96 2.4 Fans and funny idle

[caulk04]

Ok, tonight my GF's 96 2.4L Stratus started acting funny. I'm glad she doesn't ignore this stuff! She took me out to the car, started it and immediately both fans came on full speed. Car had sat for a few hours in ~25º weather so it was almost stone cold. AC was also off, no accesories running, just idling in park. After idling a few minutes, the fans would try to turn off (kinda flicker if you know what I mean) and the idle would start to spike then return to normal when the fans come on. I THINK I can hear a VERY small vacuum leak and a ticking in the area of the brake master cylinder/cruise control 'thing' (whats that thing called?). Seems unrelated though as I pulled the vac line from the 'cruise thing' and the idle didn't change a bit. For now, I pulled the fuse for the fans and told her to watch the temp gauge. I'm not expecting it to get hot since its so cold here, but I showed her where it goes if need be. Will see if the fans being off solves the idle problem. What I would also like to know is when the fans should be on. On my Dakota, the electric fan comes on at 210º and then back off at 190º or something like that. Any known problems that could cause this? Sorry for the vague-ish descriptions, but I've only had a short time to look at it. I plan to get a closer look at it this weekend when I can tear into it some. I may also take the TB off and clean it, anything to watch out for? This ones got me confused guys...help me! THANKS!!!

This ad is not displayed to registered and logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on Dodge Forums!