cmontel727

I was stuck on the interstate in terrible traffic and while sitting there i noticed smoke coming out of the side gill by the battery. Then noticed my temps climb to 250. Pulled off the road and saw the link to the radiator fan fried.

I am looking for ideas on the best way to repair this, never had a link go bad. I plan on replacing the relay, as i suspect that was what caused the link to fry. I did test the fan works fine when 12 volts is applied. Should i replace the fan for good measure?

I have included a picture of the carnage. lol Car is an 87 auto, single fan

Thanks

65Z01

Since a new fan motor is around $25 I'd play it safe and replace it too.

The FSM shows you how to size and to replace a fusible link.

ctmccloskey

That is definitely a burned out fusible link! I had never seen one "after the fact", thanks for posting it for us!

Do you have access to any way to measure the current going to the fan motor? I would probably test it with a new battery connection but with a fuse of like 40 amps. A multimeter will not go high enough on the current mode to handle the current measurement. I have a old fashioned current shunt but maybe a clamp on ammeter might help you if you have access. Fusible links can "wear" over time and give out or at least so I have read. I would try to see what made it blow if possible. Once you know the fan motors current usage you can verify that it is indeed bad. I am the sort of person who wants to know "why it failed" and not just a part changer. You might want to replace the fan's relay while you are at it, it is probably been affected by the fan's power failure.

My 1988 coupe has two fans on it, you might want to have the two fans over just one. Since they were an option you could probably pick one up at a good junk yard and get the parts to install one as primary and the second as backup or just wire them together for some serious airflow.

The fan motor should be replaced if you can't verify it's power consumption, just to be safe.

When I serviced my radiator I remember the fans and how dirty the A/C condenser was. I found a good trick, I used "Coil Cleaner" to remove the corrosion from all the aluminum fins and tubes. You just spray it on and hose it off a few minutes later, it helps your heat transfer out of the condenser and make the car cooler inside. If you paid a technician to come out and service your home A/C unit that is one of the first things they will do, it really makes a difference. I buy cans of Coil Cleaner at Home Depot, just be sure to be careful around "painted parts" as it can damage painted parts if left on too long. If I am not mistaken I believe that it is a mild phosphoric acid mixture like we use when TIG welding aluminum to remove all the existing corrosion.

Good luck and I hope that you are able to get that link replaced and get your Corvette back on the road where all Corvettes belong!

sstonebreaker

On the 94-96 impalas, whenever a fan relay would fry, the replacement would shortly also fry unless we replaced the fan motor as well. As the fan motors age they spin at the same speed but draw more and more current.

cmontel727

Thanks to all posted! I decided to replace the fan and the relay. I checked the FSM and found out the fuseable link wire is aproximately 20 guage. I cut the old fusible link wire 1/2” from the black connector and used a weatherproof heat shrink crimp butt connector. Also put a new weatherpack terminal end on the other end.

I definately will look into getting an auxiliary fan. I have seen some used ones on flea bay and saw another supplier that has a plug play kit. Thanks for the idea ctmccloskey!

Just need to install the fan and test everything.