Electric Fan not kicking in

[Hawaiian Style]

I'm speaking from the '88 XJ perspective but if you've R&R'd the fuse and relay your problem is with the electric fan itself or with the wiring from the relay to the fan. As I posted earlier, there are two possiblities for the fan to come on.

1. AC on
2.Coolant temp reaches 210-215 range.

If your fan doesn't come on with the AC turned on then there's a problem somewhere in the wiring or the fan isn't working.

Test the fan itself (jump it with 12v) and then test the wiring from the relay to the fan. If that doesn't solve it then you'll have to go backwards from the relay which doesn't sound like much fun to me....

How hot is your XJ running? How hot have you seen the temp guage indicate this summer?

 

[5Cent]

Well, it's been running normal @ 210, hotter when idiling in traffic or going to the hunting spots, and it should be kicking on like it has before. This winter I had an overheating problem b/c I lost to much coolant. It was leaving alittle puddle every now and again,and I tried to say on top of it filling it up, but I got to far behind. A GDI/Modine along w/ everything else is in the near future when enough $ comes around. I noticed today that the "handle" part of the overflow bottle in the front is broken off. Any one got a pic of what it looks like. It looks like it's broken, but not for sure. There's lots of dirty and ugly coolant sitting in the bottom and no extra coolant has been dispersed into it in a long time. The fan and A/C worked great ever since this summer and I can't figure out why. How do I go about hooking it up straight to 12v? I'm not to good w/ electrical work, but i'll give anything a shot.

Adam

 

[xj92]

Just unplug the fan, and you'll notice it has 2 wires contained in a plug. Use some spare wire, and put one wire on the positive terminal of the battery, and the other on the negative terminal of the car battery (the other ends go into the plug, one each. If the fan starts spinning, it works. If it doesn't, the fan is the culprit.

 

[90red]

Fan

I also had that problem. But instead of trying to track down the problem, I just installed a switch so I could manually run it. I just took the male end of an old coolant temp sensor and cut it off and attached some wires to it. The male end plugs right up to the existing fan plug. One wire came from the fuse box (accessory slot so if i forgot to turn it off, when I shut down the jeep it also cuts off) to the switch, from the switch to the positive wire to the male adapter. the other to ground. didnt take long at all. mounted the switch in the open spaces in the dash. it runs real well. i also removed the clutch fan and installed a 10" elec. fan in place of it. i bought a new coolant reservoir, but its a real p o s. its aftermarket and not stealership. its obvious i will have to go stealership with this one. it doesnt hold pressure. she doesnt overheat very often, but i am forever losing coolant. sucks. oh well.

90red

 

[Hawaiian Style]

Stick with the set up on your XJ. Why mess with some switch you don't have to. I fixed mine and I am no great mech. Took some time and some effort but we're here to help you through the fix.

Jump the fan and see if it works and get back to us. This is not horribly complex so don't give up!

PS 90red, there's an afermarket setup that allows the use of a normal radiator cap at the pressure bottle by replacing it with some kind of racing presssure bottle- Aluminum I think. Search the threads for the conversion info. I haven't done it because my Chief is cooling like a champ but it sounds like a way better system to me. Those little Orings on the pressure bottle get old and tired and the system starts to lose efficiency with the stock setup.

 

[desertjeeper]

PS 90red, there's an afermarket setup that allows the use of a normal radiator cap at the pressure bottle by replacing it with some kind of racing presssure bottle- Aluminum I think. Search the threads for the conversion info. I haven't done it because my Chief is cooling like a champ but it sounds like a way better system to me. Those little Orings on the pressure bottle get old and tired and the system starts to lose efficiency with the stock setup.

You can also get a pressure bottle out of a Grand Am, not sure what year, but they use a regular radiator cap and seem to be much more reliable than the Jeep part.

 

[90red]

Thanks guys. I will definitely look into that.

90red

 

[Rob Mayercik]

PS 90red, there's an afermarket setup that allows the use of a normal radiator cap at the pressure bottle by replacing it with some kind of racing presssure bottle- Aluminum I think. Search the threads for the conversion info. I haven't done it because my Chief is cooling like a champ but it sounds like a way better system to me. Those little Orings on the pressure bottle get old and tired and the system starts to lose efficiency with the stock setup.

Just for everyone's edification, the aluminum overflow bottle is made by Moroso - search for that, and you'll turn something up.

IIRC, Eagle was one of the first (if not THE first) to do this, and from what I recall, he's pretty happy with it.

Rob