I have a ceiling fan that I installed and has been working fine up until about a week ago. I have done everything I can think to get it working again. I accidentally touched what I am assuming is the neutral wire to metal inside the box in the ceiling and all of the sudden it started working again. When I take it off the metal it stops again. I have no idea what my next steps should be in this situation. There are a few additional outlets that are effected as well with the ceiling fan not working. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks!

You have an open neutral somewhere in the circuit. Trace the white wire from the ceiling fan box all the way back to the breaker box (yes, I know, a pain) and find where the connection has opened.

Call an electrician.

How did you make your connections at the fan? The white wire that you touched to the metal box, did it have black tape on it? Please tell me exactly what wires you connected together. Please start with the supply or feed conductors, wall switch (if there is one) and finally the back to the fixture itself.

When you grounded the neutral wire, you supplied the needed return path for the circuit.

If you have no idea what you are doing, other than rechecking your connection points and looking for loose or open connections WITH POWER OFF FROM THE MAIN BREAKER PANEL TO THE FAN, I strongly suggest that you call a licensed electrician.

Good point.

Thanks for you replies. I do have this run to a switch that controls both the light and the fan. I have the black and blue wires connected to what I believe to be the hot, the white wire to what I believe to be the neutral, and the fan grounded. They are old wires and do have lots of electric tape on them. My home was built in the 1930's if that helps at all. I figure it has something to do with a neutral being loose but wasn't sure what to do with it from there.

Your electrical connections should be done with wire nuts, not black tape if possible.

The connections are secured with wire nuts but the old "fiber" on the wire is pretty much gone. I think I am going to have to call an expert in on this one. Thanks for your help!

If you don't feel comfortable working with a specific electrical situation, always better to cause an expert. Fire and electrocution are no jokes.

Mobryan,

After you get this mess straightened out, would you be kind enough to put the problem as well as the fix into this thread? That way we all get to learn something.

The problem has been fixed and was a very easy fix thankfully. I did trace the wiring from the breaker panel all the way to the fan. Somehow, an outlet in a different room in the house had a neutral wire break loose (old wiring I guess). I replaced part of the wiring to update it and all was well. We are in good shape now. Thanks again for all of the help and suggestions!

Mobryan, I'm glad you found it without an Expert, I am a Licensed Master/Electrical Contractor, I can't afford MY prices, I have to do my work myself. That job could have taken 1 hour to sereral days.
If you did not find that problem, A "Expert" Could have said:
"This Whole house needs to be rewired, Its 80 years old!". It may need rewiring. It is hard to find good Electricians, Plumbers, AC Guys that AREN'T bent on making maximum amount of profit on a job, or just Generate work. Or they send a helper that has no clue, and many times lacking tools, could take hours on a simple problem. If you do have the Money, you might want to consider rewiring house, would be good if you knew a good Electrician.
I like to think you did call the experts(AMHD). Take Care