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Electric fan went bad in less than one year

3K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  beech2000 
#1 ·
My Taurus (dorman) electric fan purchased from Amazon last spring died. Both the low and the high has 4800 ohms. When I beat on it it changes but still no go.
I feel running it all the time has cause it to prematurely fail. I guess I'm going to have to wire in some sort of temperature cut out.
Anyone have quality issues with the dorman Taurus electric fans?
 
#2 ·
I have a Dorman fan to a Durango in my van. It has been on constantly anytime the van is running for however many years. I use them for everyone's cars I repair. Hondas Toyotas. I will work on anything. Never had a issue.

I think it was just a fluke. But check the ground connections. The plug in connection for corrosion. Bad grounds and connections will burn up a electric motor. Voltage goes down. Amperage goes up welder spark deal. It gets them hot in the windings if there a issue like that.
 
#3 ·
check for high impedance on the power supply side too. I wired mine into the relays incorrectly and melted down the feed wire and took out the fan in a similar fashion. Once I figured out the relay wiring, no more problems ( never tripped a fuse-it melted into the holder built into the feed wire! )
 
#5 ·
The majority of the affordable fans have brushed motors. The brushes wear out pretty dang quick. Add to that just about none are waterproof so the bearings and windings get nasty. I've had so many fail now that I consider them a regular maintenance item and always have spares on hand. Mine are variable speed controlled and only turn on above a a certain temp, not constantly running.
 
#6 ·
My electric fan on my Gen 1 is wired to a "bypass relay" that gets it's signal from the 4th gear switch in the transmission. As soon as I hit 37mph and above (4th gear)... power to my fan shuts off.

The air coming through my 3300cfm fan calculates to the equivalent of about 30mph... so it's operation is not necessary above that speed. That air-speed pulled by the fan is even slower when you spread that across a shroud over a larger area.

I haven't found an "automatic" way to bypass the fan on my Gen II yet... but I do have a "highway switch" that manually bypasses the fan signal from the A/C. In this case, the thermostat still has final over-ride control.

As far as your fan failure... it's most likely just a case of being unlucky. Those factory fans are designed for decades of use. As far as aftermarket goes... I have never had a "Flex-a-Lite" fan fail.. and I have and have had a few. They cost a little more, but well worth it. The cheap Chinese fans that my Gen II came with (add-ons) both failed within the first year.

Sounds like you might just need a simple thermal controller for the fan operation, if you aren't already doing so. Here's what I'm using on both my vans... cheap $19 and works well. But still wire it thru a relay.
https://www.amazon.com/Hayden-Automotiv ... entries*=0
"Advance Auto" has them in stock.

or search "Hayden 3653 Thermostatic Fan Control" (if links don't work)
https://www.google.com/search?q=Hayden+ ... e&ie=UTF-8

 
#7 ·
I used that controller with no issues other than adding extra crap to the engine bay to work around. I installed the controller on the core support next to the upper radiator hose. Never had an issue with it, and made a jumper to bypass it in case something went awry ( though I fixed that issue when I re wired my high speed manual switch...)
 
#10 ·
Old fan:
IMG_1059.600.jpg

New fan:
IMG_2392.600.jpg

Old fan (even with shroud) only covered about 60% or so of radiator
New fan (higher 3300 CFM and larger shroud area) now covers about 90% of radiator!

This makes a HUGE cooling difference with idling and low speed driving.. as well as much improved A/C performance! Current draw at FULL rated output less than 20 amps.
These fans are built well and last!

Personally... I HIGHLY recommend the Flex-a-Lite 188 fan!!!

Got mine new thru "Advance Auto" with a 30% online discount!
Search for discount codes.
 
#11 ·
chevymaher said:
I have a Dorman fan to a Durango in my van. It has been on constantly anytime the van is running for however many years. I use them for everyone's cars I repair. Hondas Toyotas. I will work on anything. Never had a issue.

I think it was just a fluke. But check the ground connections. The plug in connection for corrosion. Bad grounds and connections will burn up a electric motor. Voltage goes down. Amperage goes up welder spark deal. It gets them hot in the windings if there a issue like that.
Fluke is what I'm going with. Electric fans are the new norm. Besides I tried several junk yard mechanical combos today and radiator is to far away. Shroud is a half version due to lifting. (Upper only). I did find my water pump leaking during the process and the 6 port heater valve busted as well so more work than I thought. Might try warranty but wife says much older than a year. Plus I cut the connector off. Wonder how that will work out for me and warranty ??? :lol:
 

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#12 ·
beech2000 said:
Might try warranty but wife says much older than a year. Plus I cut the connector off. Wonder how that will work out for me and warranty ??? :lol:
My warranty on mine is lifetime. I ask when I bought it if any of this voided it. I told them I was cutting the plug off and it was going into my van. They said they didn't care as long as it stayed on the vehicle I originally bought it for. So depending on your parts place workers it is worth a shot.
 
#13 ·
chevymaher said:
My warranty on mine is lifetime. I ask when I bought it if any of this voided it. I told them I was cutting the plug off and it was going into my van. They said they didn't care as long as it stayed on the vehicle I originally bought it for. So depending on your parts place workers it is worth a shot.
No doubt. I think I bought from Amazon. Checking now. Is the life time warranty a dorman thing?
 
#15 ·
Amazon / Dorman warranties look to be none. I haven't called them yet but there are several similar denied claims by Amazon (Dorman) on the web. Some of which are more recent than mine. I probably won't be buying Auto Parts from Amazon again.
 
#17 ·
chevymaher said:
Advanced auto has good warentees on parts. They never give me lip on getting parts replaced. And we talking about 4 year old brakes which were out.
Me I figure I got my moneys worth and just buy them again. But one of my customers is a penny pincher.
What fan you running Maher?
 
#19 ·
beech2000 said:
Amazon / Dorman warranties look to be none. I haven't called them yet but there are several similar denied claims by Amazon (Dorman) on the web. Some of which are more recent than mine. I probably won't be buying Auto Parts from Amazon again.
Ya the Internet is a tempting place for parts price wise but no question in person/in store is great for service. I like supporting locally owned, just always costs more :roll:
 
#20 ·
Back together. Water pump AZ, and another Dorman 620-101 from AZ as well. I'm getting used to cutting the connector off.
I was thinking about letting AZ do the warranty on the faulty one and that way I could have a spare. Nothing to loose. Thoughts?
 
#21 ·
redfury said:
btw, there should be a warranty you can pop on that fan if you act soon enough..
Some have already tried with Amazon but 1 year for Dorman and Amazon. I'm just over. Bought another this morning from AZ. I am going to let them handle a warranty claim so I can have a spare. They'll certainly have more pull with Dorman products warranties than I.
 
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