CRUISIN' THE COAST 2020 Mississippi Gulf Coast..Hurricane DELTA gone, IT'S ON! Saturday 10/10!

[biomedtechguy]

Do you have a photo of your fans? I could bring you the low profile dual fans from my Charger if they would interchange.

The only electric fan and shroud assembly I have is the 17" single fan, 2 speed motor.
I wouldn't even hook up a (3rd) fan motor to my current wiring array, because something is causing the fan motor to burn up. I don't know what the cause is, and I shouldn't HAVE TO be figuring this **** out, BUT I'm glad I have the capability to do so.
I sure thought I had the cause of the 1st fan motor burning up figured out. Car at shop that did install, ran 30 minutes in the shop w/AC on, no problem. I drive in traffic and 5 school zones 15 minutes on a hot day to the alignment shop the day I picked the car up, no problem. I drive straight to the Interstate at 40 MPH, at night, lights on, a couple of red lights, no problem. I get on the Interstate, drive an hour at 2,750 RPMs, lights on, monitor fan via Dakota Digital PAC-2800BT electronic fan control module app, no problem. Drive 15 minutes on the street to get to the "swamp road" no problem. Turn my high beams on and w/in 5 minutes, trip the 200 amp breaker, which kills all power to the car, check under the hood, smell tell tale electric burning smell and see smoke coming from the fan motor...BIG PROBLEM. I waited a few minutes, reset the 200 amp breaker, turned the key on to power up the Dakota Digital fan control module, reset all parameters to high temps, etc to try to keep the fan off, and make it home about 4 minutes away. Temperature of my cooling system WAS FINE the whole trip!!
So I figured I have a high current draw in my headlights, because my windshield leaked BAD because it only had the rubber trim seal to keep water out when I first got the car, and I had that fixed right away, but water poured out under the dash by the firewall on my feet, and my headlights were always dim, at idle, with the relatively low amp factory alternator. Now I have a 140 amp alternator, so my headlights are bright, but surely the dimmer switch must be corroded from the leaky windshield, making the lights, especially the high beams, draw too much power, and that made too much voltage go to the fan and burned it up...RIGHT?
WRONG!!
Now I don't know WTF the cause is?

 

[biomedtechguy]

Do you have a photo of your fans? I could bring you the low profile dual fans from my Charger if they would interchange.

I will measure the space, but it's about 3"

The shroud and fan assembly in the above picture is 2⅝" deep, and I don't have enough space to put the black aluminum trim cover on the tensioning arm..so something 3" deep probably won't fit.

 

[INTMD8]

Yeah I have dual fans on an aluminum shroud that would probably fit depth wise but not sure if they would mount up otherwise. I'll get you a few photos in the morning

 

[biomedtechguy]

Yeah I have dual fans on an aluminum shroud that would probably fit depth wise but not sure if they would mount up otherwise. I'll get you a few photos in the morning

Ok, thanks. Tomorrow I will see if someone can take me through an electrical circuit troubleshooting process. I have a DMM and I can break connections to test current, but the fan motor is shot, and I can't run the engine without a fan. Like I said, I shouldn't HAVE TO be figuring this out, but I want to get my car going asap so I can enjoy my ONE vacation, Cruisin the Coast!

 

[INTMD8]

Well as long as you can go 35 or more you shouldn't need a fan but traffic/stopping is certainly a problem!

 

[biomedtechguy]

Well as long as you can go 35 or more you shouldn't need a fan but traffic/stopping is certainly a problem!

I was thinking about driving back home from where I was, after the fan motor died, but I noticed that when I turned the fan power off this trip, unlike the night I drove it home the first time, the coolant temp would climb to 200 from 194, 194 being the temp on the highway and the fan on low or high speed. I took one nut and tiny lock washer out of the mounting bolt combo, to gain that little bit of distance from my pulleys, but that "sealed" the shroud more to the radiator, and that let less air pass through at speed.
Also, the fan was locked in place, so better safe w/a tow than hurt the engine.

 

[66 Sat]

Have you considered getting an independent auto electrician to have a look at it? Time is of the essence and it's obviously a stressful time - let someone who does this stuff day in day out to have a look, they may even be able to hook something up temporarily, bypassing all the other wiring perhaps, so the fan just runs constantly, until you can get it sorted properly.
I've been following your journey with all this and your putting in a lot of thought and hours (and stress) - don't give yourself a heart attack trying to fix it all yourself.

