Electric fan question

[funnyguy595]

My brothers 2000 grand cherokee is overheating at idle and the electric fan is not kicking on. I believe the temp switch in the thermostat housing is for the dash guage, but if i remember there is a second temp switch on the back of the block but i can't seem to find it. I did jump the fan out and it did turn on. Could anyone tell me what turns the fan on? Thanks, Steve

[abrzrkr]

Just wire it direct and put a switch on it.

[joker291977]

i would check the fan relay which is located under the right side headlamp that may be the problem

[joker291977]

first of all make sure that your fan is operating. You will look beside the radiator shroud on the pass. side. There is a plug with 2 wires, cut away from the side of the (blue wire) enough to expose the copper wire. Jump a wire to the + pos. battery post and make contact with the exposed wire leading out of the fan. The fan should come on, use a heavier gage wire to do this test. If the fan is working and your instrument temp. gage is registering you can now move onto the next step. If the temp. guage is not working you need to look at the fan switch which is located on top of the thermostat housing a brass looking thing with a plug on it. Now for the big one, unfortunately this fan relay is well hidden, I don't know why, maybe to have people get it done at the dealer, $$$. You will have to take off the front Bumper and the grill off of your vehicle. You will find the switch sitting along the chasis rail. the switch cost about $75. at the dealer. the relay is located under passenger side head lamp. you can remove the head lamp and about 3-4 inches up you can drill a hole into the plastic. look through this hole to see the relay it has two small screws holding it down 5/16 head. looking at the relay you can decide where to drill larger holes to use a 1/4 drive extension and a swivel socket to unbolt it. remove relay from inside the engine compartment plug in new relay and slide it back into position, note there is a small tab on the back of relay that will fit into a hole this needs to be in the correct spot. use trim adhesive or something else that is sticky to hold screws to socket "a magnetic socket is useful" to install the screws. use masking tape tapped to the underside of headlamp housing then use a silicone to fill the holes so the new relay is protected from water and road salt. this is a lot faster and cheaper than disassembling the ft end

[95TacoKid]

Just had a 2002 grand down my dads shop do the same thing last week. It was overheating cause the fan wasnt kicking on. It was the relay located under the right headlight.

From what I was told this is a common problem as they sell a lot of them at the dealer.

Also drilling holes to unbolt it will work, however you are still faced with the problem of getting your hand back there to get the relay unplugged, then you have to plug the new one back in and hold it in place as you bolt it up, so to make that easier a 3" hole saw or something of the sort could be used to make a big enough hole so your not fighting the thing (after all the reason for drilling the holes is to make it easy). So you are pretty much faced with either a lot of work pulling the bumper and grill just to change a relay, or drilling some holes.

[funnyguy595]

Thanks guys, after alot of searching i found the relay. my brother is out of cash, so we are going to wait untill next week to fix it. thanks again.