98 Caravan, radiator fan relay

I replaced my relay 2 weeks ago and it went out again. Checked all fuses and fans (ck good, bypassed relay). My check engine code is 35 (radiator fan relay circuit). Any ideas why it keeps going out or what to check next? I just changed the water pump, what a joy that was, timing belt 73000 miles(i was there any way), and flushed radiator. It was running great until the relay went out again now it just overheats. Great site!! Greg

Check the fan itself to make sure it isn't drawing an unusual amount of current.

Make sure the relay is grounded well to the rad support and is held on by both screws as it uses the rad support for a heat sink as well.

Get van checked for outstanding recalls as well, there was a rad fan relay recall on some years.

They redesigned that relay about 15 times, still not right. The tech at the dealership said they sell about 10 a week.

Originally Posted by V6RAM

They redesigned that relay about 15 times, still not right. The tech at the dealership said they sell about 10 a week.

I would be in disagreement with that statement. Not a common problem here.

Whatever, that's what they told me at Community Motors, Hammond, La. Call them and disagree. I can say that the part I got had a number that started with AF or something like that, the one that came off the van was AB, the tech told me that each prefix change designated a modification to the original part, and to top that off, he knew what I had in my hand from 10 feet away, got a part, and met me with it before I even got to the counter. So I tend to believe them.

So I would say you had the 4th revision since your vehicle was new(not 15). These parts fit various vehicles and are updated to fit other models as well.

I don't care how many they replace at X dealership, I'm stating that it is not a common problem, if it was you would see a recall(there was one on some model years). They could be replacing a lot of them because they are not fixing the reasons for them to go in the first place.

MY 2¢

My 2cents. 1.) Since the original prefix when that relay started was a single character (A), then I would say there have been quite a few. 2.) Since when did people recall things that were poorly designed if it wasn't a safety issue? Lets see, 46re transmissions, the ABS sensors on 90's Dodge trucks (merely "upgraded"), belly pans on Dodge Magnum intakes, the ultramatic 4speed trans on FWD Chryslers, intake valve stem seals on 3.0 V-6's, gas tanks on 70's GM trucks, these are a few things that pop to mind right off hand. So I would say you pretty much have to have a manufacturer by the fuzzies to get a recall due to the tremendous bad publicity involved. It's always easier to hope things get out from under warranty and fix some of them, even a majority of them, than to fix all of them for sure. So I feel that many jacked up things have rolled off of many car lots that were not recalled. And how do you feel a bunch of problems at one dealership aren't indicative of an overall problem? They all come from the same place. Just my two cents and all.

Oh yeah if you did the math, you would see, AA, AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, is five revisions, six total variants, not four.

Originally Posted by six pack

So I would say you had the 4th revision since your vehicle was new(not 15).

I can do the math
But what do I know, I've only been working on these vehicles and winning
skills competitions with Chrysler for the last 20 yrs. I'm sure you have much more access to information than I do
Sorry for wasting your time.

Hold on, I'll bake you a cookie.

This happened to me awhile back, and it turned out the aux (A/C) fan on the radiator was frozen. Easy fix- disconnected the aux fan. The van still runs OK, but I'm not in a real hot-climate area, so I don't have to worry too much about it. I'll get around to replacing the fan assy. later, after looking for an aftermarket solution.

In the 98, are both fans supposed to run at the same time whether using the A/C or not? The only reason I ask this is most of my 'sperience was with the earlier pre 95 vans that had the two fans but the only time the passenger side one ran was if the A/C was on.

Since the A/C is busted in my van, I doubt that right side van has run in YEARS!

I just happened to notice that both were running on my wife's 98 whenever they did run. And it did have the 'customer satisfaction recall' (whatever that means) on the fan relays.

Chas