The fuse to my electrical cooling fan keeps popping (the big orange 40 amp one that's located in the relay carrier under/behind the steering wheel). The new fuse I put in lasted an hour or two then popped just like the old one. I don't want to spend another $2.50 until I figure out the source of the problem.

Anyone know what is likely causing more than 40 amps to go to this fuse?

 

you mean your secondary (electrical) fan? or did you replace your crank-driven mechanical fan with an aftermarket electric one?

the more load there is on the fan, the more current it has to pull. if it was spinning freely (in a vacuum with zero air to push) it wouldnt require very much power at all. if it were rubbing against something, or trying to push air backwards (into the direction you are moving) that would make it work harder and pull more juice. other then the obvious short in the wire somewhere, i would look to see if its spinning freely.

also does the fuse pop when the fan first kicks on or after it has been on for a while? it should be a slow-blow fuse, meaning it can handle short bursts above 40A without blowing. like when the fan first kicks on.

 

If its running an hour or two till popping the fuse, I would call it a fan going bad. Its pulling close to the 40amps just to spin, which is actually way more than it should, heating up the fuse until it blows. As ghost said, look for something in the way and that its spinning freely.. Also make sure your radiator fins are clear and air is able to flow freely through them. If they are plugged, the fan works harder.

 

My fan turns about 1 to 1 1/2 rotations by hand before stopping. It also doesn't turn without squeaking. I'm guessing that's probably where the problem is, unless my condenser isn't supposed to look like this:

Are the fins in the back of the condenser supposed to obstruct the airflow from the front fins like this?

Could I safely use a higher amperage fuse as a temporary fix? Would it be likely to harm anything other than the fan itself?

 

Use a higher fuse on you'll melt the wire and be fire.

I cant figure out whats in that pic.

 

the bearings could be shot on the motor, when it heats up after an hour or two the metal expands enough to bind up and blow the fuse.

 

The pic is of one of the rows of fins in the condenser.

So do you think the fan is worth fixing? or should i just replace it?

 

The fan is like 30 bucks from Carquest. They claim they get their german oem parts from a company called WorldPac. I got my radiator fan through them and it looks very durable.

 

Wow, that sounds suspiciously cheap. This is for the whole assembly, blades, motor, brackets, everything included?

Is the fan for the 2.8 the same? I would think it may be different.

 

So anyone know if the fins in the condenser are supposed to look like that?

It may sound like a dumb question, but it just seems like they restrict a lot of airflow this way.