Radiator fan not turning on - 1992 Saturn SL2

How does a car radiator fan work?
The engine cooling fan is designed to move air through the radiator when the vehicleis at slower speeds or stopped. This air flow removes heat from the coolant created by the engine using the radiator as a conductor. An engine cooling fan is temperature controlled to only run when needed.26 Jan 2017

How Radiator Cooling Fans Work Explained in Under 5 Minutes

How does radiator fan turn Google Search

Unless you are in a very hot climate, with no air con working the radiator fan does not normally come on.

P1491 - Radiator Fan Control Relay Circuit Open Or Shorted

When monitored: with the ignition key on, battery voltage greater than 10.0 volts and
the pcm requests the radiator fan to be turned on.
Set condition: an open or shorted circuit is detected in the radiator fan relay control
circuit.

Possible causes
radiator fan ctrl rly circuit wire harn intermittent defect
radiator fan ctrl rly circuit wire harn observable defect
radiator fan relay ground circuit open
rad fan relay control circuit open
radiator fan relay control circuit short to ground
rad fan control relay defective
pcm defective

Check ot and keep us updared.

There is no radiator fan sensor, the fan is controlled on and off from the cars ECM (computer) which takes the reading from the engine's temperature sensor. If you think you have radiator fan issues, check your fuses under the hood and the relay fan to your radiator, once you have determined that there in good working order, move on to inspecting for a bad wire harness to the radiator fan but take caution to the fan turning on hot engine parts if your going to have the engine running.
Turning on the A/C with the engine running should also turn the fans o, if they don't come on then inspect your fuses as mentioned above and relays.
Thank you for using fixya and be safe.

The radiator fan may not be blowing.
Idle car with parking brake engaged.
Turn OFF Air Conditioner
Pop open hood and look at the radiator fan.
It is not spinning.
Turn ON Air Conditioner and look at fan.
The fan MUST be spinning.

Replace the "Radiator fan" relay switch.
Check primary fuses and replace as needed.

Most likely:
1. radiator fan not turning. Check cooling fan fuse. Check loose/disconnected electric cable at radiator fan. Fan may be burned out.
2. Turn ON engine with A/C OFF.
3. Turn ON A/C to see if radiator fan starts up. It is supposed to turn whenever the A/C is on.

Few other possibilities.

Sounds like the radiator fan is not working.
Check the radiator fan fuse and the radiator fan relay switch.

The fan is supposed to turn ON whenever the A/C is turned on.

I'm sure you aleady checked the coolant level in the radiator.

Hope this helps!

Well the first thing I can tell you is that the radiator fan should kick on as soon as you turn on the a/c. That's because of the extra strain it puts on the engine. So, if you don't see or hear the fan go on with the a/c, it's probably dead. You could also unplug the fan and run a jumper wire off of the battery to see if it goes on.

Dodge Caravan is notorious for failure of the electronic cooling fan control module (AKA cooling fan relay). This is not a "relay", it is a solid-state control unit, but many people call it a relay anyway.
It is mounted on the inside of the left frame rail just behind the radiator. You have to look up from UNDER the vehicle to see it. It looks like the picture below. The picture shown is very close to actual size.

No the radiator fans do not have anything to do with the A/C, they help keep the motor cool in traffic. It sounds like you might have done some damage to the wiring with the jury rig repair job.