To learn if you have too much refrigerant in it, you would need to buy either a set of 'manifold gauges', or one of the simpler/cheaper hoses sold by stores like autozone and advance auto, that have a gauge on them. usually the hose comes with a can of the refrigerant R-134a. Your Escort being a 95, would use the R-134a, which is good - since you can buy the refrigerant in auto stores, unlike R-12 whose sale is limited to folks with a license to do the work - and its expensive anyway.
Anytime you add refrigerant to your a.c. system, you should also add some lubricating oil; since when the freon leaks out, it takes some of the oil with it. They are mixed together in the system. Too much oil is bad. Not enough oil is bad. And the oil has to be the correct type for the R-134a refrigerant. (The older R-12 systems use a different type of oil.)
As for the radiator fan; its more complex than you think. There are two relays, controlling the high speed and low speeds of the fan. The relays are controlled by the CCM located inside the car - under the driver's seat I think, based on the temperature reported by one of the thermal sensors near the upper radiator hose. On my 94 the two relays are located under the air filter housing, and tucked into a pocket in the fender. Not convenient to reach, and one of them may also have melted or gotten rusted up. The fan relay that is inside the fuse box next to the batter is also in the circuit. You can order That relay from
www.rockauto.com, by putting in your make, year, model, and doing a search for 'fan relay'. But I dont recall if they also had the other two relays (which are identical) that are hidden in the fender. If your fan siezed up, the overcurrent could have melted these relays, or their connectors or both.
For autoparts stores, Carquest is good, a NAPA dealer can also be very good (though some of the franchises seem a little numb if the counterman is new), & I have good luck with O'Reillys when I am in their part of the USA. Try to take the old part in with you when seeking such low-turnover items.
Normally when you put freon into an a.c. system, the can you are using to put it in will get chilly - if any freon is going into the system. And assuming the a.c. compressor is running, the high pressure line would get uncomfortably hot, and the low pressure line would be pleasantly cool. there can be other problmes with an a.c. system besides being low on refrigerant though; a bad compressor, a clooged needle valve, etc.
On a 95, if the a.c. system hasnt been service/fixed by a professional who knows what he is doing within the last couple of years - then by now it would be normal for it to not work anymore.
