Chrysler Repair: 98 Grand Voyager Fan Electrical Problem, voyager fan, grand voyager

Question
Car has been working fine until this morning when it would not start. There was some electrical power, but not enough to turn the starter. I figured it would be a simple cleaning of he battery terminals or maybe it needs a new battery. I pulled the terminals off,put in a new battery and reconnected the terminals - as soon as both were on, one of the main cooling fans started operating, and some smoke started coming out - I immediately disconnected the terminals.  Any ideas what might be happening ?

Answer
Hi Gary,
You didn't mention from where the smoke was coming but based upon the control of the fans I would suspect the solid state fan motor relay. That relay is the source of the power for the fans, but it should not be activated when the ignition switch is off. That relay has a propensity to fail and in fact that did result in a recall in the latter-90's which you might be able to avail yourself of. You will find the relay bolted on the left side frame rail close to the left lower edge of the radiator. You can find it also by tracing the fan harness directly to it. You may want to remove the air intake box by the battery for better access. It has a plug which, if you remove, will take it out of the curcuit and prevent the fans from operating. Then you can see if that returns things back to normal.
Roland