Cooling fans

Hey folks,
I'm new to this site and hope you'll be patient with me. I have a '96 Intrepid ES with the 3.5 and ATC. I recently took the car out for a ride and fired the AC for the first time since I got the car. After a couple mins. I noticed no cold air, so I shut off the AC. I continued to drive for maybe 20 mins and then I noticed the car was overheating. I pulled over and shut her down till she cooled. I have found that the fans are no longer working and they worked just fine before I tried to fire the AC. I have checked the the fans with direct power and the motors are fine. Does anyone out there have an idea what might be wrong?????
Plz help!!

I had the same problem with my 96 Intrepid. You probably need to replace the fan relay.

The fans still should have kicked on, as they are controlled by 2 relays (Low and High speeds) Check the relays and Fans by doing the following.

Open the Power Distribution box and check the Fuse for the fans, it will be a big 40A one it may be blown. If the fuse is good then with the engine running, pull the Low Speed Fan Relay (This will give you a trouble code because the PCM will detect it missing and most likely give you a Check Engine light) after a few seconds the PCM will energize the High Speed Fan Relay and the Fans should come on at high speed. If that happens then the Hgh Speed Relay is good, if not then swap in the Low Speed Relay in it's place then see if the Fans come on, if still no Fans then the Fans need replaced or the circuitry (There are 3 wires going to each fan, Low Speed, High Speed, and Ground) checked. Shut the car off and take a small screwdriver and pry off the cover of the Low Speed Relay and reinsert it back in the socket, start the engine again and push down on the Low Speed Relay contactor and see if the the Fans come on at low speed. This will verify that BOTH circuits going to the Fans are good and you possibly have a faulty Fan relay. Also if the A/C didn't work at all you might want to check the A/C Compressor Clutch relay to verify it's operation or the system might just need charged. But regardless the Fans SHOULD have came on whether running the A/C or not if the car got hot (Especially on High Speed) and if neither happened then make sure the fuse is good by testing with an ohm meter and or replace the relays.

I will try what u said and let you know. Thanks for the help, I now have some direction.

Well, i checked all the fuses and popped the cap off the relay and checked that. It appears that all fuses are good and both circuits are good yet still no fans. I think i am missing the obvious but I just dont know whats wrong. How high should the temp gauge get before lo fans come on??? Maybe I'm just not letting it get hot enough. I did notice the smell of antifreeze but no leaks. HELP plz.

Hey guys!
Just wanted to say that I got everything working and some thanks is definitely due to the fine members of this forum. Thanks!

your story sounds exactly like mine, beginning with the a/c and everything! i've replaced some fuses....and even bought a new temp sensor (that i haven't installed yet)....what did you finally find was the problem? I thought i might want to replace my relay....

Hey guys!
Just wanted to say that I got everything working and some thanks is definitely due to the fine members of this forum. Thanks!

What did you find to be the problem? I just signed on to try and figure out what to do with very similar problems. My mom and dad have a 96 Intrepid. Neither of the two fans are working and engine overheats. The temperature sensor checked okay according to the guy at Auto Zone. All the fuses and relays checked okay. We cannot figure out what is wrong.

ksflatfoot@cox.net