Ok, after searching threads for the last 2 weeks I think I've narrowed down the problem

I have an '89 RS with the single fan 305. I first installed my new fan back in February. At first, it didn't turn on but somehow, a week later, the fan started to run. It operated normally until March then it stopped working again.

I grounded the wire on my coolant fan switch (10 months old) the relay clicked, but no fans. I used a jumper wire for the black/red and red wires in the relay and the fan came on.

My question: Does this mean my relay is bad (even though it clicked) or does it mean a wire between the relay and fan is bad?

 

You have power to the relay and the control power is there too. Either a bad fan or, probably, bad contacts in the relay.

 

I'm thinking its the bad contacts in the relay, but not sure. I'll clean/check the contacts again and if that doesn't work, I'll probably just get a new relay. Thanks for everyone who has/will reply.

 

UPDATE: I bought the new relay and it worked great for 2 months, but Saturday it stopped working. I grounded the wire and the relay clicked but the fan didn't turn on. I jumped the black/red and red wires again and voila! Does this mean my relay connector is bad? This is the last thing I can think of it can be and I'm getting quite frustrated.

 

if you take the connector out of the relay, you should have 12v on one of the two larger wires when the ignition is off, the other large wire goes to the fan so there will be no voltage on it. when you turn the ignition on you should have 12 on one of the small wires, but not until you turn the ignition on. what makes the fan kick on is when it recieves a ground from the other small wire, which completes the circuit between the two bigger wires inside the relay. if memory serves, there is a third small wire there, i forget what it does to be honest though. to test the relay you could supply 12v to the connection that gets 12v when you turn the ignition on, supply a ground to where your signal wire goes, and test continuity between where the two bigger wires hook up.

hopefully I didn't confuse you too much

 

I'll certainly give this a try tomorrow. I cleaned the connections a bit but couldn't drive my car today. If this doesn't work, I'm going for a manual fan switch (running the heat in June while sitting in traffic is about to kill me, lol)

 

I didn't have time for a full test but did spray WD-40 on the contacts yesterday. I drove the car today across town and the fan is functioning properly. Thanks for the replies and hopefully this time the good luck won't be a fluke!