 

[Hemirunner]

How much room do you have between the heads and the AC compressor? I moved my wraptor in towards the engine for more clearance for the fan. As for the electrical, post a schematic of how it’s wired. Can’t tell by looking.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Have you considered getting an independent auto electrician to have a look at it?

Yes, I am going to see who may be available. The problem I have right now is I need another fan motor. I'm going to see if the motor in my 16" fan from the same manufacturer is identical, because I'm not using the 16" fan right now and I can replace it later. Then obviously I have to get the root problem solved before I try the new fan motor or it will just burn up too.
The fan requires the relays due to current spikes, but I can bypass the 200A breaker since the fan relays are connected to a 30A breaker each, which strangely do not trip. The Dakota Digital PAC-2800BT electronic fan control module is only an on/off switch for the relays, so I don't think that's the problem.
Thanks

 

[biomedtechguy]

How much room do you have between the heads and the AC compressor? I moved my wraptor in towards the engine for more clearance for the fan. As for the electrical, post a schematic of how it’s wired. Can’t tell by looking.

I'll post a schematic when I get up and have coffee

 

[440+6]

Dont know much about electric fans but was wondering, you say two 12 v leads one for slow and one for high speed.
Question, on high speed are both feeds supposed to be energized?
Or does it switch from one feed to the other?

Sorry to hear about this stuff, you should be having a great time instead of this. Hopefully you get it resolved quickly.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Question, on high speed are both feeds supposed to be energized?
Or does it switch from one feed to the other?

Both energized

 

[INTMD8]

Not sure if it would be any help to you if you can't make it there but this is what I have. Fans and PWM controller-

 

[biomedtechguy]

Not sure if it would be any help to you if you can't make it there but this is what I have. Fans and PWM controller-

What is the total depth?
Regardless, thank you.
I MAY HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM.
The fan motor is grounded directly to the battery via side post, but the battery ground top post cable goes to the engine block, and from the block at another location to a ground post in the firewall under the steering column by the clutch rod pass through.
THE SMALL GAUGE BATTERY GROUND WIRE (see pic) wasn't even in the chassis ground eyelet!

That went here:

 

[themechanic]

Looks like you are a better mechanic than the one you hired. Enjoy your cruise, brother. Wish I was there. I saw that ScottieD from ScottieDTV YT channel is there again this year.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Looks like you are a better mechanic than the one you hired.

Maybe a better electrical systems guy.
Despite the .127 air gap between the hydraulic throwout bearing face and the diaphragm clutch springs, something MUST be close enough to impart rotation in my transmission input shaft, because the shifter goes into gear with the engine off, no problem. Engine on, very difficult to put in gear, in motion, gear shifts are easier when I RPM match, ALL classic signs of not enough of a release in the clutch.
.150 to .200 ideal, .100 minimum, but
.127 isn't working for me.

 

[ACME A12]

Tropical Storm Delta is slated to become a hurricane tonight. Landfall late Thursday/early Friday. Heading for the gulf coast (and therefore CTC) at this point... I was planning on heading over on Wednesday morning. We'll see how this plays out...

 

[biomedtechguy]

Well...
Fan motor #3 is installed and tested OK.
Hopefully the nearly to non existent small gauge battery ground wire termination was the problem. I crimped and soldered the new termination loop, sanded all the other ground termination loops, and made damn sure the nut was tight on the bolt.
Heading out to Cruisin The Coast!!

Thanks everyone!!

 

[padam]

Maybe a better electrical systems guy.
Despite the .127 air gap between the hydraulic throwout bearing face and the diaphragm clutch springs, something MUST be close enough to impart rotation in my transmission input shaft, because the shifter goes into gear with the engine off, no problem. Engine on, very difficult to put in gear, in motion, gear shifts are easier when I RPM match, ALL classic signs of not enough of a release in the clutch.
.150 to .200 ideal, .100 minimum, but
.127 isn't working for me.

Could be mis-aligned.

 

[Hemirunner]

Well...
Fan motor #3 is installed and tested OK.
Hopefully the nearly to non existent small gauge battery ground wire termination was the problem. I crimped and soldered the new termination loop, sanded all the other ground termination loops, and made damn sure the nut was tight on the bolt.
Heading out to Cruisin The Coast!!

Thanks everyone!!

I’m guessing we haven’t heard the end of this saga. Hopefully I’m wrong!