It's always going to be something with my wife's car. The radiator cooling fan has started making noise like it's about to cash in, probably because it was wired to run anytime the ignition switch is on by a previous owner. I know its possible to wire around the low-power resistor, and I wouldn't mind doing that, but I would need to know the rewiring plan and which/where is the fan relay and the fan switch. Is the fan relay one of the four under the left side of the rear devious, or isthe it under the front "hood"? I think I remember that the fan switch is the single-wire one with the "mushroom cap" where the connector plugs in, but I'd like to be sure. Any/all input is greatly appreciated. TIA - Chris

Fan making noise then bypass the resister makes fan run fast and die faster.
Noise can be fan hitting whatever or motor is dying.

Relay is in front of Left HL assem.
Where PO F'd up the wiring is any ones guess.

See my Cave, Rad Fan

Worse... many fools run fan that hides real problems in the coolant plumbing. Read the rest of section in the cave.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

Thanks, as always, Ogre. Hope to have an opportunity (and warmer weather) to look at it this weekend. Updates to follow...

Yes, the fan switch has a single wire and a "mushroom" cap. The wire is dark green, with a white stripe. If you ground that wire, the relay should click. As mentioned above, the fan relay is under the driver side headlamp assembly. It's the one relay that looks different from the rest, all the wires are lined up in a row.

As far as wiring hacks are concerned, there's no telling how the PO hacked it. But it sounds like they ran a jumper wire from ignition power to the fan power. You can check the wiring to the fan motor, to see if anything was added in. Check the wiring for the fan relay, too. Wiring hacks are usually, well, hacks. So it shouldn't be difficult to spot.