GAA! Dam fans dead AGAIN!

[mishalah]

Cruising across the valley on I15 thinking about how well the T&C is running and keeping me comfortable in the 110 heat.....almost. I got about 1/2 mile from my destination, heard a little "chirp" from the belt, looked at the guages, HOLY CRAP....HOT!

The fans have quit AGAIN! Last year I replaced the radiator and hoses, then the T-stat, then the temp sensor when the fans failed. It ran and cooled beautifully. About 2 weeks ago the relay died. I replaced it with a no-name and it has been great until yesterday. Everything else seems to be ok.

The old relay did have some gray "burn" on that #2 tab (or #3 if you flip it over). This one had a very slight mark, same tab.

What was that testing info for both the relay and the system so I see what might be blowing the relay? Is the voltage at the relay 5V or 12V?

Is this another one of those multiple phantom Chrysler problems, or am I a victim of another Chinese elect. product? Wait....I think the relay was made in the U.S. (but, by whom I don't know).

[vipergg]

Don't know what year you have but current gens haven't had much of a problem with those , previous gens most were recalled under a TSB , had it done on a 96 and never had any kind of cooling problem .

[mishalah]

It's a '96, LXi, 3.8L.

We pulled the relay and checked all the voltages to the harness and components, reinstalled and ran the engine. The fans didn't come on while it was warming up...and not until we turned on the a/c to raise the coolant temp...even though it was sitting while outside temps are over 100.

With the a/c on the fans eventually came on. The voltage output was around 9V, meaning the relay was keeping the fans on "low". They never went to the "high" speed.

So, once again it's working....I think. My son did clean the contacts again, but there is still that melting of the fan wire at the connector. But those fans spin freely and don't have any excess current draw. I hope this isn't just one of those gremlins that plague these cars when they get older.

[mishalah]

Update: drove the van again today; fans are working; water in overflow reservoir boils like crazy when shut down. I have not replaced all the coolant that was lost yet, but is this normal? Is my rad cap too not holding pressure?