Thanks Eaglecollector, I'll try that also[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Hawk, two things. First, did you see a current rating on the new fan motor? How does it compare with the old fan motor? Second, fans, like all motors will draw a much larger than normal amount of current during "start-up", and then settle down to some nominal current as indicated on the motor. This inrush is normal and must be accounted for in the fuse. A "slow blow" fuse would be such a device which will permit brief excessive amounts of current, allowing your fan to come up to speed and the current to settle back. BUT, like someone has already mentioned, simply oversizing the fuse until the problem goes away is not a good ideal. Sizing the fuse to the load would be the first step, though you must also verify that the wiring is properly sized for the new fan. Of course, this could all be irrelevant if you find that you nicked your wire during replacement and it is simply shorting to ground when it attempts to start. I do doubt this though, since you say your fan turns just before the fuse blows. Hope this helps,
sssr

 

SSSR, the new fan appeared to be the same exact fan, same brand, markings and wiring terminal so I assume that the current draw would be the same although I wounn't swear to it. I hope that they, the company SPAL, had just improved the fan. I had thought the same thing and that is why I went up one the fuse size, just to see if it would stay on. I haven't seen anybody else in the forum say that they were having this problem and so I really didn't think that that would be it.

 

The use of breakers, as someone else mentioned, should have the effect of a "slow blow" fuse since these things trip due to a thermal sensor inside the device. The thermal type of trip device is a delayed trip, and should allow any high inrush load to stabalize without tripping. It is curious though that the problem didnt start until you replaced your fan...something must be different, even if it does appear to be the same. Perhaps ther is a nicked wire....dunno. Either way, good luck with it and let us know what you find. BTW, why did you replace the fan if the replacement is the same thing? Just curious.
sssr

 

sssr, I bought my DS from the original owner that is a good friend of mine. The DS only had about 5 hours on it. I had never heard the fan come on. We were riding some trails and not really riding that fast and the red light came on. I thought I must be low on oil because I hadn't been abusing it. On the way home I got to thinking about it and figured out that it must have gotten hot because it didn't have any air moving through the radiator. I don't think the stock fan every worked. I asked Mike if he had ever heard it and he said no. When I took it off to replace it, it would start to work if you would spin it while it had current to it but even then it ran very slowly.

 

WELL ????????

 

Too bad your buddy never took it to the dealer while it was under warranty still so they could figure it out. (Assuming it NEVER worked...) I'd be willing to bet there is some part that needs to be replaced. It sounds like you are on the right track though, good luck & let us know how it goes. I'll be buying a SPAL fan soon for my 2001 DS650 & I'm curious to know the outcome of your situation.
Before I replace the fan on my 2001 I'm going to make some sort of bracket or something to mount the fan similar to how the 2002 & newer DS' fans are mounted.

 

notice that the fan does not fit into the frame exactly perfect, and when you tighten the nuts on the fan to hold it in, they pull and bind the fan housing. shims need to be used to fit the fan perfect prior to tightening of the nuts, or else the fan frame being pulled and binded will cause the fan to hang up, blow fuses, and eventually destroy the new again.
god, I can't believe somebody actually said to use a bigger fuse. if a fuse blows, it did its job that was intended.

 

It was the new fan after all. I bypassed the thermostat switch and it still blew the fuses so I unplugged the fan from the wiring harness again and hooked a battery straight to the fan with a fuse in the mocked up power line and it blew the fuse. I did this to make sure it wasn't in the bike wiring. I called Offroadwarehouse where I bought it from and they called Spal. I had only been to the dunes one time with the new fan. Offroad had me call Spal direct and Joe there told me Bombardier knew they had a design flaw in the earlier models, that they were mounted to stiff, no shock absorbtion, and that the earlier mounting system would shake the small wires inside the fan that connect to the brushes apart. Joe told me he would warranty it one time but that I needed to rubber mount it somehow. I still don't know how it ran so long Saturday when I checked it but I didn't have a fuse inline either. I felt the heat deflecter on the fan after it ran and it didn't seem hot. When I got the fan off the DS, I checked it again and it would not even turn over now. Thanks for everybodies input and advise. This forum is very helpful.