jeep laredo fan not working

[kirktank]

need help fan not working on my jeep. My fan quit working the other day and my car overheated. The fan works if it is wired or jimmied to the battery but when unplugged the fan will not turn on by itself. I replaced the coolant sensor and it still isn't working. Bought manual and not good, looking for the coolant fan relay where is it and any ideas of why the fan will not work with out it being jimmied to the battery????? Please help!!!!!!!!!!
now about to change cooling fan relay, a $90 part WOW, if this does not work any suggestions on what else could be wrong???? Fan worked fine until sat afternoon. Fan won't come on with a/c either?? Help please if any one has an ideas. Thanks
I just bough this car a month and a half ago, having probs with fan as explained in previous posts, it is a 1999 laredo, did not purchase warranty, is there any thing out there to cover me and my probs with this car from the dealer (ex "lemon law"). Any suggestions???

[coyotejeep]

Same exact thing happened to me. (well very similar). My fan didn't work. I jimmied the wires. The fan worked fine. I took to a mechanic, but he didn't have a computer diagnostic tool. He couldn't fix it, so he didn't charge me anything. He suspected the relay or the computer but wasn't sure. A computer cost $692. I did find one at a salvage yard for $100 but the last letter didn't match my part number which could be a big deal or a minor deal. Anyway, he recommended I get it diagnosed and since I had routine maintenance I needed, I would tell him what they found wrong. I couldn't find any place to do it at night. Dealers were booked during the day. So I had to use the dreaded PepBoys. I hate that place.

Here's what PepBoys diagnosed:
Complete Coolant Exchange (that's possible) I had a boil over and lost a lot of coolant
Remove/Replace Cooling Fan Relay
Remove/Replace Cooling Fan/Shroud (all one expensive unit)
Remove/Replace Thermostat

Oh, and I should also get a tune-up. (Even though I just had it done.) Total, $899. So, since the relay is a dealer-only part, I decided to pay the $64.95 for a new one.

He told me the bad fan probably caused the relay to fail. I don't trust him. I hope he's wrong.

Total for Engine Diagnostics: $$74.99 plus tax.

Thank God it wasn't the computer!

PepBoys needs to work on customer service. They try to get as many customers and recommend non-existent problems so they can get rich. AVOID. I felt sorry for the guy behind the service counter. A young kid, all by himself. With about 8 angry customers waiting. I'll stay away from them. I do not work for AutoZone, but I wish they could diagnose. Much better customer service.

[chris5.2]

amen to that ! avoid pepboys at any cost. same hapen to me ., small tip: buy a chiltons repair manual ( $ 15 bucks ) it has lots of info. including how to test your relays .

[nick capage]

the fan relay is behind the passinger headlight,you have to remove the bumper, complete grill/light assembly to get to it.should take you hour and half to do

[kirktank]

Originally Posted by nick capage

the fan relay is behind the passinger headlight,you have to remove the bumper, complete grill/light assembly to get to it.should take you hour and half to do

Thank you for all the help, yes we realized we had to pretty much disasemble the whole front of the car to get to the relay and unfortunately it cost more than I wanted to spend. It cost $90 to replace the relay and I could only buy it at an auto dealership the only auto aprt store that sold the part wanted over $100 bucks. I would never go to pep boys out of experience already. After replacing 2 parts now it works.

[nick capage]

no problem. i work for jeep, and know all about the pep boy " a tech " mechanics there. i get a kick out of going there and making fun of them.

[kirktank]

Well I will have to keep you in close mind for future jeep probs hopefully there will be no more. That is ok, we are getting help from our dealer to pay for the expenses for our jeep since they screwed up our loan, I have not even made a payment yet and I have probs so hopefully this will be the last prob for a long time. How reliable are jeeps and do things brake often??? Thanks again Daniela

[ArLouJeep]

I am having the same problem out of my 2001 GC. When i wired the fan directly to the batter, it works, otherwise it doesnt. When i wired the fan to the battery, and it worked, i also thought that it was the relay. I then proceeeded to tear apart the whole front end to get the the blasted thing. I called the dealership, and he said to bring it in and they would test it. He tested all the relays, and the computer found that the fan was faulty. I took it to another mechancic today ( not a jeep dealership), and he thinks that it is the relay, there was no current going to the fan, but then we also tried to direct wire the fan, and it didnt work, so we are back to the fan being fault. this fan is a dealer item, at 315.00 dollars, or you can find aftermarket ones for about 160. I am really hoping that it is the fan that is bad. Is there any advice on how to remove the fan (it is one piece with the shroud. I can reach three of the four bolts holding it on, the last bolt is behind the steering sector and hard to reach, any suggesstions????????????????

[kirktank]

Originally Posted by ArLouJeep

I am having the same problem out of my 2001 GC. When i wired the fan directly to the batter, it works, otherwise it doesnt. When i wired the fan to the battery, and it worked, i also thought that it was the relay. I then proceeeded to tear apart the whole front end to get the the blasted thing. I called the dealership, and he said to bring it in and they would test it. He tested all the relays, and the computer found that the fan was faulty. I took it to another mechancic today ( not a jeep dealership), and he thinks that it is the relay, there was no current going to the fan, but then we also tried to direct wire the fan, and it didnt work, so we are back to the fan being fault. this fan is a dealer item, at 315.00 dollars, or you can find aftermarket ones for about 160. I am really hoping that it is the fan that is bad. Is there any advice on how to remove the fan (it is one piece with the shroud. I can reach three of the four bolts holding it on, the last bolt is behind the steering sector and hard to reach, any suggesstions????????????????

Well I was told the same exact thing. First we replaced the sensor in the thermastat housing, that was not the prob. We knew it was not the fan bec it worked when the wires were connected directly to the battery. So the next step was the relay. And boy was that a fun job to find and get to. We had to pull apart the whole front bumper, grill and headlights just to get to the relay. Also if you have more than one relay on your car you can unplug one onf those and plug it in to the fan relay and know for sure if that is the prob. But I can say it is not the fan itself bec it works while connected to battery. My dealer also said the fan relay was fine and tried to get me to buy a new fan, luckily I did not listen and bought the relay from Chrysler for $80.00 after tax. That fixed my prob. Believe it or not Chryler was the cheapest place. A lot of auto part stores do not sell this item and if they do it is more than the dealers price and they have to special order the item. I hope this helps you out if you need any more help please feel free to ask. You can e-mail me directly under daniela_k69msn.com. Daniela

[ArLouJeep]

Replaced the fan relay today, even after dealership said it was fan,,,,,,,,, it works like a charm,,, and after taking the front end off,,, i can do it in about 30 minutes).......i am even suprised as to how much cooler the engine runs, about 180, A hint to those who wonder that if their fan works, turn ac on,,,,, get outside of jeep,,,,, and reach inside and turn it off,,,,, if fan is working properly, you can hear it wind down.