Flex-A-Lite Black Magic fan broken terminals..Any one else?

Turbo4Runner · 10-09-2007, 11:57 AM

So I went wheeling last weekend up by Idaho Springs and just as I got done and was driving through town to get back on the highway, I noticed my coolant temp is much hotter then normal. I pull over and noticed my electric fan is not running.

The wiring harness has 4 female connectors and the fan itself has 5 male connectors.

Well the one for 12v constant power to the fan had melted off of the fan's board and stuck inside the plug on the wiring harness.

I was not able to do a road side repair so I rolled down all the windows put the heater on full blast and nursed her home.

The really scary part is, there was a 12v line dangling around inside the engine bay with exposed metal. I'm lucky it didn't do more damage. The harness was zip tied so it couldn't move that much but there was grounded metal withing reaching distance.

My question is, has any one else run into this problem? I wasn't wheeling all that hard and even so I don't really know how the connector un-soldered itself from the board.

I am going to take it all apart tonight and see what I can do to fix the fan, but it raises some question of quality. If I can't fix it, I'm not sure if I want the same thing to replace it as this is obviously a very bad thing to have fail.

I'm sure other people are running Flex-A-Lite's... Are you running the "Black Magic" model or some other series? Any other brands I should consider if I'm not comfortable with the repair capability?

Thanks!
Ben

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ocdropzone · 10-09-2007, 12:04 PM

I believe that you can solder a new connection to it, but first you need to find what caused the over load to make it melt. Why did the inline fuse not do it job and prevent the meltdown?

always carry some zip ties for roadside repair

Turbo4Runner · 10-09-2007, 12:21 PM

I don't understand why the inline fuse didn't pop either... And the wiring WAS zip tied so it couldn't bounce around hardly at all (when plugged in there was about 1/2" of play in the wire only when it fell out did it have enough play to potentially touch metal). I had zip ties with me and I was able to put the wire safely out of the way for the drive home.. I could not perform road side repairs because the place where I was supposed to have the power plugged in into the fan was no longer connected to the fan.

And of course just after I post I find a related one....
http://www.yotatech.com/f123/e-fan-warning-116051/

frodin1 · 10-09-2007, 12:27 PM

This seems to be a common problem with these electric fans. I was considering one, but the guy who was selling it, had the same issue. So what gives? Can the wiring harness just not handle the load?

Turbo4Runner · 10-09-2007, 12:35 PM

I think in my case the issue was not the harness but the board itself.

Turbo4Runner · 10-13-2007, 10:12 PM

So for reference what I did to fix it was simply remove all of the cheap flex-a-lite control guts and wired in my own relay and switch and ran the fan directly. This allows for much higher gauge wire and stronger connections then the dinky stuff that came on there.

10-09-2007, 12:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
ocdropzone Contributing Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: PDX, OR Posts: 4,711	I believe that you can solder a new connection to it, but first you need to find what caused the over load to make it melt. Why did the inline fuse not do it job and prevent the meltdown? always carry some zip ties for roadside repair __________________ ~Robb '81 Trekker The B4Runner Build TREKKER Forum Mini FAQ/Misc Ideas Thread TRY THESE SEARCH LINKS GOOGLE FOR TOYOTA WEBSITES LINK TO ONLINE FACTORY SERVICE MANUALS Drive a real 1st Gen Wheel Responsibly, Don't Screw It Up for Others

10-09-2007, 12:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Turbo4Runner Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver, Co Posts: 254	I don't understand why the inline fuse didn't pop either... And the wiring WAS zip tied so it couldn't bounce around hardly at all (when plugged in there was about 1/2" of play in the wire only when it fell out did it have enough play to potentially touch metal). I had zip ties with me and I was able to put the wire safely out of the way for the drive home.. I could not perform road side repairs because the place where I was supposed to have the power plugged in into the fan was no longer connected to the fan. And of course just after I post I find a related one.... http://www.yotatech.com/f123/e-fan-warning-116051/ Last edited by Turbo4Runner; 10-09-2007 at 12:24 PM.

10-09-2007, 12:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
frodin1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: NOW, Havasu! Posts: 1,066	This seems to be a common problem with these electric fans. I was considering one, but the guy who was selling it, had the same issue. So what gives? Can the wiring harness just not handle the load? __________________ Pioneer HU, Audiobahn 10.100watt Sub, Sirius, Cobra NWWXST CB W/ K40, Wolo Air horn, K&N FIPK,Tokico Trekmasters,Tundra TRDs, Revtec spacers w/extended studs,Energy bushings on steering rack /front swaybar,SS front diff. drop kit w/skid plate mod,OME 890 Rears with OEM LC Tokicos,Ebrake ext. bracket, BFG AT/KO's, ProComp 1078 Alloys, Magnaflow SS muffler, Hayden 1678 Tranny Cooler, 85watt Amber fogs, 7 Way R/V plugin.

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10-09-2007, 12:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
Turbo4Runner Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver, Co Posts: 254	I think in my case the issue was not the harness but the board itself.

10-13-2007, 10:12 PM	#6 (permalink)
Turbo4Runner Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver, Co Posts: 254	So for reference what I did to fix it was simply remove all of the cheap flex-a-lite control guts and wired in my own relay and switch and ran the fan directly. This allows for much higher gauge wire and stronger connections then the dinky stuff that came on there.