensor (2001-2007 3.0L V6 Ford Escape).
• How To Test The Cooling Fan Motors (2001-2004 Ford Escape - Mazda Tribute).
• How To Test For A Blown Head Gasket (2001-2012 3.0L V6 Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner).