Electrical Relay gremlins

[pezpilot]

Hello all,
While sitting in traffic I noticed the temperature gauge rising with the fans not coming on (manual override switch on). Luckily I was able to wait until it cooled and drove it safely home. Since the Blue Fan Fail relay was replaced with a basic jumper, I installed the fuse link from DMC. The fans worked and everything seemed good. Until a few days later. It started up great (new battery and it's on a trickle charge) but I quickly noticed the voltmeter was slowly dropping and the battery annunciator was flickering. Eventually the voltmeter stayed at around 10. On top of that when I switched on the fans, they didn't come on but the fuel gauge went up! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Sounds like your alternator died and now your battery is very low on charge.

[pezpilot]

Thanks Dave. I inspected the alternator more closely and found a big clue on the cause, a loose bolt. The washer was barely making contact. After tighting it I got it back to charging. However I still can't get the fans to come on manually and while driving the battery light will flash every so often. The trouble shooting continues.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Thanks Dave. I inspected the alternator more closely and found a big clue on the cause, a loose bolt. The washer was barely making contact. After tighting it I got it back to charging. However I still can't get the fans to come on manually and while driving the battery light will flash every so often. The trouble shooting continues.

Stock fans sometimes draw very large currents which can overwork some of the electrical connections and relay. Most of the relays are rated for 30 amps and stock fans can run to 30 amps or more. You can try swapping one of your headlight relays with the fan relay. Look at the fan relay socket and fan fail socket for overheated (melted plastic) areas.