* Chrysler Sebring/200 Convertible Club *

hey guys,. new member here. i bought a basketcase 96 with a 2.5 v6 automatic that needed a new timing belt, and a couple of new valves! i got the car for free since it wouldnt run. i did all of the repair work myself and now have a fully functional and very nice 96 sebring. it runs GREAT, and i enjoy the car very much. there are however, 2 problems i cannot seem to resolve with my car.

the first problem is to do with the radiator fans and relays. as soon as i start the car, the low speed radiator fans kick on. even if the motor is stone cold and the air/defrost is off. the low speed radiator fans will stay on untill i turn the motor off. if i leave the key on the run position but the motor is off, the fans wont turn on. however as soon as i start the motor the radiator fans turn on to low speed. they never cycle off. i do get a check engine light because of this. the code given is "12" which is normal since ive been disconnecting the battery to work on the system, "35" which means a problem with the fan relays, and "55" which means end of codes.
the other problem with my radiator fans is that the fans wont go into high speed mode when the a/c is on. i can trick the computer into turning the fans on high by disconnecting the coolant temp sensor while the engine is running. this freaks out the computer and it will turn the fans on high untill i plug the temp sensor back in and turn the car off and back on. this tells me that the computer atleast has the ability to turn the fans onto high speed mode. but for some reason it chooses not to under normal driving conditions, even if i turn the a/c on.

things i have done to try and fix this problem:

swap fan relays with starter and shutdown relays.
replace fan relays with new relays.
replace coolant temp sensor
test fans by direct connection to battery (in this test the high speed and low speed work prefectly)
trace fan wires to relays looking for open wires or shorts.
trace wire from body computer to fan relays looking for open wire or short
repalce body computer with junkyard computer
bought another junkyard computer and tried that one as well.
replaced the ENGINE computer with a junkyard unit.

im pretty much out of ideas at this point. i did re install the original computer once i realised the junkiard computers did not fix the problem. if anyone could offer up some ideas, i would really like to have my radiator fans work properly. for now i have the fans ghetto rigged to turn on high speed whenever the engine is on. this is not ideal howwever as you can imagine. i was thinking that since one of the computers inputs for fan control is the pressure in the a/c system, perhaps there is a line pressure sensor on the a/c line which could be faulty? i dont know enough about this car to know what part to replace though, and i dont have access to a factory service manual. i only have a haynes rebuild manual that i used to rebuild the motor when i had to replace some bent valves from the previous owners timing belt insident.


my second problem has to do with my headlights. one night my lowbeams quit working. i thought i blew a fuse, but i checked ALL the fuses and relays in the car as well as engine compartment and nothing was blown. i pulled out the headlight bulbs and put a volt metre on the sockets. it turns out i am not getting power to the lowbeams. i also connected my headlights to the battery directly to test the low beams, which work perfectly by the way. for now i have resolved myself to driving with the high beams on. in order to not anger other motorists i have adjusted my headlights so that the highbeam pattern is angled down to where the low beam pattern normally shines on the road. this is OK for now but i would like to get my low beams back! i did search the wire harness and as far as i can see and check with my multimetre, nothing is wrong. i also replaced the headlight / turn signal switch stalk with a junkyard piece to rule out a defective switch.
my highbeams and fog lights work perfectly by the way.

if you guys could give me some help with these 2 items, i would seriously appreciate it. ill even dnoate money to this site (or someones pocket) if anyone comes up with a wolution that fixes the problems.

edit: got the fan problem. as i suspected the pressure switch on the a/c line was broken. if i unplug the switch the radiator fans work normally. i no longer have a working a/c system but the fans work normally. ill have to replace the switch to regain my a/c.

Welcome to the site. I see you have the fan problem solved. Great! I was reading about the low beam problem and was going to suggest the stalk but you covered that. There are some helpful people here that have manuals and (I love to brag) I'll bet they can help you narrow the search. Sounds like you have a good grasp on the situation and you'll have a nice car in no time.

Congrats on the free Sebring vert and getting some stuff fixed on it!

:welcome:

As for the headlights, I've run into this before, but not on a Sebring, it was a 1985 Dodge Lancer. The low beams wouldn't work, but the high beams would.

It was the headlight switch itself that was the problem. Now with the Sebring, that switch is either in the multi-function stalk, which means you'll be replacing that or it's somewhere else. Maybe someone with more knowledge than I can help with that.

I pay professionals to work on my cars because I hate screwing it up and then having to pay them anyways.

Good luck!

:welcome: Someone here will be able to help you, I'm sure. Afraid I'm with Yakdude. I know enough to screw things up, not enough to fix them right. So I also pay the professionals.

Glad you dropped in. I hope we can work through your puzzle successfully. ;) The big question I've got for you is: Do you know the history of this vehicle? Besides the obvious that is. ;)

Since you aren't making much headway with the radiator fans, have you had someone check the a/c system for proper pressures? There are some folks that will hardwire the fan so that it is on at all times. I know you've looked over the circuits but you might need to make another pass looking for a tap in an odd place. Under the PDC (front fuse block) probably. Or the relay center.

For the headlights, if I remember correctly, there are fuses for the high beams and the low beams. Also, check on the back (inner) side of the BCM to see if there is a brown or black module plugged into it. IF it's there, it's a DRL module. IF you have it, try unplugging it. It has some control over the high and low beams so it may be a source of the problem. There is a How To in the Gallery that has a picture of one.

For the manual, I'll throw out the obvious, keep an eye on e-bay. They turn up now and then. Even if they run $100 (they usually don't) they're a good investment. MUCH more help than Haynes or Chiltons. Be careful though, they are specific to your year.

thanks for the replies guys. the car is sweet and runs great. i even installed a CMTC and black dash/hood the other day. got it from the junkyard for $20!

but ive still got this headlight issue. wondering if anyone out there has a wiring diagram or a troubleshooting guide for the headlights. i can deal with the high beamsn, its just an annoyance as you guys cam imagine.
thanks.

csrmel,

I'm going to stick my neck out with an obvious question. But I'm doing it because in several of our cases, we had this very thing happen.

Have you checked the bulbs to see that the low beam elements are working? In my case at least (although I seem to remember others had similar timing) my headlamp bulbs tend to burn out within a week of each other. And it's only the low beam that goes.

thats a good thought, but i did remove the bulbs and plug them in directly to the battery with some jumper wire to test the high and low beams. they all work fine ;/

While this information is for a 2001 and may not be exactly the same as your year model...it may help...

See the diagrams in my album in the Gallery below:

http://www.sebringclub.net/gallery/album68

thanks to gimpster, he emailed me some schematics of the headlight wiring harness.
turns out i had a bad wire in the harness. i got it fixed and now am proud to replt i have low beams and high beams and fog lights! how sweet is this? everything on my car seems to work now!

guess what though? as soon as i got the headlights working, my abs dash light came on! man i tell you with these cars if it isnt one thing its another! as well it keeps me out of trouble atleast. i would rather be messing with my car than drinking in a bar or doig illegal things like i use to.

Alright! Sebring as rehabilitation enabler! Is there no end to this car's good qualities? :woohoo: :cheers: :thumbsup: :banana: :rofl: