I kind of figured when I popped the blades off and saw how black some of the windings were. I put in 2 new fans and new fuses, everything is fine now, until the next time it gets buried in the mud I imagine. We debated the idea of converting it over to a mechanical fan, because its the same water pump so it has the threaded hub on the end, but were worried about how the truck computer would react because its programmed to have the electric fans. probably a check engine light, along with overheat codes as well as the fan codes. I'm sure it could be programmed out in some way, because you can buy the same truck with a mechanical fan, not sure how much it would cost, but at $200 a fan, 5 bucks a fuse, and an hour to r&r the fan assembly, worth it?
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2003 Chevrolet Silverado 4.8l w/4.56 gears
2002 Chevrolet Silverado 5.3l
2001 Chevrolet Silverado 6.0l eclb