Neon cooling fans

I acquired a 96 neon, and it has a problem with the cooling fans not
turning on. I traded the fan relay with the horn relay, and the horn
continued working, but the fan still did not. Also, when I plugged the
relay in with the engine hot, I could feel it clicking, but no fan.
Then I put a jumper across the two contacts that the relay is supposed
to connect and the fan still didn't turn on.

Another problem is that although the air conditioner clutch engages when
it is turned on, the fan doesn't start.

I notice that this car has two fans. I have not yet had an opportunity
to get a service manual for this car (not sure I'm going to keep it
anyway). I'm wondering, if one fan is dead, will it prevent either one
from starting? Why two fans anyway? Is it a two speed system with two
fans, or is one for the engine and the other for the AC?

 

Are the Fuses in the PDC good? have you checked for battery voltage and a
good ground when the fan is supposed to be on?

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

What does "PDC" stand for? I assume you're talking about the box behind
the battery, because that's where the fuses and relays are. I checked
the fuses, and they were good. I hadn't gotten around to the voltage
yet. Looks like a nice sun-shiny morning. I'll get out there with a
volt meter next.

 

have a local dealer run the vin there was a recall for fan issues on some
neons

 

Could be a dead fusible link (or other circuit-protection device) in the
fan's power circuit, upstream of the fan relay. Put your voltmeter or test
light across ground and the fan relay socket slot that mates with the
relay's terminal 30. If you find no voltage, you've got an open in the
circuit. These fusible links tend to blow only for a reason, i.e., the fan
motor starts drawing too much current because its bearings are shot.

And once that circuit protection is open, BOTH fans will fail to run.

DS

 

Yes thats what I am refering to, PDC Power Distribution Center

 

The only recall that was out on a cooling problem for that year vehicle was
replacing the radiator assembly. (recall#694) And that was only if the
vehicle was built at the Toluca Plant and it had to be built between April
24 1996 thru May 28 1996.

!997 and 98 Had the radiator fan relay recall #7691 and 7692

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Great info! Thanks.

 

Can you spin the bad fan by hand?


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I can't really assume that it is a bad fan yet, but yes, both of them
spin freely. I know that's a good question, because when the fan went
bad in my 93 voyager, it locked up.

 

Here's the latest: 12 volts at the fan relay terminal 30. Relay clicks
to turn the fan(s) on. Same relay works OK when switched over to the
horn circuit. (I don't have enough hands to check it with a jumper wire
and a volt meter)

Seems like a slam dunk that it's the fan or fans causing the
problem...except that one individual emailed me about another relay that
controls the ground circuit on this car. He mentioned that it tends to
be a common source of problems, it is a metal box located on the frame
near the radiator, and that it is the same relay used on the Caravan of
the same year.

One other weird thing about this car is that the temperature gauge reads
cold when the engine is cold, and then it comes up to medium when the
engine warms up. But it never goes above medium even when the engine is
getting way too hot. The antifreeze is filled to capacity. Could it be
that the temperature sensor on the engine is defective and not telling
the gauge to come up all the way, and not telling the grounding relay to
turn the fans on?

 

I just discovered that the relay marked "Rad Fan" in the box behind the
battery turns on whenever the engine is on, hot or not. That leaves the
temperature sensor, the mysterious ground relay that I think I caught a
glimpse of next to the radiator, or the fans themselves. Tomorrow I'll
test the fans directly and see if they spin.