ok, so awhile back, i had to switch to a mechanical temp gauge, which disabled the fan.
In a pinch, i ran a hot wire to a switch and back to the fan( go ahead, shoot me).
well the other day that wire lit up, no real damage as i caught it before it caught fire.

here is my problem.
I wired it all back up correctly, Batt to the orange to the relay, black/red stripe back to the hot on the fan. tan?? switched 12+, and snipped the green to run to a switch to ground the relay, activating the fan.
Sounds good right?
apparently not, for as soon as I turned the car on, then the fan, RPMs dropped almost to a stall, voltmeter needle is vibrating, and stuff started smoking under the hood. Plus the fan only turned slow, not fast as usual.

looked at everything and there are NO burnt wires anywhere, fuses good all relays good.
I have no idea what the hell happened, but I'm at wits end.
on top of that, tomorrow morning i have to go to school in tampa(74 miles) at 9. I'm hoping to get it fixed by then, but I need some help guys.
Thanks

 

ok, the culprit is the rust colored wire right before the 20A fusable link to the red(said orange before). the fusable link is connected to the stock battery junction box, i think thin speaker wire is a thicker gauge then it. well thats the wire that is smoking like a bandit.

any ideas??

 

ok guys i got it.
I troubleshot it down to the fan. I had a spare and plugged it up and bam, it spun real fast.

 

could be a bad fan motor-could try the circuit with
everything hooked up except the fan and see what
happens..
Bad fan motors are pretty rare,but if you are in a snow
area sometimes the fans get jammed with snow or ice
and burn out.Also some GM fan motors have a diode
that can short out if the motor is hooked up backwards

 

I agree with 8t2 z-chev, I think the fan motor is what most likely would cause smoke. I don't think a wire would smoke like that.

 

yes the fan was shot and no the fan wasnt smoking. the rust colored wire before the 20A fusable link is what was smoking because the overcurrent built up in the smaller wire.

I turned the car on and the fan and looked under the hood to spot what was smoking. it melted the insulation right off of the rust colored wire, the fan never smoked at all.


if you put a high amperage through a small wire, what happens?
It heats up and glows, and if insulated, that insulation will melt and smoke in the process. point illustrated.