In checking A/C noticed that both fans on a 1996 3.3L Town and Country are not working. Checked 40A fuse under hood which services the fans and the fuse is good. Disconnected the wire to the temp sensor and still no fans. Turned the A/C on, compressor turning, no fan. Drove the van with the A/C on high. Temp gauge showed 1/2 way. Still no fans.

Question: should the A/C fan be running at any time the A/C is on or should it be intermittent? At what point should the other fan be running? Should it run only when the temp builds up in the radiator/engine? Will this fan be intermittent?

Any suggestions on how to track down why the fans are not working would be appreciated. I'm not a mechanic and there appears to be basically no info on the web regarding this particular problem.

UPDATE:

I scanned the vehicle and it is throwing a P0118 code. That is 'Engine Coolant Temp Circuit High Input.' The first step to determining what is going on is given as 'use a scan tool to determine the coolant temperature.' I don't have such a scan tool so I can buy another sensor which initially sounds like a bad idea so I guess to a garage I go.

Will a bad coolant temperature sensor prevent the radiator fans from running?

Thanks in advance.

 

Did you unplug the sensor while you were messing with anything? then it would show that code. If the sensor itself was faulty the gauges inside would not work.
As for the fans yes when ac on the fans are on as well.
Look under the air filter housing there will be a relay mounted to the frame thats the issue 9 times out of 10 and look at the harness connector to see if its melted as well they sell relays and the connector as a package.

 

I did disconnect the sensor and then start the engine. Thanks for your input. I will check the relay.

 

I did check the relay. Not very hard to get too. I unscrewed the relay from the frame and that made it a lot easier to get the wiring connector off of the relay. I followed the direction of a video on YouTube on how to test the relay.

The a/c compressor has to cycle on in order for the a/c fan to work. I had to put a can of freon in for the compressor to come on. Once the compressor clicked on, the a/c fan started to turn.