Chrysler Repair: Over heating, coolant temperature sensor, check fuse


Question
---Roland
I cannot find in my manual which relay is for the fan...it lists EATX backup and EATX shutdown, and Suto shutdown, AC Clutch, and then others for lights etc... do you know which one is for the fan motor?----------------------
Followup To
Question -
--Roland
Thanks for the quick reply.  I have already changed the fuse, and that did not fix it.  I thought of that first.  I just did the on-off-on-off-on and the sequence came up as 1-2-2-1 and then the 5-5 I did it twice and got the same thing both times.  Hope this will help...and again thanks so much.
Katrina
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Followup To
Question -
My 96 Town and Country keeps overheating.  I have changed the fuse to the blower motor, and that did not work.  The air conditioner will not cool ( i HAD IT CHARGED LAST SUMMER) When I sit in traffic too long the van runs hot, and I cannot hear the little blower kick on that is supposed to cool the motor while it is running..any suggestions? Somebody said maybe a relay...The fan inside works, it just blows warm air.  
Answer -
Hi Katrina,
The failure of the radiator fan(s) to work will also prevent the AC from working. If could be due to a fuse being blown (check fuse #4 in the power distribution center, a long thin box in the engine compartment), the fan relay, the fan motor itself, the coolant temperature sensor, the engine controller or the wiring between these components. So begin by checking that fuse #4 (40 amp rating) to see if it is blown or not. Then you or a shadetreee mechanic can check whether the fan motor(s) are o.k. if the fuse is o.k. The relay can also be checked pretty simply if you have a volt-ohmmeter as can the coolant sensor and most of the wiring.
It may be the case that the engine controller has identified what is wrong and stored that info as a two digit number in its memory. Just turn the ignition switch on-off-on-off-on and leave it on (doing all that within a total time of 5 seconds) then watch the "check engine" light which will be on to begin to flash, pause, flash, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Repeat the readout to verify that you have recorded the number of flashes correctly. Then group them in pairs as they came out to form two-digit numbers. The last pair will always be 5 flashes each, forming the number 55, which is the code for "end of readout". Then respond with the numbers and we'll see if that helps to diagnose which of the several possibilities are keeping the fan from operating.
Once the radiator fan is working, the air conditioning may also work.
Roland
Answer -
Hi Katrina,
Unfortunately neither of those codes refer to the fan circuit. The 12 means that some time in the past 50-100 key cycles the battery was disconnected from the main circuit. If that isn't so, then it might mean there is a loose connection at the battery of one of the ground points of the - post cable. The 21 means that one of the oxygen sensors is not showing any variation. The main issue with that would be a less than optimal fuel/air mixture in the cylinders that feed exhaust gas to that sensor (more exhaust emissions, loss of some fuel economy).
On the fans you could either directly jumper power to each fan from the battery (+ to dark green plug wire, - to black wire) to verify whether the fans are o.k. (chances are both wouldn't fail), OR you can remove the fan relay in the power distribution center and check two ways:
notice that on the relay there are four pins, one on each side, and possibly a fifth pin in the center. The center pin is not used. The opposite side pairs of pins are either parallel to oneanother or at right angles to oneanother. Considering the socket from which the relay was removed you can take a moderate thickness wire and jump it between the opposing pin sockets that are at right angles to oneanother. If the fans come on then that means the fans are o.k. and that there is power reaching the relay socket. It doesn't test the function of the relay itself. For that you will need to jumper the battery between the opposing pins that are parallel to oneanother and then with an ohmmeter or continuity testor verify whether there is continuity (0 ohms) between the pins that are at right angles to oneanother. If there were, then that means the relay is o.k. and so you would then need to consider whether the coolant temp sensor is not working properly to alert the relay to turn on the fans. That is a test with an ohmmeter and I can give you detail of that later.

So try jumpering across the opposing pins in the relay socket and see if the fans come on. Let me know what you observe.
Roland  

Answer
Hi Katrina,
Unfortunately I don't have the key drawing that shoes the purposes of each of the 8 relays, but maybe Chrysler was kind enough to put a key drawing on the underside of the lid of the power distribution center. If not, I believe that there would be little risk of just jumpering each of the relay sockets, one at a time, as I described because if you just touched it briefly I don't see any harm that could result to any of the systems that are involved (with the ignition turned off that is). One of them should make the fans come to life if the fans are o.k. If you want to be more prudent, you could take a voltmeter ane check all the sockets as regards whether one of the pins that are at right angles to one another has a pre-connected 12V present or not, then for those sockets that do, take a look with a mirror at the underside of the socket to see the 4 wires' colors that are supplying that socket. The fan motor relay wires are: gray, light green/dark blue, dark green, and black and thus you would verify and will have found the relay socket in question; just jumper that one and see if the fans fire up.
Roland