Engine fan fuse and socket burnt

[girdnerg]

Car overheated today. Tracked down a burnt/melted fan fuse under the hood. That fuse spot is also melted. This must be a common problem. I have a spare fuse block from a donor car and when I removed its cooling fan fuse, it was starting to get brown where the old one melted.

I have the fuse panel open and have figured out how to move the wire and fuse over to an unused spot. I was able to get the wire out of the melted socket. The wire insulation is melted off the last 3 inches or so. I ran a jumper with fuse to the damaged wire and the fan spun up.

I could use some help with this
1. Do I need to replace the section of wire the insulation melted off of or can I just wrap it? The wire is there but discolored from the heat.
2. If I do need to replace it, what is the best method? Butt connector, twist and solder, or ??
3. Most likely culprit seems to be the cooling fan going out. Tips on how to test the fan? If I spin it by hand, what am I looking for? Any way to use a ohm meter to test it?

Thanks guys

 

[Grog6]

I would replace any damaged wire. The only way to test one is with a car battery and a current meter. IDK what a good one draws, but 60% of the fuse value is acceptable. seems like I ran one on a 5a lab power supply.RA sells new ones.

 

[girdnerg]

how would you splice the wire?

 

[White Lincoln]

how would you splice the wire?

There are several ways. Look up 'How to splice wire' on your favorite browser. If you are replacing damaged wire, you will want to solder the ends together and heat shrink the joints. Use the same gauge wire as you are replacing. Use stranded wire.

"Gotta' soldering iron?"

 

[Generalee0527]

The overheated wire will have reduced capacity due to oxidation. As for repair, i would consider one of the newer butt splices with the built in solder. Strip and insert both ends and lightly crimp then heat with a solder iron or a small torch/heat gun. They are called Elektralink by ShercoAuto. Here is what they look like.

 

[girdnerg]

I was thinking solder would be the best. I'm not the best at it, but have many times during stereo system installations. I did watch several videos with different solutions.

Generalee0527, those kick ass. That looks like what I need.​

 

[XR7-4.6]

Solder and shrink tube for me. Depending though, I’d gauge the wire itself on whether it needs the section replaced, I’ve seen it both ways where the wire strands are clearly burned where the copper has taken on a dark bluish appearance and others where the insulation is just a bit crumbly, in that latter scenario I’d just shrink tube it and be done with it.

 

[Grog6]

I was thinking solder would be the best. I'm not the best at it, but have many times during stereo system installations. I did watch several videos with different solutions.

Generalee0527, those kick ass. That looks like what I need.​

I found these a few years ago. cheap The ones I used at work were over 5 bux each. These work great.

Solder and shrink tube for me. Depending though, I’d gauge the wire itself on whether it needs the section replaced, I’ve seen it both ways where the wire strands are clearly burned where the copper has taken on a dark bluish appearance and others where the insulation is just a bit crumbly, in that latter scenario I’d just shrink tube it and be done with it.

Tat dark blue crap is copper oxide in a low oxygen environment, like under insulation.
I use a crimp on the discolored areas, to reform the copper, by smearing it together, lol.
The best fix for that blue crap is either replace it or use flux,and tin it.
I always use heat shrink tubing to cover any bare areas.
If you're working on something that gets wet, they make heat shrink with a melt able liner, that encapsulates the splice.

 

[girdnerg]

I have a spare fuse box and will pull a pig-tail out of it to replace the damaged wire. I like the connectors Generalee0527 recommended. There is not a lot of room to work and those connectors are waterproof.

Just to be safe, I ordered a new engine fan.

 

[Grog6]

Good idea,that wire didn't burn by itself. Does your fan have 3 wires? I'm not familiar with the early cars, but a relay is a good idea. Ive got a mark fan in the garage, that draws 100A on startup. It eats a 30A bosch relay like candy, lol. The marks use a pwm setup, that's too expensive for a bird. We got low and high

 

[girdnerg]

Yes, it has 3 wires.

 

[girdnerg]

The burnt wire has been repaired and a new cooling fan put in.

I have the 180 degree t-stat. After the overheat, my gauge seems to run hotter so I took the t-stat out and put it in water on the stove. It appears to be working correctly. I can see it starting to open at 180 and is fully open by around 200. I did buy 2 different new 180 degree t-stats, but neither one of them would crack open until about 190 - 200 degrees, so I took them back and put the old Motorcraft one back in.

I hooked up my code reader and took it for a drive.
outside temp 102 degrees
180 t-stat
A/C on Max.
1. With the car just at idle or driving it easy, the temp ran at 199 degrees.
2. At 70mph and/or getting on it, the temp went up to 205 degrees was the max I could see.

A/C was working normally. At highway speeds, it was throwing out 38 degree air.

Took the wife's stock Mercury Grand Marquis on a drive to see the differences. It had a max temp of 210. It has a better temp at idle but I think that is normal. The A/C in the C-bird will only do 50 degrees at idle where the MGM will do 40 degrees all day long.

I'm thinking the sending unit for the gauge was cooked during the overheat and now just reads high.

Anyone know the ford part number for a 180 degree t-stat? I went to the "other" site and cannot find my 02 explorer swap with all that info.

What do you folks think about the temps and the gauge reading higher.

Thanks

 

[girdnerg]

Replaced sending unit for the gauge and now it reads like it should.

Couldn't replace the sensor for the ECM because the one that came has a different connector.

 

[White Lincoln]

I'm thinking the sending unit for the gauge was cooked during the overheat and now just reads high.

Anyone know the ford part number for a 180 degree t-stat? I went to the "other" site and cannot find my 02 explorer swap with all that info.

What do you folks think about the temps and the gauge reading higher.

Thanks

I had a similar issue and for the longest time could not figure out what it was. The car was not that old and did not have that high of mileage and still was getting hotter than it should. Turned out to be the radiator was shot and just old. I don't know what the previous people put in for coolant, but it was just not cooling well enough. Since I replaced the radiator years ago, the car rarely goes over 3/5 or rather, its always around 1/4 and never goes over half. Something to consider.

 

[girdnerg]

I just rebuilt the front end after a wreck. That's why it has a Cougar front clip. I could have sworn the cooling fan was new since the old one was bent in half, but I can't find it in any order history. I know the Radiator is new.

Replaced the burnt section of wire, Installed a new fan and temp sensor. Now she's back to acting like before.

 

[Grog6]

I have a red t-bird front cover I'd sell cheap, but I can't ship it.
Do a vacay in Gatlinburg, and it's a short side trip,lol.