Advice please re active grille shutter

[aidmit]

Hi guys,

Looking for some guidance please. Bit of novice so excuse my ignorance. Background: 2015 focus 1L ecoboost 84k miles. End of last year my engine fan seemed to trigger itself after driving for a few minutes, no warning lights, engine temp fine etc. Took to local garage said active grille not working needs replaced. Since then I've managed to open the grille manually but fan is still coming after a few minutes. I noticed one of the blades is also broken on bottom driver side section. I have doubts now about changing the active grille I hoped/assumed that when I opened it air input was increased so then fan wouldn't trigger. 

This makes me question is there something else going on or indeed if changing the grille would fix it? I see mention of the forscan app, buying a blue tooth adapter and checking for errors. This is obviously a much cheaper option than getting the mechanic to change it.
Is there a way to reset the fan or turn off the active grill? How much if a requirement is it? I haven't noticed a massive increase in mileage/reduced efficiency which I've read it was designed for. I've checked the fuse looks ok but might replace it to see if this works.

Thanks in advance.

[erictcleric]

If the active grille is broken the ECU will command the fan on permanently because it can't be sure of the position of the grille. It doesn't measure the airflow, it just has position sensors for the grille. Removing the grille is unlikely to fix that as the ECU will still see it as a broken grille. Replacing the grille should fix it, but I seem to recall they're not particularly cheap. 

[aidmit]

Thanks for getting back to me. That's makes sense. I found used ones for around 100 quid. Will be looking at double that probably with labour. Is taking the front bumper off and inserting the new ags myself something a novice with some mechanical knowledge/no ramp could do?

Also, I've read that the ECU can be instructed to ignore the ags. Does this sound like a feasible/cheaper option? 

 

Thanks again

[TomsFocus]

Yes it's possible to remove the bumper and grill shutter without a ramp as long as you're agile enough to crawl on the floor.  Not sure what the cost is for mapping out the shutter, but I doubt you'd notice it missing in the fuel economy.  It's more for emissions really.

[iantt]

Just remove the broken shutter and the rest will work. 

[iantt]

You can get brand new shutters for £35

[aidmit]

30 minutes ago, iantt said:

Just remove the broken shutter and the rest will work. 

Will this reset the fan/ecu?

[aidmit]

13 minutes ago, iantt said:

You can get brand new shutters for £35

Very reasonable

[iantt]

1 hour ago, aidmit said:

Will this reset the fan/ecu?

The shutter will work and the DTC will become an historic code. Should stop  the fan from operating. 

1 hour ago, aidmit said:

Very reasonable

Did a quick search on eBay and saw a set

[aidmit]

Update: bit more investigating I've realised it's not the main radiator fan but the 2nd smaller one- the condenser fan? I've opened the active grill and removed the broken section so I'm wondering if this is a bit of a red herring. My air con seems to working fine. Im thinking now that it's an electrical fault somewhere probably beyond my repertoire annoyingly. Will go back to the mechanic to see if he's checked the ECU for faults, he said he would so I'll  get him to clarify this.  Cheers 

[HARRY FERGUSON]

If it is always true that a faulty active grill actuator causes the ECU to turn on the fan at full speed, does simply unplugging the actuator not have the same consequence? I see many people say they have just unplugged their actuator, so I guess their fan doesn't come on at full speed? My active grill doesn't work and my fan is stuck on full speed, so I am curious if I just unplug the actuator, will the fan problem go away. I am happy that the shutters are stuck open. I don't care. I just can't stand the fan blowing full speed constantly, and will burn itself out soon if it keeps blowing that fast. But when I remove Fuse 36, the 5A actuator fuse, the problem persists, and I guess unplugging the actuator is very much the same as removing the fuse? I just don't want to go to the bother of getting at the actuator to unplug it, if it's going to behave just like removing the fuse, i.e. more constant fan blowing? Anybody know the difference between unplugging the actuator and removing the fuse? Doesn't the ECU witness the same situation? Why should one case turn on the fan and the other not? I know my active grill is faulty as there is no movement when I start the engine, at the time when it is doing its self check and should cycle the shutters.

[unofix]

1 hour ago, HARRY FERGUSON said:

I see many people say they have just unplugged their actuator

Never known that, where are people saying they unplug the active shutter ?

Have you used FORScan to read the DTC's on your car and find out why your active shutter is not working ?

[HARRY FERGUSON]

I don't have FORScan, only Snapon Verus and Anyscan. They just say it is faulty. Car got a prang at the front a year ago and got repaired. I noticed some of the shutters aren't parallel to others, so I guess they're disconnected or broken. There is 12V present either side of fuse 36, and the LIN bus wire (21 at the fuse box), has got a good looking communication signal, as I put my Verus oscilloscope onto it.