96 GRAND CARAVAN RAD FAN PROBLEM

Was caught in traffic yesterday and after about 15 minutes of idleing the
eng temp guage started runing up past the norm pretty quick. The only thing
that saved me was that the traffic started moving again and the temp came
back down. It appears that the cooling fans are not cutting in. I tried
setting in the driveway at idle for about 15 minutes and they still didn't
cut in.Can someone tell me if the two fans are controlled by a computer or
simply a temp switch, i suspect its not the later option as that would be
the easy way to do things. If the fans are controlled by a computer there is
most likely a relay berried somewhere in the engine compartment which the
computer engerizes to activate the fans. Can someone tell me if there is a
fan relay somewhere and if so how can I find it. I am hopeing someone elese
has seen the problem before. Thanks in advance for any help

Bill

 

The same thing happened to me. The cooling fans are controlled by a
solid-state relay which is bolted to the frame rail behind the air intake.
To get to it, you need to remove the air cleaner assembly and associated
duct work. Look near the bottom of the radiator. The wiring harness has a
connector to connect to the relay. The replacement part is a dealer-only
part and it costs about $70.00 (ouch!)

Good Luck!

 

I believe there was a recall on replacing that relay - No???

 

Yes - it is recall #8252. The relay went out on my '96 T&C LXi when it was
still under the new vehicle warranty so it was replaced at no charge. The
recall came out sometime after that. When I had it in for service back in April
2000 the service dept. ran my VIN, found the recall had not been performed, so
they replaced it again. I have since found that by going to the Chrysler
website one can click on "For Owners" and find out what recalls have not been
performed on their vehicle(s).
RP

 

Had the same issue many years ago with out 96 - replaced a relay under
warranty. Was not cheap.

 

Got it all done on the recall and we are back to 100 percent. Was
interesting, when I went to the chrysler web I found 4 outstanding recalls
for the van. One was the clock spring in the steering wheel. I had looked
into that a few years back but they were still arguing that Chrysler was not
going to cover it so that was certainly a bonus. First time I have ever gone
to the dealer and not paid one red cent, nice experience Thanks again
for the info

Regards
Bill

 

You are lucky Bill. I too had the relay replaced under a recall. It
then went bad again on a Friday night. Monday morning I called the
dealer that performed the work and he couldn't take me until Thursday.
What was I supposed to do? I called 3 dealers no body could take me
for at least 3 days. The last dealer told me that if I got it replaced
by someone other than a dealer, and turned that receipt to Chrysler
that they would reimburse me. I bought the relay from him for $60 some
odd dollars and put it in myself. The job took 15 minutes. I then got
a receipt from my mechanic friend for $75.00. Turned it into Chrysler
and they refused to pay saying I didn't take it to a dealer. I wrote
letters that also did no good. Chrysler thought for a 15-minute repair
3 days of waiting wasn't unreasonable. I had an extended warranty and
they wouldn't replace the clock spring. The only problem was the
cruise control didn't work. They wanted $285.00 for the job. I said
no. It's a good thing I waited because 3 days later the recall came
out and yes bill it's a good feeling when they don't try to sell you
all the bullshit.