The (dual in one case) green-case relay is DBC11617 or LNA6702AB. It is placed by engineers that don't like people near the ground under the car under a small triangular black plastic protective cover on the left (US driver's) side underneath the very front corner of the car. The cover is held in place by 3-4 Philips screws. I had to jack the car up to be able to slide underneath the car to see the relay. You may have to remove the front left wheel to get at an additional 2 screws holding the cover on the bottom inside of the front left wheel arch plastic liner or use a VERY stubby Philips screwdriver feeling your way inside the arch. The relay comes out by lifting a tab by pulling the relay down and a little away from the attachment. A flathead screwdriver may be helpful. The connector pulls off as you press the release.

It is a double relay. One has one contact. The other has two contacts. As you look at the BOTTOM of the relay with the protrusion pointing to your right:

- The 4 big connectors are obviously for the contacts that drive power to the fans.
-The three contacts are as follows LEFT-to-TOP, Left-to-Bottom and Bottom-to-Right.
- The shared positive for the two relay coils is the top-left, smaller pin. The other 3 smaller pins are the negative (two are connected to the same relay) A fresh 9V battery will energize the coils enough to test the relays but a 12V power supply is better. I used a multimeter and some crock test leads.

You can open the relay. Cut the black rubber gasket without cutting yourself and use a thick box cutter blade or a think flathead screwdriver to gently lift the tabs. I saw zero solder degradation and the contacts looked like new on mine. I used red high-temp silicone to replace the old rubber gasket.

the thermoswitch / temperature switch has two switches in series that close at different temperatures. To test the wiring between the switch to the above relay, remove the connector from the thermoswitch on the left "US driver's" side of the radiator. It sits a good 10-20 inches towards the bottom of the radiator but you can reach it from the top. Stick your hand down there and around the solid pipe going into the radiator right above the switch. Press the metal release on the connector and pull gently. The connector has 3 flat pin sockets. You can lay a small flashlight on the hoses and pipes down there pointing to the connector so you can see what you are doing.

It is difficult to find something to reliably fit into the connector. I had an old transistor with TO-264 housing. You can buy one on Ebay for a dollar. It fits perfectly in the connector. BEFORE you do that, you take two test leads and short all three pins together. WARNING: BOTH fans will come on the moment you do that so watch your fingers and tools!!!!!!!!!!!! If the fans come on and stay on reliably, you know that the wiring is good, and that the relay is probably good.

This now leaves me with a suspect thermoswitch and a suspect thermostat. As said, I am replacing the thermostat preventatively. It attaches with two 10 mm screws. It is the housing that goes onto the top of the block with one side and connects the top radiator hose to the radiator hose with the other side. It probably would be smart for me to drain the radiator and do both switch and thermostat at the same time. Spilled coolant is nasty and deadly to animals that love the sweet taste. The thermostat gasket goes towards the radiator, not the block. I use both a paper gasket and gasket maker in a tube to reattach the housing to the block. A decent thermostat costs $15-20. The O-ring gasket $10. The housing gasket $15. The gasket maker in a tube $8. The thermoswitch costs about $20. Part number 38250 or DBC010013



I am waiting for the replacement thermostat now.





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The thermoswitch came out in 20 seconds with a 29mm deep socket and an 18in 1/2in breaker bar. I just put an aluminum foil pan underneath the car. I collected about a gallon of coolant in the time it took me to put in the replacement. That was easier than draining the radiator. The thermostat is super easy to replace. No coolant spilled after losing the first 1 gallon to the thermoswitch. Problem solved. The car now heats up fast to reach the midpoint operating temperature and the fans then come on as they should.