Fan issue.

[Danny-G]

So my sub fan fuse blew sometime, I don't know when it did but it caused my car to overheat today and I replaced the fuse with another 20 amp, turned the key to on and it blew in like five seconds. So I found a 30 amp in my trunk, put it in and turned the key to on again and the right fan came on but the left one never did. The plug for the left fan came off of the fan shroud and thats all I could see wrong( I was in the snow when this all happened) I made sure the plug was connected and it is. My question is, what would cause the left fan not to work and for the 20 amp fuse under the hood to blow in about five seconds? The 30 amp is holding out for now so I can still drive the car just fine but I would like to know why my fan isn't working and the 20 amp fuse keeps blowing. A side note, the 30 amp gets hot but doesn't blow, if the 30 goes I will put a 75 in to get by but thats a last ditch effort. Off topic, I think this is the longest post I've made on here since I joined.

[BSOD2600]

Sounds like the snow/water has caused a short. Simply replacing the fuse with something larger really isn't a good idea as you're bypassing the safety for that circuit.

Download the FSM and find out what components are on the fan fuse circuit. Start tracing wires for problems.

[Danny-G]

I know I shouldn't have put a larger fuse in but I was in a pinch and needed to get home from the trail I was on when it over heated. The only reason I have the 30 in there is I still need my car drivable and a 20 will blow and cause over heating again. Water probably caused a short cause I like to play in puddles and theres lots of them right now.
Would replacing the non-working fan with a junkyard one help at all? Is it atleast worth a shot?

[Legacy777]

Danny,

You need to figure out where the short is located. If the fan is actually shorted out, then yes replacing the fan should fix it, but I would suspect the problem is elsewhere.

[Danny-G]

Is it possible the main fan relay is bad? That seems semi logical to me other than the fuse blowing. I haven't had any overheating recently but I've notived the car smells really hot when I park, its the "I just went up a steep hill hot" that I smell after regular driving. I was reading the Haynes book today and remembered this thread and that no one mentoned the relay so I thought it could be the problem.

[Legacy777]

I'd definitely start there, that'd be a logical spot. Then check the wiring.

[Danny-G]

Well I tried switching relays between the two fans and the twenty amp fuse I put in blew so I'm not sure where to start looking now.

[Legacy777]

Then the problem is not the relays. Do you know how to read a wiring diagram? You'll need to trace things out and check the wiring. That's the only way you're going to find the problem.

[Danny-G]

I can read wiring diagrams to some extent. The weird thing I've noticed is the sub fan fuse is the one that will blow if its a 20 amp but the main fan won't work regardless of if the fuse is blown or not.

[Legacy777]

Out of curiosity, what happens if you unplug one of the fans at a time? Does the fuse still blow if a 20amp fuse is inserted for each fan?

What I'm trying to figure out is if the windings in fan is bad. It's not a completely conclusive test, but may help you narrow things down.

[Danny-G]

I totally didn't think of doing that. I'll do that in the morining and get back to you.

[Legacy777]

I meant to say it's "not" a completely conclusive test, but should help narrow things down.

Let us know what you find out.

[Danny-G]

I gave the fan connectors thing a shot and found out the main fan is good, there was water in its connector. The sub fan fuse blew regardless of if the main fan was connected. I did all the tests with the car off, cooled off, and in d-check mode. I think theres a short somewhere since only the sub fan connecter has power and it will blow 20 amp fuses. The 30 amp fuse body is melting too so something is making the sub fan fuse really hot.

[Legacy777]

Yeah....sounds like a short somewhere in the body wiring.

Have you downloaded the wiring diagrams for the cooling system? If so, just try and trace where the wiring goes to find the short.

[Danny-G]

Well, I'm an idiot. I found the issue with the main fan, it was the in cabin fuse that was blown so its actually the sub fan with an issue because it will blow 20 amp fuses all day long and the temporary 30 amp is melting, like the body is starting to melt after a few months in the car. Its definatly the sub fan with the issue. I think the problems started at wcss 12 after I went in the mud pit because the mud was all over the fans and they weren't working at all after wards, the mud was mostly on one or two blades and it was too much weight for the fan motors so the fuses were blown but I never thought about the cabin fuse untill I was in that fuse box today.

[Legacy777]

Glad you figured it out.