my cooling fan, please can some one help ?

[davie671]

my cooling fan on my 1989 mk4 escort has gone i checked the fuse's in the fusebox under the bonnet and they are all fine, i was thinking could it be one of the relays ? is there any way to test for this ? and were are the relays ?
please can some 1 send me some pictures and help me i really need this problem sorted asap
many thanks
mike
i have also posted a pic of my car below

[ctesla]

mike,
if you've checked fuses, it could be a relay...
they are usually found in the engine compartment, near the battery, possibly under a plastic cover marked as 'relay box,' 'elec control center,' etc. and the fan relay (and others) will almost always be identified on the inside "lid" and will be the same as the horn relay most of the time (I mean identical; same size, shape, color, markings), so if the horn works, swap the one relay with the other;
if the horn doesn't work, bad relay; if it does then,
your vehicle also has a coolant fan sensor that thermostatically controls the fan's operation and this unit is "tapped" into the head of the motor, most of the time near, or on the thermostat housing...
before removing and replacing this item (even though it should only be about $10-20 USD) from a parts store, to make sure the fan motor has not seized or broken, you could take about a meter of speaker wire, and run it from the positive and negative sides of the battery to the plug on the fan to insure the fan is still operational... if this works, you can use this "hot wire" to operate the fan continually while driving, just don't forget to take the speaker wire off prior to shopping or going to sleep, as you'll have a dead battery...

but yes, in order, I'd change the
relay (least expensive)
fan sensor
fan motor itself (if necessary)

hope this helps,
ctesla
ASE cert.instructor