cooling fan relay

[jtugfestiva]

Okay guys just yesterday ive noticed my fan was running on all the time. Not sure if this is good on my gas mileage if anything but ive changed the coolant fan thermoswitch and the fan is still on. Ive checked the wire with a test light if its working and i could hear the relay clicking when i disconect it and the test light lights up when i check it for continuity. What else can the problem be?? I looking at the relay but where on earth can i get one of those? Is there a part# on the cooling fan relay???

[jbuck1975]

What year model?
Tu211 for switch. On an 89model at autozone

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[jtugfestiva]

jbuck its for the 1990 model EFI 1.3 engine. Thanks!! is it the same switch?? THe switch you told me ive already replaced. Ive also fixed the wire going into it. Only thing left is the relay. Do you know the part number or compatible relay i can use???

[jbuck1975]

How many prongs. Volts

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[Eaglefreek]

Do you have A/C and do you have it on? The fan goes on with the A/C if I'm not mistaken.

[yelo festiva]

sensor

I had this problem on my 90 lx. I found a bad temp sensor. It seems when it goes bad the ecm defaults to fan on. Remember there two temp sensors. One for the gauge which is in the back and another one in front near the thermostat housing. The one in the front is for the ecm. The ecm actualy turns the fan on and off via the relay as needed. I got a new one at napa, but don't recall part number.

I have a/c and yes it turns the fan on when actuated.

Good luck figuring ir out.

[bravekozak]

Do you mean this part number?

[Festiva Time]

On the thermostat housing, there is a thermal switch screwed into it. Disconnect the wire from this switch. Turn on the ignition. The Rad Fan should be runnnning. Take the wire and ground it to any metal part on the engine. Now the fan should stop. This is how it is suppose to work. If the fan keeps running when you ground the wire, you need to follow that wire back to the fan relay near the headlight.

[jtugfestiva]

ok guys i think its the relay thats bad cause the switch is new and the wire to the switch is good. Does anyone know whats the part number on the relay?? or any compatible relay i could use?? Is the relay on the bracket next to the water resevour?

[kellcomnet]

1991 FORD FESTIVA L Radiator Fan Relay

[Eaglefreek]

ok guys i think its the relay thats bad cause the switch is new and the wire to the switch is good. Does anyone know whats the part number on the relay?? or any compatible relay i could use?? Is the relay on the bracket next to the water resevour?

According to my TSM it's between the battery and the headlight.

1991 FORD FESTIVA L Radiator Fan Relay

Holy moly!!!!!!!$70. Next time I see one in the junkyard I better grab one. Only $1.99.

[kellcomnet]

I know, rockauto is expensive but at least they have the pics to verify you are looking at the right thing and they have alternative part no's....I usually end up googling for a cheaper source

According to my TSM it's between the battery and the headlight.


Holy moly!!!!!!!$70. Next time I see one in the junkyard I better grab one. Only $1.99.

[jtugfestiva]

i dont think thats the relay cause i was looking for it and it does not look like that. Can someone post pics of how it looks in the hood?

[denguy]

I wired in an inline fuse holder and a toggle switch to control mine.

[Banana Bonanza]

Luckily Festivas are hard to overheat. Couple or three years ago, my fan stopped coming on at all on my '89. Hot wired fan and fan worked fine. Swapped out the fan switch with one that had come with the 323 engine. Now fan on all the time. ??? So I priced a new relay and being super cheap quickly forgot that. I bought a $5 universal relay like you would buy if you added fog lights or fancy horn or something. Now all electric fan switches I'd seen close contacts when coolant temp gets to temp they were designed for. I didnt bother swapping the festy fan switch back as I didnt know 323 switch did things like all other cars and Festy switch did things backwards (it opens when coolant temp gets hot). So when I used ohmmeter to test the 323 switch, it worked as I expected and I wired relay for it. It works, lot cars out there do it this way. But Festy switch does it backwards and is probably better way to do it though obviously its failsafe design can fail too. Just letting you know if you decide to use a $5 relay instead of the $80 Festy version of same thing. You can wire many universal relays to work with Festy fan switch, you just have to know when designing your circuit.

And Festy and 323 switches are pricey. If you search you can find switches under $10, usually 1980s version of GM switch is cheapest, the early VW Rabbit switches are cheap too, but you will most likely need to make an adapter to splice into the upper radiator hose and be able to screw the fan switch into that. The Festy and 323 switches are tiny in comparison. The GM and VW switches wont fit the hole.

Course if you have junkyards with Festies in your area, you can probably find both relay and fan switch cheap. Dont be tempted to get a switch from a 323 or other Mazda unless you realize they are probably different and will need relay wired differently. There are loads of websites showing how to wire universal relay.