The old 96ers been overheating for a minute now and I just figured out why...an intermittent aux fan. I've been hearing it start and whir when it should (engine temp wise), so I had been discounting it as the source of the overheating up til this past week when I saw it wasn't running as it should. When the temps up and it should be running constantly, it only runs in spurts. While it's running and before the engine comes back down to normal temp range, it'll cut off but only for a 2-3 sec and starts up again. The fan doesn't even have time to come to a full stop before it restarts.

I checked the pigtail electrical connection at the fan and that seems to be good, so I'm not sure where to look next.

Could this be as simple as a ground problem, or could it be a component like a relay?

Where should I check?

 

Check the fan relay in the power distribution center under the hood. Swap it with another identical relay, like the one for the horn, and see if the problem follows the relay. If it does, that's your cheap and easy fix.

If not, the thermal switch for the fan, located in the radiator, could be failing and cutting the signal on and off.

 

Disconnect the sensor in the thermostat housing, it will signal the computer to turn aux fan to always on. It will also set a check engine light. 96 is a tricky year...OBD1 or late year OBD2