I have an '88 Firebird. I bought the car from a guy who had done work to it, and I don't think he was very good at what he did. He dropped a different engine in the car and the stock cooling fan was not compatible, so he installed an electric fan. Through whatever avenues he took, the fan AND my instrument panel are wired to the fuse box into the ignition spots.

Now, I'm not at all mechanically savvy, but everyone who has looked at it said it was a bad idea that he direct-wired the fan and instrument panel to the fuse box. Nonetheless, I need my fan and instrument panel to work.

Both devices had stopped working and a friend of mine helped me get it repaired. A fuse was blown, and the wires from the previous owner's rigging had melted rubber all in the copper due to loose taping.

Anyway, that was yesterday, and I took it for a short (very short) drive and the gauges once again died and the fan stopped blowing. I used a circuit tester and have found that the ignition spots on my fuse box are not getting hot when I turn the key.

Can anyone tell me in a somewhat simple way how to remedy my problem?

 

You've probably blown a fusible link, or a wire on the back of the fuse panel ... by having the high amperage fan draw directly from the low amperage fuse panel. I'd check the wiring behind the fuse panel first for burnt/melted wires running to that IGN slot.

Now - for the fan.
1) 1988 cars did have an electric fan FYI
2) You really need to get a proper fan controlling device to turn the fan on and off as needed, rather than it running constantly. Why? a) fan does more harm than good at highway speeds (actually restricts airflow above about 45mph b) enegine takes longer to get up to temp, thus it's running rich and wasting gas c) why burn up fan motors running them constantly?
3) fan controllers are available for as little as about $40 from any auto parts store. Nicer ones available from Summit for as much as $200 - just depends on the bells and whistles you desire, and what your wallet can stand. I run a Flex-a-lite $100 controller that is fully adjustable, easy to wire, and has worked flawlessly for over 5 years now.
4) To "just get by", you should install a relay if nothing else, so that the fan gets direct battery voltage without running high amperage wiring into the car's interior (begging for a fire - your lucky you still have a car now).

To wire a relay, buy any standard auto relay (SPDT) at parts store for $9. You need some small guage wire (like 18) and large guage (like 10). Relay will have 5 terminals on it, marked 85, 86, 87, 7a, and 30. Wire as follows:

85 = any hot in run source - can tap into any wire that gets 12v+ while car is "ON" - use an 18 guage wire here
86 - any ground source - 18 guage again - just connect to any car metal
87 - 10 guage wire from relay OUT to fan positive wire
87a - not used
30 - 10 guage wire from battery to relay - can get battery power from the power distribution block between the battery and the radiator, or from the battery pos post, or from starter.

You turn car on, relay gets 12v+ from the hot-in-run tapped wire, and relay is grounded on 86, so it "activates", which switches the battery power coming in on 30 from 87a to 87 - 87a not used, 87 is your fan. All this can be done under the hood, so no high amp wires going inside car.

Can have a switch as an option - can wire the switch to the terminal 86 wire, so that the relay never gets the ground until you flip the switch. That way, your running a ground wire into the car, and not a hot wire.

Dash lights - shouldn't matter on these - they draw very little amperage, so having them connected inside the car to a hot-in-run source (like the IGN port on fuse panel) is fine.

 

Thanks for the help! I really appreciate you putting it simply for me.