What does it mean?
When your car is idling at a stop sign for a while there is no cool air passing through the fins of your radiator this means the temperature within the cooling system will rise. This is a problem because the cooling system is responsible for regulating your engine ’ s temperature.
Thankfully, auto makers had that in mind when adding a cooling fan(s) to the radiator, which in turn blows air through the fins of the radiator, mimicking the air that would typically pass through while driving at any speed. In earlier makes and models, the cooling fan was mechanically connected to the engine. Most of the latest makes and models have electronically operated cooling fans with no mechanical connection to the engine.
Generally speaking , there are 2 relays that control your cooling fans, the low speed relay and the high speed relay. The PCM energizes these relays based on your engine ’ s cooling needs. The cooling fan relay 1 control circuit is responsible for controlling the low speed of these cooling fans. The PCM detects issues within the system and will display check engine light on the instrument cluster the moment values within the circuit go beyond operating parameters.
If this code is active, more then likely your cooling fan(s) will not come on at one or any speeds.