Im at my wits end with my 03' Outlander! ... the overheating problem resulted in a recall for the fan controller unit which Ive replaced TWICE.....but the car still overheats in traffic. I replaced the radiator and thermostat also. Still overheats!

I noticed that the fans will come on when the car is overheating if I bang on the radiator enough to joggle them. Does this mean the fans are defective?

I called the dealership and they want over $300 for a single fan motor. What a rip off Mitsubishi! I will never buy another one of your rip off vehicles! When I call the dealership about the problem all they do is tell me to "bring it in" to their shop... sure... where they'll rack up another $1500 repair bill and a month later their piece of crap car will start overheating again? Ive read the forums and this seems to be the status quo. And if you want to do the repairs yourself to save money, they get into your pockets BIG time that way too. Whoever heard of a fan motor costing $307.00? Unbelievable.

Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket fan motor that will fit into a Mitsubishi Outlander cooling fan assembly?

AS if thats not enough, the A/C unit works fine when Im driving along but when Im stuck in traffic the A/C stops cycling on and off and wont come on at all. It then starts blowing HOT air through the vents.

Anyone out there have any ideas as to what might be causing this?

 

Do you know what the "cooling fan motor" includes? On many it is the fan,motor and bracketing. A lot of cars have 2 of them.

If the cooling system has not received regular maintainence, the thermal fan switches will become insulated and not ground (to complete the circuit and run the fan) at the correct temperature. A simple thing like a bad radiator cap can cause overheating, too. It holds pressure on the system, causing the boiling point to be raised. If it is not working properly, the system will overheat. Is the temp sending unit working correctly? Again, a neglected system will make it not read correctly. Possible you do not have overheating,you have a bad sending unit.

run a test lead to the fan motor. If the motor works, you do not have a bad motor and fan assembly.

The dealer would charge what would seem like a lot of money, but thier tech will have to spend a lot of time trouble shooting the problem before he can fix it. You do not go into any repair shop and tell the service writer that you need a new fan motor. Then, the fan motor will be replaced, you will be out $300.00 +labor and the problem will not be corrected.

The AC works off of pressure-a low pressure switch to thun it on, and a high pressure switch to shut it off. With no air moving across the condenser the gas refrigerant will not be able to condense to a liquid to complete the circuit. If your refrigerant level is low, you will have the problem that you describe.

People like you burn my a$$. You want your car fixed and dion't want to pay for it. If you know so much, fix it yourself!
Mechanics do not work for free. They have families to feed and houses to pay for and car loans-the same as you. The next time you get near a dealers shop, ask one of the techs how much money he has in tools? Do you have anything near that invested so that you can do your job??????Do you work for free???

The dealer or any repair shop has rent,lights ,heat, insurance, taxes, ect to pay. Nobody gives them anything. And they have to put up with people like YOU!!!!!!!!

 

I do share plomoman's skepticism and pessimism for the stealership service dept.

I will say though that there is nothing special about a cooling system. They pretty much are similar across the board. My suggestion is to research some of the local auto shops. Napa Auto Parts has a pretty neat system setup where they let independent shop owners start their own shop under the Napa brand. Shops need to be vetted since they have a brand name to hold onto. My cousin runs one in Illinois and does well with it. And any work done at one shop goes with a 2-yr warranty at any other napa shop. As with any shop, some are better than others...do your homework and find a popular one. Many shops also subscribe to services that show them TSB and repair procedures if they do not work on a certain car often...so just because it isn't the stealership doesn't mean you get sub-part work. That being said, I wouldn't take it to a Walmart or NTB shop.

I also agree with milliesdad that you do not say you have a specific problem part. It is a good idea to tell them what has been replaced in previous efforts...but that's about as far as it goes.

As far as my speculation, if you are overheating and you tap on the motor housing itself...lightly...to get the motor to spin...it may be the motor. They can check resistance of the coils. Now that it is getting cooler, you may help your engine out if you need to keep moving by turning your heater on full blast. It won't remove a lot of heat, but it will be some.
If you are in the US, RockAuto.com has some radiator fan assemblies...I would stay away from Dorman.
RockAuto Parts Catalog
Shouldn't be hard to replace...some screws/bolts and a few wiring connectors.

 

Dont get me wrong ive got nothing against mechanics or the folks working at stealerships... But i wasnt born yesterday and to charge 300 bucks for a simple electric fan motor when there have been recalls is robbery. Its obvious that what they want is to steer you away from repairing your older vehicle and buy a new one from them...at least it seems like it. But who would want to bjy a new one from them after being stonewalled and robbed....whatever happened to the concept of standing behind your product? I do understand the costs of running a business having owned one for several years but dealerships are in business for one reason... To sell more cars. Period.

Thanks for the tips you guys. I ll try by-passing the pressure switch on the ac to see if its bad... I noticed when puting new freon in that when the compressor isnt running the pressure on the gage goes into the red but when the compressor IS running its in the blue or normal area. It sounds like my fan is the problem or turning on the fan...
As for the cooling fan ill try running 12V directly to it.

 

I appologise for the rant-It's something I've wanted to say for a long time.

sounds like your problems are related-both when in heavy trafffic and driving slow.

Could be something as simple as a radiator cap or thermal fan switch or the fan clutch itself


In anycase it sounds like if you could get air moving thru the radiator and AC condenser it would take care of your problem.

see if switching to defrost when this happens-in defrost the ac clutch engages and the fan engine cooling fan should come on.

and look at the serp belt while you have your nose in there. Any cracks and it should be replaced.

As I said-It sounds like the 2 problems are related.