QuestionQUESTION: Roland, I have read and learned much from your responses. The cooling fan is not coming on with the A/C. I am guessing it is the fan relay. We took it to an auto shop and they said they wanted to replace the whole fan assembly. They said they would not replace just the relay even though they did not know if the fan motors were bad or not. They also said that the A/C system had 500 pounds of pressure in it? I have the manual for the van but it does not say where the relay is. Can you help?
ANSWER: Hi Greg,
The relay is actually mounted outside as it were: look on the left side frame rail in the engine compartment, essentially right where the lower left corner of the radiator van assembly meets the frame. You may be able to get to it easier from underneath (less to remove) and it has four wires. Make sure that it is firmly attached to the frame and holder for that is how it dissipates heat. Also check fuse #24 in the power distribution center under hood. That 500 psi sounds sufficient to me.
If you need to follow-up please don't use the "private" choice because no one else can learn from our dialog when you do.
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks Roland, I just got the van back and they told me that the fan motors work but that the cooling fan was making noise. They recommended replacing the whole fan assembly. The cooling fan was working yesterday. In fact it would not go off after the engine was turned off. Again I am guessing it would be prudent to first replace the relay then make sure the cooling fan is not wasting a bearing, which is what the shop said ( i dont trust them ). Do the fan motors go bad and essentially blow up into the radiator?
ANSWER: Hi Greg,
I don't have a great deal of experience with fan failures, but what people mainly describe is the bearing seizing without any other 'explosive disassembly' so I doubt that is a significant risk. I hadn't heard of the fans running after the engine is shut off; I don't recall Chrysler programing that into their engine controllers so if you haven't experienced that either then I would suspect the relay is failing. You might take a look at the fans to see if there is any way of lubricating the shafts and possibly prolong their life.
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks Roland you its nice to have you around. Last question. FYI I found the relay, it was under the dirvers side headlight. The unit though is pop riveted to the frame. Any ideas? Do I have to drill out the pop rivets? I guess I will need to buy a rivet gun?
AnswerHi Greg,
Thanks for that info about the new location (in '98 it was where I described it to be). If there is no possibility that it is really clipped into the holder (you might buy the replacement first, at the dealer, just to see what they give you) then you would be correct. And I would use a riveting tool to reinstall it were that the case. It appears to need to be firmly grounded to the chassis to avoid overheating. A rivet tool is not very expensive, assuming that it is a simple mechanical type with no power required to squeeze the rivet by pulling out its shaft.
Roland
