1997 Dodge Caravan 97 Dodge Grand Caravan

My van was overheating, the thermostat has been changed it was definitely broke it was in 3 pieces when the housing was taken off, but it is still overheating. The check engine light came on, had it checked and the message was a fan relay circuit, well that has been changed and now the van is still overheating unless you run the heater so that the blower kicks on, except when the blower kicks on there is a strong antifreeze smell. So is this a bad heater coil or just one problem leading to another?