2002 outback - 4cyl. main cooling fan does not operate. Found blown fuse. Replaced fuse and fan ran for 2-3 seconds, then blew again. Possible bad relay? Anyone with similar problem?

Does the fan turn smoothly if you turn it by hand? If you feel any binding or it's hard to turn the fan may be faulty and drawing more current it should and hence blowing the fuse. I would not recommend installing a larger fuse.

 

Otherwise, there may be a chaffed wire or wires in there (check the harnesses and stuff). I doubt the relay would cause this phenomenon unless it were somehow shorting +12 and 0 when the contact closed inside.

 

You might be able to hook up +12 and ground directly at the fan harness with alligator clips and measure the current with a good ammeter and see (after a few seconds after it's startup inrush is past) what the current reading is. But there are risks with this method.

Fan is unobstructed and turns freely. I jumped fan to battery and it ran fine.Agree, probably a chaffed wire.