95 Contour V6 cooling Fans won't turn on

I have a 96 Contour with a 2.5L engine. It has 190,000 (highway) miles on it. Today I noticed the temp gauge rising. When I would cruise at 50 it would go back to normal temperature, but when I would get stuck in traffic, it would overheat. I drive this car everyday, what would cause the fans to just stop working? What is the first thing I should look at?

Fuses and relays.

Unfortunately Ford doesn't label their fuses or relays so your best bet would be to check all your fuses(inside the pass. compartment and the ones in your engine compartment). The relays well thats a different story. Try finding a wiring diagram online sometimes the fuses are labeled on them.

I have a Hayne's manual and it shows the relays (relays are bigger than fuses and would be inside the engine compartment opposed to inside the car?) that deal the the fans. How can I tell if they are bad?

Here are some diagrams which may not be in your Haynes - they're from the Ford service manual for the '95 Contour, and these all refer to the 2.5L engine.

Checking relays would normally be straightforward enough - just unplug it, apply 12V across the relay coil and simultaneously check with a multimeter set to the resistance (ohms) range to verify that the switched contacts have indeed switched. Having two pairs of hands makes that job easier, or some test leads with alligator clips.

Having said that, I notice that the Low Speed Cooling Fan relay isn't just a conventional electro-mechanical device - it has an internal semiconductor switch so it probably would not be a good idea to apply 12V across the coil without first knowing more about it.

The first thing I'd check would be the 60 amp Engine Cooling Fan fuse at the top of the first wiring diagram - its location is fuse #2 on the fusebox fuse & relay layout diagram.

The second thing I'd check would be the ground connector for the fans, because if that is bad then it would bring all fan operation to a standstill.

If the fuse is ok and the fan final ground is ok but still neither of the fans are working then that probably rules out the individual Hi-and-Lo speed relays (it's unlikely that they would both have failed at the same time) so I'd be looking upstream of those, at the wiring leading out of the PCM power relay, and the wiring leading from the output side of the fuse. If you don't have a multimeter, then a simple 12V test lamp would also do the job. If you don't have a test lamp but do have a soldering iron then you can remove one of the little courtesy lamps from the vehicle interior and solder a couple of leads to it and that would work just fine - you just need a means of checking for the presence or absence of 12V. Let me know if you don't follow any of that.

And the diagrams:

Wiring diagram Part 1 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-cooling-01.png)
Wiring diagram Part 2 (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-cooling-02.png)
Relay locations (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-relays-01.png)
Fusebox - fuse & relay layout (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-relays-02.png)
Fusebox - fuse designations (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-fuses-01.png)


P.S. As you're probably aware, you can do considerable damage to the engine if you allow it to overheat, so if you're still using the vehicle then you may want to consider fitting a temporary switch inside the vehicle, with an inline fuse, which would enable you to activate the fan manually until you fix the problem. The circuit for that would be: battery positive terminal - to inline fuse - to switch - to fan positive terminal.

Edit: Or of course you could tap into the output side of the existing 60 amp fan fuse, in which case all you would need would be a length of wire running from there to a switch, and then another length of wire running from the switch to the fan, and that's all there is to it.

If you do that, then use a suitably heavy gauge of wire - use the existing fan wire as an indication of what gauge is required. Whatever you do though, don't let your engine overheat.

I am pretty sure it is the #2 60A fuse. However, a new issue. I thought it would pull out like the smaller fuses. Therefore, I tried taking it out with a pair of plyers and it broke off the plastic part. This section of three fuses in the fuse box have tabs on the side. I held the tabs out and tried lifting the section up. However, it only rises about an inch. I saw a bolt attached to each fuse when I lifted the section up. How can I lift this section totally out? I don't know where to go from here....

Hmmm, I don't think I can help with that - my diesel Escort doesn't have those particular fuse links so I'm not familiar with them. This is what it says about them in the Ford Contour manual:

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Fuse Link Cartridge

Fuse link cartridges have a colored plastic housing with a clear "window" at the top. To check a fuse link cartridge, look at the fuse element through the clear "window".

To replace a fuse link cartridge, pull it from the fuse box or panel. High ampere cartridges (80A or more) are held in place by screws, which must be removed in order to replace the cartridge. Always replace a blown fuse link cartridge with a new one having the same ampere rating.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/th_95-2-5-contour-fuse-link-01.png (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Contour/95-2-5-contour-fuse-link-01.png)

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According to that, at less than 80A it wouldn't have securing screws.

Check all connections.

http://contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=12705&highlight=fans+turn