Melted fuse

[mbouse]

if the draw is 13 amps and the fan was not on, i am betting lunch there is a shorted wire, or a bad fan motor.

if i am right, putting that situaion on a relay circuit only moves the issue and symptoms to another location. the relay cannot fix a shorted wire or a failed motor.

[So Cal Mark]

the relay is a cure for the poor fuse box design, nothing else. Just as the headlight relay upgrade cures the issue of running high amps thru the plastic switch. Early cars used a fan relay and the horn shared the fan fuse

[TulsaSpider]

The fan was on when I tested it and it was drawing the 13.25 amps. There was no draw with the fan off. I took out the fan and cleaned it thoroughly with contace cleaner and an emery cloth. The fan seemed in good shape. The fan is hooked up to a toggle switch (20A) for now because the rad switch is faulty. I used 10 guage wire and grounded it under the dash. Should I have grounded it closer to the fan? Would that cause heating? I just went and checked after about 2 min on I could put my finger on the fuse connection and it was hot, (I could leave my finger on there for 5 seconds or so) but not nearly as hot as before when the fuse was loose in there. It does seem to be the only thing on that circuit. So I could easily re-wire it. I have never set up a relay Mark, I might take that route. Can you explain the process and what I need to purchase to do that?
Thanks again!!
Clark

[So Cal Mark]

get a standard Bosch type 4 prong relay (your Spider uses them for everything). Two of the terminals are switched, the other two are the coil that turns the relay on. There will be a diagram on the side of the relay that identifies the terminals.
Take the power wire to the fan and connect it to one of the coil relay terminals. The other coil terminal goes to ground. The switched terminal goes to battery power ( you can get that at the alternator batt post or starter batt post) The other switched terminal connects to the fan. Once those 4 connections are made, power through the fuse merely activates the relay, and battery power goes to the fan. It only takes about 1 amp to power the relay, so your fuse box will last much longer

[TulsaSpider]

allright that sounds good thanks!!!!