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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Electric fan folks: carry spare relays!

Lots of us are running electric fans now, so a word to the wise: carry a couple of extra relays! Last night, far from home, I had my fan relay kick the bucket and I did not have a spare. It was alright on the highway but of course, in traffic, horrible. I had what I thought was the best type you could get, an AC Delco OEM unit, which is quite a bit more $$ than the cheesy things they sell at Pep Boys. I don't know what'd make a relay fail, but rather than wondering I believe the best answer is to carry a spare.
Ted

Ted,
On my MGAV8 I wired in a manual over ride switch just for that reason, and had to use it yesterday. I wired the switch right to the fan, bypassing the relay. I'll have to trouble shot it today, I don't know if it's the thermo switch or the realy. The relay is new with less then two hours on it.
Lyle
Lyle Jacobson

If you want a good relay, get what the police use in their cars. I found a wrecked cruiser recently at a salvage yard and gained 6, less than a year old, police issue relays.
Sorry I don't remember what make they were, they are at home now.
.

I'd suggest a 30Amp Bosch relay.

If you have a big fan, it will pull close to 20 amps. Most average auto relays are rated at 20 amps, so that's pushing it.
Michael Hartwig

My manual overide operates the relay not the fans, to avoid having to have big cables and switch. If the relay fails on the road it is a relatively simple matter to connect the battery and fan spades together, I would have thought.
Paul Hunt

Of course Paul Hunt is right. Here, most people find Bosch electrics superior and I have Bosch 30 amp relays on the fans and high beam. Concuring with Michael Hartwig.
Ian Buckley

After some checking, I found the relay was OK. It turned out to be the thermo switch that was bad. I have a 75 amp manual over ride switch with a 30 amp fuse and #10 wire going to the fan, works great. I'm replacing the thermo switch with a new one. The manual over ride switch is just a back up which I hope I never have to use. But if I,m ever stuck in Seattle traffic and lose the thermo switich or relay I'm all set.
Lyle
Lyle Jacobson

I wired the pushers and pullers with different circuits for just this reason. I had a Bosch 30A relay crap out too. Maybe there is a lot of load when the fans start up or something. So I put 40A units in there and they seem OK.
David

This thread was discussed between 29/04/2002 and 30/04/2002

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