Winterhawk

Maybe its not supposed to, but searching has given me conflicting answers. Let me back up first. Temp gauge was constantly showing about 180-185 after warm up and scan gauge verifyed this. Hand on rad hose indicated thermostat opening at 180, so figuring wrong thermostat was installed and I replaced it with a correct 195 thermostat. Sure enough the gauge was now reading higher at warm up to approx 195 and scan gauge verfied that. I understand the efan comes on at approx 218 or so, but my XJ while driving or idleing never gets to 200. Stays in the 195 to 198 range no matter what. So I tested the fan by connecting to battery and it works fine, so I'm assuming until the weather gets real hot I may never see the efan come on. However, some searches indicate the efan should come on when turning on the AC regardless of coolat temp. Mine doesn't come on and it doesn't concern me right now as long as the coolant temp stays in the normal range. Does anyone know for sure if the AC should trigger the fan on at all times or sometimes?

boxburn

It should cycle on and off while using AC.
Can you post a picture of your fuse box under the hood? Being a 96 it could be different to my diagram.

Winterhawk

Here it is. I see it's the white relay. Best way to test it?

boxburn

Check that green 30A above the 60A in the picture. You can use a multimeter set to 20VDC and check against the 2 exposed tabs for voltage on both sides. If it checks out, I'd try the relay.

The starter relay should be the same so providing that both relays look identical on the bottom, and if visible, check for small numbers next to the pins and see if they match on both, try swapping them around after starting it up. If the fan works it's going to be the relay. You can bench test a relay by giving a live and ground to the correct pins but it's not an accurate test as it may click as intended, but have bad contacts for current to pass through, especially on higher current circuits.

I believe if you were to unplug the coolant temperature sensor, although I'm not sure if it's the one on the head or on the thermostat housing, it should also trigger the fan to turn on while running.

bluejeep2001

Disconnect the coolant temp sensor in the thermostat housing...the fan should turn on. If it does your relay is good. When you select "ac" does the compressor actually engage. If it does not then the fan will not turn on either. You will set a check engine light and code when you disconnect the sensor with the engine running ...i am pretty sure the ac clutch and the aux fan are interchangeable relays

awg

on my '96 the e-fan always come on with the A/C compressor

bluejeep2001

Yes it is supposed to, but the compressor clutch must engage to command the fan. If you are low on refrigerant, the compressor will will not engage and the fan will not activate

Winterhawk

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. I disconnected the temp sensor and the fan didn't start. Moved on to the relay and switched with the starter relay and the fan still didn't start. The fan relay did start the engine however, so I knew both relays were good. Yes, the AC clutch does engage and blows super cold so that's wasn't it. Pulled the 30 amp fuse and had power there so that wasn't it. Disconnected the efan and checked for power at connection and it was good as well. So I started all this by connecting the fan directly to the battery and it worked so I took another look at the connection to the fan and sure enough I found the problem. A previous owner had cut the wires and respliced them to the connector. When connected to the battery the wires were making contact, but when moving them the other direction I had an open circuit. I respliced the wires and I have a fan now. A BIG THANKYOU for your help.

boxburn

Aren't previous owners just the worst

Glad to hear it's resolved.