i have recently installed a brand new champion radiator to replace my stock one that had a hole in it. i decided to get their recommended e fan kit that goes with, and i am having a problem with the relay. i installed a light to show when the fans are actually getting power, and so far they have not turned on via the relay through the thermostat switch supplied with the kit. i also wire a switch in the cab to turn the on manualy, but as soon as i put the relay in nothing. i can remove the relay and bypass the circuit by jumping from my manual sitch in the cab directly to the fans, and works fine. this is a brand new kit. has anyone else have problems with their relays going bad?
electric fans help
- Thread starter Goose_ss4
- Start date
Not sure what kit you mean we just buy the rads
, however you should be able to test the relay manually by connecting it to power and ground along with a switch with power to activate it.What type of relay is it, is it a Bosch normal square relay about 1" cube?
Pictures of Fans and relay are appreciated.
Al
onebadiditurbo
Full Access Member
You may not be reaching temps high enough to energise. Especially if u still have the original clutch fan installed. only working hard has any of my idi's ever give a hint of running a lil hotter than normal. probably temp is set 180-190 on the electric fan setup you may install a rheostat instead of the thermostat so you can control it more presisly
NO_SPRK
User & Abuser
it is the champion kit that i think most people use here. the fans are on the engine side. dont think anyone would run pusher fans on a diesel. it is a bosch relay about one inch cube black.
i can manualy turn on and off my fans without the relay installed via the switch i put inside the cab, and jumping it from the hot from the switch to the fan motors.
i can manualy turn on and off my fans without the relay installed via the switch i put inside the cab, and jumping it from the hot from the switch to the fan motors.
I go back to are you sure it's the relay? Not really much that can go wrong with a simple cube relay. I'd be looking at the temp switch and test it. My bet is that it is either set at the wrong temp or it is faulty. Without seeing what you have excatly I would say this. The temp swithc is just that a switch. you should be able to jump across the wires going to it and the relay pull in. Alternatively, like Al said. Put 12V across the coil legs on the relay and it should click to pull the switch closed.
Okay, I just went and looked up that kit. I assume this is it:
http://www.championradiators.com/Thermostat-Relay-Kit-185/170o
Since the temp switch is a one piece one wire hook up, I'm assuming it makes contact to ground when it gets hot. You can check this by warming the truck up and checking for continuity bewteen the spade lug on the sensor and the battery ground. Alternatively you can just pull the wire off the sensor and ground it with the key on and the fan should kick on. The key on power is supplying the + side of teh coil and teh temp switch the -. Touching the grey wire to ground with the key on should start the fans if not, you may have a bad rely but that is a few dollar fix from a parts store. Looks like a standard automotive style.
I'm not a big fan of this setup. There is no adjustability. Hope that helps.
http://www.championradiators.com/Thermostat-Relay-Kit-185/170o
Since the temp switch is a one piece one wire hook up, I'm assuming it makes contact to ground when it gets hot. You can check this by warming the truck up and checking for continuity bewteen the spade lug on the sensor and the battery ground. Alternatively you can just pull the wire off the sensor and ground it with the key on and the fan should kick on. The key on power is supplying the + side of teh coil and teh temp switch the -. Touching the grey wire to ground with the key on should start the fans if not, you may have a bad rely but that is a few dollar fix from a parts store. Looks like a standard automotive style.
I'm not a big fan of this setup. There is no adjustability. Hope that helps.
vegas39
Full Access Member
Hope you don't live anywhere that gets too hot, I don't think those champion fans are near enough the airflow we need for these trucks. I know they would never work in my neck of the woods.
A friend gave me a fan kit from his Duramax, he paid 600 for the kit and them damn things wouldn't keep my truck near cool enough.
A friend gave me a fan kit from his Duramax, he paid 600 for the kit and them damn things wouldn't keep my truck near cool enough.
justinray
Contributor
I feel like you may be wrong, since I've driven my truck daily, hauled 6-8000 lbs regularly in Tx heat, and have heard my fan lock up twice. The fans don't have to move air very often, or move very much air if all else is working well.
+1 on this one. I realize it's hotter in Nevada than it is here in the NorthWest, but I ran without a fan at all for two years, including some heavy loads in the summer heat. The only shortcoming was I couldn't run the air conditioning unless I was going down the road. If you have a clean radiator (inside and out) I think you'll be surprised how well the stock IDI cooling system works. I put an electric fan in my truck and I never use it unless I'm parked with the a/c on.
Test the relay, your fans are good you've tested them, and you should be able to energize the relay coil with the sensor wire and make the fans come on. Look at the relay and the socket, it should have a little schematic on it, but I am guessing (don't take my word for it, verify the wiring on your relay/harness) you may only have to ground the sensor wire to make the fans turn on manually. Lots of new cars actually energize the fans temporarily when you first turn the key, it's a diagnostic test that shows the fans are good and that you're ECM is "talking to" your cooling system.
Good luck, I'm betting you've got something really simple wrong, you'll find it with a little patience/work.
YOU are the first person I have read about that bought the fans for the champion rad. Most just replace their rad and be done!!!!
We need pics of this setup...this thread is useless without pics
