Please help me... I've almost had it!!!

HDGasser

New member
Well to start things off this weekend was awesome! Except for shitty sick all weekend I had a great time in the jeep.

UNTIL the drive home.

I'm driving my truck pulling my toyhauler, wifey is behind me in the Heep with my son.... She calls me and says "we need to stop this things getting hot!" So we pull over on the side of the 10fwy in Palm Springs soon as I walk back to the jeep I hear her shut it down and notice I don't hear the fan... F%£$@&!!!!

Ask her what temp it got to and she said 245 on the aeroforce when she shut it down which was about 3/4 on the stock gauge.

Now this isn't my first fan rodeo, first time the stock fan crapped out and almost cooked the damn thing. New radiator, Fancy new shroud and loud ass Spal fan later I was back on the road better than ever! Right?

Not 4 months later it happens again, this time I see it's the wiring coming directly out of the back of this brand new shiny Spal fan are cooked... Like melted to shit!

Now what should I do? Go back to a stock fan setup and make it a quick disco setup and carry extra fans!?!? Anybody ever done a mechanical setup on a LX hemi swap jku??? I'm tired of this electrical crap, I don't trust it anymore!

I'm waiting to hear back from Spal.

How bout it ORE... What would be your fix????
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
If you melted the wires to the fan my guess is the wire is too small. At least that's the case with most wiring.
 

10frank9

Web Wheeler
I would definitely take it to ORE, problem is they get pretty booked and it may be a while before you can get in.


My guess is your LS, like all the swaps I've seen this far, runs hot. Have you looked into getting a larger fan setup like what was done to Moby? Perhaps give Turnkey a call and see if they can make some suggestions.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I would definitely take it to ORE, problem is they get pretty booked and it may be a while before you can get in.


My guess is your LS, like all the swaps I've seen this far, runs hot. Have you looked into getting a larger fan setup like what was done to Moby? Perhaps give Turnkey a call and see if they can make some suggestions.

Pretty sure he has a hemi.
 

David1tontj

New member
^wires too small, and- fuse too big for those wires.. A proper setup would have blown a fuse before ever melting a wire... Now, you wouldn't have wanted a smaller fuse because it would've likely blown under that load anyway and still left you screwed, but you shouldn't ever have melting wires...

Bigger wires and a proper size fuse sounds like a good start if that setup was keeping it cool..

So I'm guessing you went with as big of a radiator as you can fit? Hood louvers?


My ride- 2001 power wheel, 11" plastic tires, upgraded battery, boat sides, custom bumpers, tow hooks, new paint.
 

HDGasser

New member
Yeah it's a hemi, has the biggest radiator I could cram in there, and a 16" Spal fan.

It's wired into the factory wiring just like it said to do in the destructions.

Doesn't have a problem staying cool.... As long as the fan works lol

The wiring that got cooked is the wiring that was on the fan, the factory wiring where I spliced it to is fine. Although I did not put an inline fuse. I haven't checked yet but it should be fused in the fuse box... No?

I've done a little research and it seems that people have been sold "Spal" fans that aren't really Spal.

And yessir it's got some louvers see!
 

10frank9

Web Wheeler
Yeah it's a hemi, has the biggest radiator I could cram in there, and a 16" Spal fan.

It's wired into the factory wiring just like it said to do in the destructions.

Doesn't have a problem staying cool.... As long as the fan works lol

The wiring that got cooked is the wiring that was on the fan, the factory wiring where I spliced it to is fine. Although I did not put an inline fuse. I haven't checked yet but it should be fused in the fuse box... No?

I've done a little research and it seems that people have been sold "Spal" fans that aren't really Spal.

And yessir it's got some louvers see!

Doh! Damn you photobucket, got me again!!!!
 
I apologize for responding with more questions than answers or ideas but hopefully it will stir something up...

Is the Fan circuit a PWM (CANBUS) circuit? If so, is the new fan motor designed to handle it? The pulsing CANBUS signal will generate more heat (electrically) than a straight DC circuit. If it is a CANBUS circuit then I would suggest adding a diode & capacitor to isolate the relay from the CANBUS and provide a "clean" 12V.

One last thought. Most fans are designed to run at alternator voltage. 14+V. IF this is part of the CANBUS the RMS voltage the fan is seeing is 11.7V This lower voltage will increase current and heat.

If you find it is part of the CANBUS I would run this past the fan MFG to see if they have a solution. If they don't, I can try to work up a science project with some part numbers and diagrams.
 

HDGasser

New member
I apologize for responding with more questions than answers or ideas but hopefully it will stir something up...

Is the Fan circuit a PWM (CANBUS) circuit? If so, is the new fan motor designed to handle it? The pulsing CANBUS signal will generate more heat (electrically) than a straight DC circuit. If it is a CANBUS circuit then I would suggest adding a diode & capacitor to isolate the relay from the CANBUS and provide a "clean" 12V.

One last thought. Most fans are designed to run at alternator voltage. 14+V. IF this is part of the CANBUS the RMS voltage the fan is seeing is 11.7V This lower voltage will increase current and heat.

If you find it is part of the CANBUS I would run this past the fan MFG to see if they have a solution. If they don't, I can try to work up a science project with some part numbers and diagrams.

I'll have to bust out a meter today and find out what the voltage is from the factory harness... This actually makes sense if it is part of the CANBUS, which I'm sure it is.

So it's either wire in a cap & diode or just buy a wiring kit from spal and wire it all up independently... If the CANBUS will let me, dunno what it'll do if it doesn't see a fan?
 

SDG

Caught the Bug
I apologize for responding with more questions than answers or ideas but hopefully it will stir something up...

Is the Fan circuit a PWM (CANBUS) circuit? If so, is the new fan motor designed to handle it? The pulsing CANBUS signal will generate more heat (electrically) than a straight DC circuit. If it is a CANBUS circuit then I would suggest adding a diode & capacitor to isolate the relay from the CANBUS and provide a "clean" 12V.

One last thought. Most fans are designed to run at alternator voltage. 14+V. IF this is part of the CANBUS the RMS voltage the fan is seeing is 11.7V This lower voltage will increase current and heat.

If you find it is part of the CANBUS I would run this past the fan MFG to see if they have a solution. If they don't, I can try to work up a science project with some part numbers and diagrams.

Just my gut feeling but I doubt that the fan would be PWM modulated. Only time that would make sense would be if it was running on a PID loop and I dont think they are trying to control engine temp that carefully. Unless they were doing a soft start or something.

Easy way to tell should be by the number of connections. If the connector has 3 terminals its most likely designed for PWM and if only 2 its probably not.
 

HDGasser

New member
Just my gut feeling but I doubt that the fan would be PWM modulated. Only time that would make sense would be if it was running on a PID loop and I dont think they are trying to control engine temp that carefully. Unless they were doing a soft start or something.

Easy way to tell should be by the number of connections. If the connector has 3 terminals its most likely designed for PWM and if only 2 its probably not.

That factory fan has 3 wires going to it... From what I understand is the way it's designed is the fan will run on low and once it reaches a certain temp or you turn on the AC it kicks in high gear.

The way my aev hemi swap is setup is for the fan to run all the damn time on high. Kind of annoying sometimes.
 
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