Ok, here's the deal. The coling fan quit working on my daily driver. (98 Escort) As I was attempting to diagnose the problem (about a month and a half ago), I discovered that the upper radiator hose connector on the radiator was broken. So, I pulled the radiator out of my 91 escort and swapped them out. When I tried to start the car, it would not start. Did a compression check and discovered that it was WAY low. So, blown head gasket. A month later, head gasket replaced, new plugs, wires, etc. Car starts ad runs fine, with just a littel bit of white smoke, but I can live with it. However, the cooling fan still does not work. Poking around under the hood, I discovered that the damn fuse is blown! Replace the fuse, let the car run until it heats up. Cooling fan comes on, fuse blows, fan stops, car overheats. Tested the plug on the wiring harness that plugs into the fan with a multimeter. It tested out ok. Put a new fuse in and ran the car with the fan unplugged. Car overheates, but fuse DOES NOT blow. So, it would seem to me that it is the fan motor causing the fuse to blow. Now, the fan is slightly warped (from heat?) and scrapes and drags a little on the shroud. Would that cause the fuse to blow, possibly from the motor requiring more power to overcome the additional friction, or could the motor be causeing a surge because of the dragging fan? Please help! I can't use my Camaro as a daily driver yet, there is too much wrong with it at the moment, and I would really like to be able to spend my time fixing up my camaro, rather than fixing my daily driver.

 

it kinda sounds like its drawing to much amps to try and run..

 

Any additional load on the motor will force it to draw more current(amps). Two things will cause the problem, either the motor is failing or that increased drag from the binding fan. The fan pulls max current at startup, and if there is additional load as you say the peak current may be going higher than the fuse rating. Try to reduce the friction if you can before replacing the motor.

 

That's the first thing on my list. I have a 91 escort in the backyard that is serving as a parts car for my 98, since a lot of the parts are interchangable. I am going to see if the fan and shroud out of the 91 are servicible, and am going to switch the motors out if it is, plug it up, and see what happens...especially since the motor is like $132 at autozone!

 

i had the same problem on my roc. the fan motor was the culprit. it was drawing too many amps. much like a worn window motor w/o the breaker...... so the fuse blew. that's an expensive fan motor. it's a Ford figures...:sillylol: good luck.

 

Welpers, I pulled the old fan motor off the fan assembly (beat it out with a hammer, truth be told), and hooked it up just sitting on top of the engine. Sure enough, it blew the fuse. So, I ran down to Rusty Acres (local junkyard that specalizes in Fords) and they sold me a complete fan assembly and motor for $50! Put it in, and it works great!

 

cool glad to hear it!!