when i first bought the car the guy had the fan hooked to aligator clips. everytime i went to go some where i had to put the clip on the battery. so i got tired of doing that after awhile and my buddy put a switch in the car for the fan. he ran a wire to the acessory fuse in the fuse panel and one to the fan. that worked for awhile then one day it didnt. checked were the wire ran to the fuse box and it got so hot i guess it burn the fuse fuse and 2 other ones up. so then i had a my other buddy wire the fan well he wired it to a switch again but ran a wire to the battery and one to the fan. well that worked for awhile then it melted the switch. so i went out got a new switch wired it. the fan turned on for like 5 seconds the slowly died. the fans dead now and i got a new one how can i get it to work right.

 

Buy a seperate fan controller and wire it in. They range from about $30 up to over $100. I run a Flex-a-lite controller, really nice unit, about $90 from Summit - but it's fully adjustable, has provisions for on/off switches, works with the A/C, and operates the fan initially at only 65% so it doesn't create a huge load on the electrical system.

But - if you insist on doing it yourself, you need to be using a relay! The fan needs to get direct power from the battery with decent gauge wiring (10ga, not 22ga), and then you use a smaller wire to send a small amperage current to activate the relay. But - in the end, you'll spend as much on wiring, connectors, relay, etc. as if you just went and bought a fan controller.

But below is a diag for wiring it yourself. Starting at left -

1) you need a 12v+ wire from fuse box to a switch - There is a single slot in the fuse panel marked IGN - crimp a standard 1/4inch male spade connector on a 18 gauge wire and stick it in that slot - that slot gets power only when the key is on.

2) The switch needs a ground - any wire to any metal under the dash where you put the switch.

3) Another 18ga wire from the switch, out to under the hood, connects to terminal 85 of the relay - this is sending 12v+ out from the switch to the relay to activate it.

4) the relay needs a ground, another 18ga wire from terminal 86 of the relay to any metal under the hood.

5) You need a 10ga wire from the battery (I use the power distribution block between the battery and the radiator) to terminal 30 of the relay.

6) another 10ga wire from terminal 87 of the relay to the fan - this connects to the fan wire that is black with a red stripe.

7) fan ground - this wire should already be grounded somewhere - but in case it's not - it's the solid black wire from the fan - it gets grounded to metal under the hood.

Operation: With key on, low amperage 12v+ runs from fuse panel to switch. You turn on the switch - this sends low amperage 12v+ from the switch out to the relay, which is already grounded, thus the relay "activates". Relay activation connects the high amp 12v+ directly from the battery to the fan on the large 10ga wire that can handle the amp load without melting. Terminal 87a is not used.

Make sense? No need for a fuse anywhere - the relay acts as a fuse for the fan, and the switch will never draw enough current to justify a fuse. When key is off, the IGN port won't get any power, so no risk of fan running and killing battery overnight. This uses a standard SPDT 30amp automotive relay available at any parts store.

Wiring = $10
Relay = $10
Crimper/connectors = $10

You've paid for a seperate fan controller almost already - that's why I stated it's easier to just go buy one.

Good luck!

*edit*

ANYTHING that you ever wire in a car, that uses a switch inside, but the 'unit' being wired (lights, fans, whatever) is outside, should ALWAYS use a relay - that way your not running high amperage loads across wires that go in/out of the firewall (which is a huge fire hazard).