Re: Electrical Strangeness

[Don Hoefer <hoefer@jaxom.eng.pko.dec.com>]

Rob,

> I have a 81 Coupe and recently, the electric radiator fan has been
> intermittantly not working. This has resulted in a couple of near-overheat
> situations and lucky I caught them intime and switched off the engine. On
> investigation, the fuse in the fusebox (25A) is fine but the area around
> the fuse has begun to melt a little. This melting has caused poor contact
> between the fuse and the fusebox contacts and thus, a break in the circuit
> causing the fan to stop. When I fiddle with the fuse, the fan starts
> again.
> 
> Any ideas why the fusebox is getting hot ?

It is a lousy fusebox.  The first failure in my fuse box was the
radiator fan connection.  I wired around it.  Then something in the
ignition connections opened.  I replaced the fusebox ($94 at the
dealer at the time).  The new one is built much better and has lasted
longer than the original one did.

I saw another post about the fan bearings causing the fan to draw more
current.  This sounds likely.  Internal degradation of the motor
windings could do this also.

In a car this age any troublesome circuit should be checked thoroughly
for problems.

As I preach in all of my postings about replacing the fuse box, keep
the old one.  Disassemble it and use the spade connectors to replace
burnt or corroded ones in other parts of the car.  They fit perfectly
into relay sockets.

Don Hoefer
'82 Coupe