Radiator fan blade broken

Tiny
BFTSCHOEPE
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
  • 180,000 MILES
2 fans are used for engine cooling. Discovered one fan has a blade missing. Removed fuse and no noise = no fan engaging. Can't drive with NO fans. But can one fan be disengaged while the other functions? We have a temp guage we can watch.
Sunday, September 4th, 2016 AT 10:17 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
Look at where the AC condenser sits in relation to the radiator. On the older Caravans there was one fan for the radiator and one for the AC condenser, and they sat side by side. They each had a separate job to do.

If you find the AC condenser sits right in front of the radiator, and one fan is in front and one in back, those would be a low-speed fan and a high-speed fan. That is much less common. Chrysler favored a single, multi-speed fan because it low speeds those were very quiet.

You need to list the engine size because the cooling systems will be different, particularly between the four-cylinder engines and the V-6s.

You CAN drive with no fans at highway speed because natural air flow is more than sufficient and the fans wouldn't turn on anyway. It's in the city and stop-and-go traffic where they're needed. The problem is if you unplug a fan motor or relay, that will be detected by the Engine Computer which will set a diagnostic fault code. The first concern is when a fault code is set, when anything related to it is used for reference in running other tests, those tests might be suspended. That means other problems that occur might go undetected. Also, a fault code that relates to something that COULD adversely affect emissions will turn on the Check Engine light. With that light already on, you'll never know if another problem gets detected. Sometimes those are very minor problems that can turn expensive if they're ignored. For that reason, I don't like to recommend unplugging things. If you have to, I'd unplug the fan motor and not the fuse or relay. I can't remember for sure if that will turn on the Check Engine light.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2016 AT 10:43 PM
Tiny
BFTSCHOEPE
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Thanks! Great information. It's a 3.3L V6 and the fans are side-by-side and look identical. It's the driver-side fan that's bad.
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Monday, September 5th, 2016 AT 6:54 AM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
Doc gave you a very good explanation of things here, however, my opinion is that one fan will not be sufficient for this. When you come to a stop on a hot day the AC pressures are going to rise considerably and that will lead to a compressor failure soon and insufficient cooling.
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Monday, September 5th, 2016 AT 7:53 AM
Tiny
BFTSCHOEPE
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  • 3 POSTS
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the help. Turns out we got a new fan assembly and installed it. We are on our way back to Texas. All the info was much appreciated. Really. Thanks again, Bft
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Tuesday, September 6th, 2016 AT 7:38 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,648 POSTS
Glad we could get it fixed please use 2CarPros. Com anytime we are here to help

Best, Ken
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Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 AT 5:51 PM

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