Could of fooled me ..I thought I had it fixed

[GOPAPA]

.... Concerning the Radiator Fan Switch that I put in ....

Friend of mine checked the switch out for me and said it was real close to 190 degrees when if switched on so I installed it and I only lost at the most a cup of water doing so. Hawaii Mike you were right on about not draining the radiator and how much water I would lose.

I thought that if you unplugged the switch and hooked up the fan direct and the fan worked ,,then it would be the switch that is shorting out and blowing the breaker ,,but,,, did that and it still blows the breaker ,,so I guess it must be in the horn wiring ,,or ,, maybe some of you have had this happen and can guide me to what is causing it ..

It's me again ,,,papa

[Tappy]

maybey got air in the system ? just a thought i'm not a mechanic i'm more of a "lover" i bet someone comes up with a more possible solution if it is not airbubbles in your system

[racydave]

First, this is supposed to be fused, not on a breaker. Second its possible the fan is using to many amps ? If you un-hooked the fan, ran it up to temp where the switch works, and the fuse does not blow, i would suspect the fan! Id also make sure the fan motor has a good ground.

[GOPAPA]

First, this is supposed to be fused, not on a breaker. Second its possible the fan is using to many amps ? If you un-hooked the fan, ran it up to temp where the switch works, and the fuse does not blow, i would suspect the fan! Id also make sure the fan motor has a good ground.

I meant fuse , 16 amp in fact.. if I hook the fan up direct the fan works.. So sometimes when a fan goes bad ,,it draws more amps than it should ? Is this what you are saying ? I will check the ground ,,but I also know that the Horn wire is hooked to the same fuse and thats in accordence to the wiring diagram,,but I Probably wont be that lucky and have to buy a new fan if what you think is it .. thx papa

[racydave]

Do your horns work otherwise?

[GOPAPA]

Do your horns work otherwise?

No,, I have paper work by a previous Mechanic before I bought says that the horns have power but do not work.

[rlux4]

Yup, any electric motor will draw more amps as it ages. The conditions the radiator fan have to work in makes it pretty amazing that they last as long as they do. If The fan is blowing a 16 amp fuse it is ready for replacement. Even if you were to put in a higher rated fuse (not recommended) it would only hasten its demise, being as the purpose of the fuse is to protect the motor. Before you spring for a new fan though, try running a new 14 ga. wire to a good ground for it and see for sure if it's a bad motor or a bad ground.
Ron

[GOPAPA]

Yup, any electric motor will draw more amps as it ages. The conditions the radiator fan have to work in makes it pretty amazing that they last as long as they do. If The fan is blowing a 16 amp fuse it is ready for replacement. Even if you were to put in a higher rated fuse (not recommended) it would only hasten its demise, being as the purpose of the fuse is to protect the motor. Before you spring for a new fan though, try running a new 14 ga. wire to a good ground for it and see for sure if it's a bad motor or a bad ground.
Ron

I'll check the ground but have my doubts ,,got any ideas of who has the best buy on a new fan motor? I checked international and they want $200 plus shipping and Vicks evidently don't sell them.. I know of none other as I am brand new to the Spider Parts Stores..

I Wonder if I have enough room to take the old system out and put in a new and bigger fan motor that see for 1/2 the price ?

[rlux4]

I'm sure there are used fans out there for a lot less than $200. There was a good thread a few months back about after market fans with more flow. Mark had a link to what looked like a good one or two:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... diator+fan
Ron

[TulsaSpider]

Have you tried measuring the amps that it is drawing while it is on? This will tell you if the fan is good or not I believe. I took mine apart and cleaned it very thouroghly, reassembled it, then tested it. The amps it was drawing were correct 13.25 while it was on. My problem was that the fuse was heating up quite a bit. Make sure you are using the 16 Amp fuse. There's a lot of good info and instructions on how to run a relay etc.
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... &sk=t&sd=a

[mbouse]

KIN i ask for a little clarification here? i do not read that we have eliminated all of the variables yet.

the horns and the fan are supposed to share the same fuse. if either of the two circuits is bad...activiation of the other circuit COULD blow the fuse, even if everything in that circuit is functioning properly.

the horns are supplied with power, but they do not work? Couldn't this be the faulty circuit? then when the fan turns on..the fuse blows.

what if you disconnected the horn circuit from the fuse... will the fan then work properly? it could be as easy of a test as removing the power wire from the horns, or disconnecting the relay for the horns.

or... the horn circuit is not that difficult to diagnose, what if you fixed it? would the fan then work properly and stop blowing fuses? this would not be a waste of time, as eventually, you are gonna have to fix your horns anyway.

[GOPAPA]

KIN i ask for a little clarification here? i do not read that we have eliminated all of the variables yet.

the horns and the fan are supposed to share the same fuse. if either of the two circuits is bad...activiation of the other circuit COULD blow the fuse, even if everything in that circuit is functioning properly.

the horns are supplied with power, but they do not work? Couldn't this be the faulty circuit? then when the fan turns on..the fuse blows.

what if you disconnected the horn circuit from the fuse... will the fan then work properly? it could be as easy of a test as removing the power wire from the horns, or disconnecting the relay for the horns.

or... the horn circuit is not that difficult to diagnose, what if you fixed it? would the fan then work properly and stop blowing fuses? this would not be a waste of time, as eventually, you are gonna have to fix your horns anyway.

I am buying a amp meter . I had that in mind to look at the wiring to the horn along with suggestions on grounding of the fan motor . I do need a meter to help me find the problem ,,but all the suggestions that I got will be written down and tried until I find out which one it is .. thx to all of you as I figure that you all who posted will read this,, I will be back ,,papa

[GOPAPA]

Have you tried measuring the amps that it is drawing while it is on? This will tell you if the fan is good or not I believe. I took mine apart and cleaned it very thouroghly, reassembled it, then tested it. The amps it was drawing were correct 13.25 while it was on. My problem was that the fuse was heating up quite a bit. Make sure you are using the 16 Amp fuse. There's a lot of good info and instructions on how to run a relay etc.
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... &sk=t&sd=a

I found a meter on Amazon for $29 and the brand is --Auto-Ranging DMM 3320 Is this a good enough one Ron ..papa

[So Cal Mark]

the horns have power all of the time, if the horn were shorted it would blow the fuse immediately. The horn button controls the ground side of the horn. The cooling fan works the same way, power all of the time and the switch connects the ground side to ground. So a short in the wiring of either of them would result in a blown fuse as soon as a new fuse is installed.
A very good possibility is a loose or corroded fuse, that spells resistance and that equals heat. The fan motor could be drawing too many amps, but you will need an ammeter to determine that. A good starting point is to remove fuses, wire brush the fuse box terminals and crimp them tight to the fuses.

[rlux4]

I'm not familiar with that one Papa, but I have four multimeters now, from cheapies on the work truck to the good one in the garage, and they all do the job. Just so long as the one you're getting is a multimeter, because you'll be checking continuity as often as voltage and amps.
Ron