can cooling fans suffer from heat soke? on the '86, the cooling system is in perfect worikn condition except for the fact that when i switch on the toggle switch at 220*(close to factory specs for the computer. it is switched on and off depeniding on the coolant temp and the traffic). at first, the fan cools the engine down to like 200* or so, then i shut it off. but as the day goes on, i notice that it takes longer and longer for the fan to cool down the engine, it continuously spins slower up until the point that it is a crawl by this time i'm near a boil over, could this be the fan or is the relay failing from the heat? evrything works great when cold, but as temps rise, well u know
opinions please

 

That's a new one for me and believe me I have worked on quite a few of these cars with cooling problems. If the fan bearings were starting to seize in most cases the fan would start to draw excessive current and most likely blow a fuse or fusible link. Pull the fan relay and look at the connectors, do they look burnt or badly discolored. If you are in a pinch, the blower motor relay can be swapped for the fan relay or you can jump the two heavier wires in the fan relay plug. See if she spins up then. Should be a pretty easy fix.

 

well, i checked the connectors and there not burnt, fusible link is in tact and is not shorted, same for the fuse.. if u would be so kind as to tell me where theblower relay is located, i would then swap them, get the car up to O.T. and see if the fan still spins fast whern cold, slow when hot.

 

Dale on AC models it is usually the relay sitting by itself on the passenger side up near the blower motor housing. It will look identical to the fan relay.

 

thanks

 

yyeah, fan definetly suffers from heat soak. time for a new motor. should i wrap the new one with something?

 

Dale,

Consider the old fan motor lasted 16 years .... wouldn't think you would need to wrap it with anything. I would be more inclined to believe between the armature, brushes, bearings and internal lubrication that it is the "gunk" that has built up over the years inside the motor that are suffering from high heat rather than the motor windings themselves.

If you could dissassemble to clean you could probably even squeeze more life out of it.

Mike Davidson

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Red 86 T/A 5.0 TPI (LB9/WS6)
~HyperTech Cap/Coil/Rotor/AFPR
~Derale Adjustable Fan Switch ~ 170° Stat
~Flow Matched Injectors ~ K & N Air Filter
~Ported Plenum ~ Pirelli 245/50/16
~SLP TB Airfoil ~ All Else Stock

 

i didnt consider that, i just picked up a motor, thanks alot for the input guys.