89 Ford Tempo cooling problem

My daughter has an '89 Tempo, on which the radiator cooling fan has stopped working. The Haynes service manual says that there are three different components involved with this circuit:

- Cooling Fan Control Module (inside glovebox)

- Radiator Fan Control Relay (inside engine compartment, next to left headlight)

- Coolant Temp Sensor (on housing near thermostat)

My question is, which one of these is *most* likely to be bad? I'm asking because the first item is $48.00, the second is $50.00, and the third is about $18.00. The manual doesn't show how to test any of these components, and I don't want to replace a working component (since they can't be returned once purchased). And, I don't want to spend over $100 to replace all three if two of 'em don't need to be replaced.

Any advice appreciated!!! Thanks......

Reply to
RAD1
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You left out one part of the circuit, the fan. :p Anyway, I had an 89 Topaz that had a bad temp sensor. I tested it by connecting the 2 wires together and the fan turned on, signalling a bad sensor. You should also test the fan motor to see if it's any good or not.

HTH, Chris

Reply to
Chris Z.

Agreed

Jumper power and ground to the fan. If it runs, the fan is good.

Jumper self test connector. During self test, the computer will attempt to run the fans at low and high speed. If it can, that leaves the coolant temp sensor.

Reply to
saeengineer

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