hey,


I have the duel flex-a-lite fans on my car, they stoped working. i thought i diagnosed it to be the relay. i have the derale 16749. i bought a new relay at my local store. and when i put it in. the fans do not shut off at all. i pull the relay out. the fans stop. does this mean the actual female part of the relay is bad?
Im sorta confused about this. the only thing i can think of is that one of the prongs (female) was loose in the body of the panel. and it was not making contact. when i put the old relay on, nothing happens at all. im confused any insight would help

 

put it all the way on and drive it. watch the temp gauge and listen for the fans coming on. one of them should come on most of the time and when the ac is on. the other should come on about 180 to 210.

 

i understand what your saying. but there is no a/c and the fans should come on about 190 degrees. and shut off at 180 thats what usually happens. but yesterday the car started to over heat. and the fans would not come on . the relay was dead. i put the new one in and the fans dont stop at all. even with no key in the ignition and the engine cool, if i pulled the relay out they stop (obviously) . one of the contacts in the female part looks like its broken. im not sure why this would happen.

 

what yr is the car. u sound car smart so i assume u checked all the fuses. if its getting power when the key is off and car is cold something is not right. my 93 fans go off with the key no matter what the temp is so if u have a similar set up there is a wire crossed or shorted somewhere. could be in the plugin.

 

i seriously think it is a plug in at this point. because the fan runs with the ignition source not drawing any power. what i think is happening, in the relay block. something broke and is grounding the coil inside the panel. and causing it to run. my volt meters and test lights must have looked like a christmas tree. im just going to replace the entire thing. not one to be a parts chucker but at this point im fed up.

all the fuses and everything were fine. all the lines were drawing power when they should be (I.E. the ignition lead only got juice when ignition was on) all connections were fine. which tells me something in either the relay or the relay block is not rite. and the only way to fix that is replace the entire unit. ill let you know what happens when i replace the unit.

 

oh its a 78 bb 396. sorry forgot the mention that

 

check to see if u have power to the relay and sensor. get the old test light out and see what u find. if i remember right theres some posts on here about hooking up a manual switch and the best way to do it. try a search on manual fan switch and see what comes up. more than one fella on here has had the same problem and got tired of looking or couldnt find the problem.

 

Craby, I don't know if you realize that his fan setup is an aftermarket one with the Derale controller. 2nd gen's didn't come equipped with electric fans.
Bandit, what happens if you connect the two wires together that go to the engine temp sensor? That will bypass the sensor, at least for you to determine it it's bad or not. You know the fans work, so the problem is somewhere in the controls.

 

^^ thanks. learn a little more every day.

 

hey guys, i got a new control relay and module, same part number as the original but this one is much better. has a separate wiring harness, longer prong on the temp. sensors. and the other various things. i put it in. and BAM worked. so i took the old one opend it up. and the terminal for one of the prongs of the relay was sheared off. obviously causing my problem. so we got the fans back up and running on a much better unit. so all i have to do now is solder my connections and were off and running.... thanks for your input guys