FIRST RUN
- Thread starter Tinman875
- Start date
Tinman875
Full Access Member
Ok the results on my first trip. went like this 
On the hills i noticed that she was gettin a little warm so when I stopped for fuel I checked her out to find that one of my new fans had quit. I started to diagnose her and figured out one of my relays went bad. So I hooked both fans up to the good relay, burning it out in a matter of seconds. Now feeling stranded again and getting more and more mad, I had a guy come over and offer me a ride to a parts store. I gladly accepted! Buying a pack of 10ga wire and a inline fuse and a pack of connectors ($20) cause they did not have any relays (go figure) I was planning on just wiring them direct to the battery till I got home. I got back to the rig and he ask me if I was ok on my own now, and I told him "yep thanks". I turned around to open my door to pop my hood and I had locked my keys in my truck!!!!
My day was going well, and yes it was a monday. So I went into the Flyin J and ask for someone to help me. I nice guy gladly searched the place till he found an old antennae off of a magnet style cb and helped me out. An hour later we were in. I had just bareley clicked my door shut so it made it a little easier, but I never new how hard it would be to move a lock switch with a wire!! Ok now back to the fan job, as I was waiting for the guy in the J, i found that they sell relays!! Ok now I am back in business. I plugged the relays back in and they were both working! $40 later, I got back on the road and about 20 mins down the road i could smell something.. the smell of wires burning. As soon as I could, I stopped. The same fan quit again, so I hooked it up direct to the battery to find that it would barely move. So my conclusion is that the fan was going bad pulling too many amps and caused the relay to fail. I managed to make it to Fresno on one fan. It would do well on small hills and on the straights, and Donnor passs in NV was at 30 deg and snowing. I woke up the next morning to find antifreeze on the ground. Now I was real upset, ready to trade her off for a 06 duramax!! I did keep my cool enough to find that the fan that was working bored a hole in the radiator!! After pinching the one core shut and adding a bottle of Bars stop leak, and shiming out the fan I was on my way ( 3hours later). I did manage to deliver and make it home ok after that, now my radiator is going in the shop tomorrow, and I had called summit while on the road and had a new set of fans delivered. Broke down again. I am getting real sick of this truck!! Sheesh, I have no luck anymore. If your curious, I got 20 mpg empty and 10 pullin. I was down to 50 miles an hour on the larger hills. I have the chip in the stock location on the 60hp/ 200 ft lbs. I know I have a real unique, good running truck now and I just need to work out the bugs but I am gettin real sick of lookin at her!! 
On the hills i noticed that she was gettin a little warm so when I stopped for fuel I checked her out to find that one of my new fans had quit. I started to diagnose her and figured out one of my relays went bad. So I hooked both fans up to the good relay, burning it out in a matter of seconds. Now feeling stranded again and getting more and more mad, I had a guy come over and offer me a ride to a parts store. I gladly accepted! Buying a pack of 10ga wire and a inline fuse and a pack of connectors ($20) cause they did not have any relays (go figure) I was planning on just wiring them direct to the battery till I got home. I got back to the rig and he ask me if I was ok on my own now, and I told him "yep thanks". I turned around to open my door to pop my hood and I had locked my keys in my truck!!!!
My day was going well, and yes it was a monday. So I went into the Flyin J and ask for someone to help me. I nice guy gladly searched the place till he found an old antennae off of a magnet style cb and helped me out. An hour later we were in. I had just bareley clicked my door shut so it made it a little easier, but I never new how hard it would be to move a lock switch with a wire!! Ok now back to the fan job, as I was waiting for the guy in the J, i found that they sell relays!! Ok now I am back in business. I plugged the relays back in and they were both working! $40 later, I got back on the road and about 20 mins down the road i could smell something.. the smell of wires burning. As soon as I could, I stopped. The same fan quit again, so I hooked it up direct to the battery to find that it would barely move. So my conclusion is that the fan was going bad pulling too many amps and caused the relay to fail. I managed to make it to Fresno on one fan. It would do well on small hills and on the straights, and Donnor passs in NV was at 30 deg and snowing. I woke up the next morning to find antifreeze on the ground. Now I was real upset, ready to trade her off for a 06 duramax!! I did keep my cool enough to find that the fan that was working bored a hole in the radiator!! After pinching the one core shut and adding a bottle of Bars stop leak, and shiming out the fan I was on my way ( 3hours later). I did manage to deliver and make it home ok after that, now my radiator is going in the shop tomorrow, and I had called summit while on the road and had a new set of fans delivered. Broke down again. I am getting real sick of this truck!! Sheesh, I have no luck anymore. If your curious, I got 20 mpg empty and 10 pullin. I was down to 50 miles an hour on the larger hills. I have the chip in the stock location on the 60hp/ 200 ft lbs. I know I have a real unique, good running truck now and I just need to work out the bugs but I am gettin real sick of lookin at her!! Wyatt Earp
Diesel Geek
Oh man that sucks!
I've read in several places that they cannot move enough air to keep everything in order. ( radiator, intercooler, A/C condenser,etc.)
no doubt, ditch the electric fans asap and get the oem fan and clutch, they work perfectly. then again, those engines fit tight in the 3rd gens, so i can only imagine how tight it is in the 01. i would do some serious measuring though and see if you can run an oem fan though.
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