2001-2006 Chrysler Sebring Overheating-Fan Will Not Come On-How to Replace a Bad Fan Relay

I had a friend who reported his Chrysler Sebring overheating because the fan was not coming on.  He was told by a auto repair shop that they were going to need to replace the fan.  When he shared with me the symptoms I was not so sure and wondered if it was a bad relay.  After checking it out I discovered it was in fact a bad relay and that’s an easy repair.  Here’s how to replace the fan relay(s) on your Chrysler Sebring…

2001-2006 Chrysler Sebring Overheating-Fan Will Not Come On-How to Replace a Bad Fan Relay

Hardware:
  • 2001-2006 Chrysler Sebring
Tools Needed:
  • None!
Parts Needed:

Step 1: Open up the hood and find the fuse box.

It is on the driver’s side:
2001-2006 Chrysler Sebring Engine Compartment Fuse Box Location
Location of Engine Compartment Fuse Box
Squeeze in the tabs on the side and lift off the fuse box cover
Squeeze in the tabs on the side and lift off the fuse box cover

Step 2: Remove the top cover of the fuse box.

It has tabs on the left and right sides that must be pressed in on each side and then you can lift it straight off.

Step 3: Use the diagram on the inside of the box to determine the location of the fan relays.

Radiator Fan Relay Locations
Location of the Radiator Fan Hi (top) and Low (bottom) Relays
Fan relay is discolored--a sign that it is bad
The bad relay was obvious because of the discoloration around the prongs

Step 4:  Remove the relays to inspect them.

I pulled out them each and realized that they are both identical and by looking at them I could tell that the one pictured below was likely bad because of the discoloration, which is most likely from over heating:

Step 5: Replace the bad relay.

These can only be inserted one way so plug the new relay in.
High Relay is Replaced
Here I’ve replaced the Radiator Fan High Relay

Step 6: Replace the cover on the fuse box.

It’s L-shaped so it will only go one way.  Make sure it latches on both sides.  Now you should be back in business and you’ve saved yourself some money!

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17 Comments

  • I too am having this exact problem. I’ve replaced just about everything (I not 100% on the thermostat but was told by friend who works on my car that he did a year or so ago)

    Has anyone narrowed it down further? I love my car but it may have to find a new home soon. Putting too much into it and never any confidence and I drive all day long for my job. Can’t afford a car but the stress is worse I think…😞

  • Hello Adria, you are right, I have the same issue on my Sebring, as soon as I take 1 relay out the fans work. I just wonder how the fans are usually switched on. Is it a Sender Switch and where is it located, or does the Computer “say now the temperauter is high enough ? I hope somebody can tell me. thanks in advance
    .

    • Lee, I’m sorry but I don’t know how much help I’ll can be. This article was from when I worked on a friend’s car but I haven’t had any other experience on this vehicle. One thing I can say is that a relay is the electro-mechanical (magnetic) switch that turns something on and provides the electricity for it to run. Taking out the relay for something cannot make it turn on because the relay is what powers it and removing it opens the circuit to that component. Either the relay you are pulling out is for something different or something else is going on. You may need to have a mechanic look at this.

  • I have the same problem…pull the relays and the fans work just fine..whats causing it

  • Thanks for this. My cars (2005 Chrysler Sebring Convertible) fans were not coming on unless I turned the AC on. I had already purchased a thermostat thinking it might be the problem but came across your post before getting into that. I checked the relays and they both looked clean. I removed the Hi relay while the car was still running and the fans came on within seconds. I will take the tstat back and get a new relay because apparently if I turn the car off and start it again the fans wont go on, but when I removed the relay they came on. Not sure what’s up with that but replacing it seems to be the right thing to do. Thanks again, I appreciate you, keep up the great work and helping people like me. A girl who doesn’t mind getting under the hood. Very empowering! 🙂

      • You’re welcome. Update on the new relay: I purchased the new relay and plugged it in. It took a while for the fans to come on but they eventually did, I’d say about 5 minutes. After leaving AutoZone I made a couple of stops, on my second stop my car wouldn’t start, lots of lights came on on the dashboard. I opened the hood and removed the relay, started my car with no issues. I am driving around without it, the fans are still coming on and my car is not overheating. But I have a question. Is it ok to not have that relay? What problems can occur if that relay is not there? Everything seems to working fine but I am concerned that by not having that relay it may eventually cause other issues. Hope you can help me figure this out.

        • Adria, an electrical relay is what turns on the fan–it is the switch that completes the electrical circuit providing power to the fan. If you had a relay out but a fan came on then it wasn’t the fan’s relay you had removed because the fan cannot come on without a relay. There likely are two fans and they each have their own relay–possibly the other fan came on when you had one relay removed? You must get them replaced and the fans working as your engine can over heat and you will suffer severe damage to your engine.

          • I checked both relays just like in your pictures above. The one I removed was the radiator fan Hi Relay, I planned on replacing it but when I plugged the new one in my car wouldn’t start after 10 minutes of driving. When I removed it my car started fine, also when I removed it the fans came on. My car is not overheating since I took it out, the fans have been coming on no problem. My question is if not having that relay in will cause any future issues.

          • I’m not that familiar with the Chrysler Sebring, the reason I have that one Sebring article is that I helped a friend troubleshoot his radiator fan that one time. I don’t know of a single relay that would not be important on a vehicle so I would encourage you to have a mechanic look at it and verify that something is not serious going on with your cooling system. It’s very difficult to speculate from afar on a vehicle I’m not familiar with but I just don’t want you to incur serious damage to your vehicle. If you do take it to a mechanic, make sure they teach you what they did and learn from them. If you don’t mind, please come back and share what you learn.

          • I’ve been thinking about your Sebring symptoms. The fact that when the relay is in, your car won’t start, may point to there being a short or some electrical issue that is effecting the electrical system in your car. You need to have that tracked down. You could possibly have some bad electrical wiring or one of the fan motors is bad and shorted inside. A good mechanic should be able to troubleshoot that and fix the issue.

  • I checked these relays about 5 or 6 months ago, the high relay was idental to the picture you just showed, you could tell it was taking a tremendous amount of heat but only the ghing I immediately replaced the relay and happen to have it still sitting on the top of the strut underneth the hood. Tomorrow I will immediately take the rehab relay apart and see what I can see, probably just heat that killed it, then ill check the rest of then, thank you.I am very very familiar with that particular type relay

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