Looks like fan died. Common? Diagnoses suggestions?

PhoenixGTS

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I've tried to love this car unconditionally for 3.5 years (98 GTS with updated 99+ fan), but honestly I think it is breaking me down. Every time I drive it, it is something. Today I went out in the perfect 75F weather to get some 303 Aerospace Protectant for the interior then on a little drive home through slow neighborhoods I check and the temp guage is closing in on the red. I get onto a 45 mph speed limit road and get up into 6th with barely any gas pedal and the car yanks 30F out very quickly. Looks like the fan is not working. Fuse looks OK so I guess I need to diagnose and/or get a new fan. F*#k this car. Seriously, I'm sick of it.
 

kcobean

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That almost sounds like a sticking Thermostat to me. Happened in an old Ford Probe I used to have. Have you confirmed that the fan isn't running at all?

And dude, I feel your pain. My crank damper has fallen off TWICE, the car completely shut down on me while I was giving a ride to a co-worker. I've had a coolant leak, a cylinder misfire problem (you want to talk about disappointed...pull 350 WHP on the dyno in front of a dozen other Viper owners), and my hatch won't lock if I open from the inside.

Once you get the bugs worked out and get some trouble-free road time in it, that "I hate this car" feeling will go away.
 

AFL in NJ

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PhoenixGTS,

Stick with it, I'm sure you'll find the cause, then its smooth sailing for years to come!!

Regards,
Aaron
 

Viper Wizard

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I've tried to love this car unconditionally for 3.5 years (98 GTS with updated 99+ fan), but honestly I think it is breaking me down. Every time I drive it, it is something. Today I went out in the perfect 75F weather to get some 303 Aerospace Protectant for the interior then on a little drive home through slow neighborhoods I check and the temp guage is closing in on the red. I get onto a 45 mph speed limit road and get up into 6th with barely any gas pedal and the car yanks 30F out very quickly. Looks like the fan is not working. Fuse looks OK so I guess I need to diagnose and/or get a new fan. F*#k this car. Seriously, I'm sick of it.

Before you condemn the fan, if it has an up-dated fan then someone had to make a new elc connection to make it work on your 98! Check that connection! Or it could be a fan relay? You can use one of the other relays in the PDC to test it. Also spin the fan by hand to be sure it's not stuck. If I can help further, give me a call.:cool:
914-763-3136
 

Burntrubber

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I've tried to love this car unconditionally for 3.5 years (98 GTS with updated 99+ fan), but honestly I think it is breaking me down. Every time I drive it, it is something. Today I went out in the perfect 75F weather to get some 303 Aerospace Protectant for the interior then on a little drive home through slow neighborhoods I check and the temp guage is closing in on the red. I get onto a 45 mph speed limit road and get up into 6th with barely any gas pedal and the car yanks 30F out very quickly. Looks like the fan is not working. Fuse looks OK so I guess I need to diagnose and/or get a new fan. F*#k this car. Seriously, I'm sick of it.

Bummer man, but how about this weather today! I had mine out for 2 hours, never went over 190*...I ahve a Ron Davis alum Radiator w/ upgraded fan

I saw a Yellow RT/10 on 67th by the 101 also!
 
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Chuck is correct; check the relays next to the jump post. I'm finding more of these relays going bad with the vehicles age. Even if they're not bad, inspect the relay's body, you may observe the body looking distorted or burned (another sign they are bad or getting there).

Best of luck!
 

PDCjonny

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I've tried to love this car unconditionally for 3.5 years (98 GTS with updated 99+ fan), but honestly I think it is breaking me down. Every time I drive it, it is something. Today I went out in the perfect 75F weather to get some 303 Aerospace Protectant for the interior then on a little drive home through slow neighborhoods I check and the temp guage is closing in on the red. I get onto a 45 mph speed limit road and get up into 6th with barely any gas pedal and the car yanks 30F out very quickly. Looks like the fan is not working. Fuse looks OK so I guess I need to diagnose and/or get a new fan. F*#k this car. Seriously, I'm sick of it.

You call that an issue? On my '98 with only 9K on it I had to have the clutch and flywheel replaced, have the tranny totally rebuilt and have the timing chain cover fixed caused it leaked oil like a sieve. Oh, and all out of pocket no warrenty...cha ching :2tu:
 
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PhoenixGTS

PhoenixGTS

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Chuck is correct; check the relays next to the jump post. I'm finding more of these relays going bad with the vehicles age. Even if they're not bad, inspect the relay's body, you may observe the body looking distorted or burned (another sign they are bad or getting there).

Best of luck!
My Dad is my electrical consultant. I invited him over for a diagnoses session tomorrow. I have a service manual so we can follow the suggestions there. Wizards thoughts on a connection modifications failure is a good bet given some of the poor workmanship I have previously discovered on the car.

As far as determining if the fan is running - since I had it cooled down pretty well from air flow I wanted to shut it down immediately once I got it in the garage. As a test I turned the ingition back on after I opened the hood up and the fan did not come on. IIRC the fan would come on when the ignition is in run mode and the temps are above the fan turn on parameter.

I have a great cooling system: PWR triple-pass aluminum radiator, overdrive water pump, and a 180F thermostat. Does a great job even in the summer here in the desert, and that it yanked so much temperature out of the car once I started moving through the air shows all the wet hardware is working fine. Gotta be that fan.
 
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Dave's Big Brakes

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Well here's my .019C (inflation):D

I've got almost 60,000 miles:omg: drive it every where:drive:I track it(not so much anymore 71 today) but due a lot of testing on my stuff.

You need to drive these cars:2tu::2tu::2tu: Did a 150 miles yesterday on our Polar Bear Run (85') :usa:

Going to Button Willow the end of this month:drive:

My point is DRIVE THESE CARS you'll enjoy them more:drive:

Big Brake Dave:drive:
 
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PhoenixGTS

PhoenixGTS

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Can't drive it without the radiator fan working Dave! :mad:

Good news is Dad and I found the problem and solved it even if temporarily. Wizard was correct (of course) that the updated fan required a splice in connector. However, the splice job was very nice, and oddly, the wire colors on the fan side of the splice matched my service manual. The ground wire on the harness side of the connected did however have no insulation where it went into the collector. Opened the connector and the ground female side had gotten hot and slightly melted the plastic of the connector. Jumped the fan and proved that it worked fine on both high and low. Checked the polarity of the ground wire through the harness side of the connector and surprise surprise, it was fine. "Adjusted" the contact in the female side of the connector, reassembled and it worked, so what we did was clean up the contacts fill the female side with some dielectric grease to help the contact, put it all back together and it is good to go. Looks like the slight melt moved the female contact just enough to prevent electrical flow. Put a little high temp silicone around the eighth inch of bare wire coming out of the female side of the connector. Still think I will call Paul Scharf and get a new-to-me connector and replace the whole thing, but subject to keeping close to home with an eye on the temp guage it looks like it is good to go for now.
 
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