Cooling Fan
The PCM monitors certain parameters (such as engine coolant temperature, vehicle speed, A/C ON/OFF status, A/C pressure) to determine engine cooling fan needs.
For Variable Speed Electric Fans:
The PCM controls the fan speed and operation using a duty cycle output on the FCV circuit. The fan controller (located at or integral to the engine cooling fan assembly) receives the FCV command and operates the cooling fan at the speed requested (by varying the power applied to the fan motor).
The fan controller is able to detect certain failure modes within the fan motors. Under certain failure modes, such as a motor that is drawing excessive current, the fan controller shuts the fans off. Fan motor concerns may not set a specific DTC. With the fan motor disconnected from the fan controller, voltage may not be present at the fan controller.
For Relay Controlled Fans:
The PCM controls the fan operation through the fan control LFC (single speed applications), and LFC (low speed), MFC (medium speed), HFC (high speed) for multiple speed applications. Some applications have the xFC circuit wired to 2 separate relays.
For 2 speed fans, although the PCM output circuits are called LFC and HFC, cooling fan speed is controlled by a combination of these outputs.
For 3 speed fans, although the PCM output circuits are called LFC, MFC, and HFC, cooling fan speed is controlled by a combination of these outputs.