P0526
Fan Speed Sensor Circuit
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drivable — book it in
A fault in the cooling fan speed sensor circuit. This sensor tells the module how fast the cooling fan is actually turning, so the module can confirm the fan responded when it was asked to run.
Possible causes
- CommonFailed fan speed sensor
- CommonFailed or seizing cooling fan motor
- CommonCorroded connector or damaged wiring
- PossibleDebris jamming the fan
- PossibleFailed fan control module or relay
What you might notice
- Engine running hotter than usual, particularly in traffic
- Cooling fan not running, or running constantly
- Air conditioning performance poor at low speed
- Temperature gauge climbing when stationary
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Watch the temperature gauge in slow traffic. A cooling fan fault shows itself when the car is stationary and clears at speed, because airflow through the radiator does the fan's job - that pattern is the clearest evidence available.
- Check whether the fan runs at all when the engine is hot or the air conditioning is on.
- Inspect the connector and wiring at the fan.
- Check for debris in the fan and that it spins freely with the engine off and cool.
- Do not let the engine overheat while diagnosing this. If the gauge climbs, stop.
Read this code from your own car
Plug an ELM327 adapter into the OBD-II port under the dashboard. Pin16 reads every stored, pending and permanent code, explains each one like this page does — offline, with no account — and shows what the car recorded when the fault was set.
Where this code sits
P00xxP01xxP02xxP03xxP04xxP05xxP06xxP07xxP08xxP09xxP0AxxP0BxxP0CxxP0DxxP0ExxP0FxxP10xxP11xxP12xxP13xxP14xxP15xxP16xxP17xxP18xxP19xxP1AxxP1BxxP1CxxP1DxxP1ExxP1FxxP20xxP21xxP22xxP23xxP24xxP25xxP26xxP27xxP28xxP29xxP2AxxP2BxxP2CxxP2DxxP2ExxP2FxxP30xxP31xxP32xxP33xxP34xxP35xxP36xxP37xxP38xxP39xxP3AxxP3BxxP3CxxP3DxxP3ExxP3Fxx
Vehicle speed control, idle control and auxiliary inputs
P0500P0501P0502P0503P0504P0505P0506P0507P0508P0509P0510P0511P0512P0513P0514P0515P0516P0517P0518P0519P0520P0521P0522P0523P0524P0525P0526P0527P0528P0529P0530P0531P0532P0533P0534P0535P0536P0537P0538P0539P0540P0541P0542P0543P0544P0545P0546P0547P0548P0549P0550P0551P0552P0553P0554P0555P0556P0557P0558P0559P0560P0561P0562P0563P0564P0565P0566P0567P0568P0569P0570P0571P0572P0573P0574P0575P0576P0577P0578P0579P0580P0581P0582P0583P0584P0585P0586P0587P0588P0589P0590P0591P0592P0593P0594P0595P0596P0597P0598P0599