Electrical Check on your GTS

Racer9007 · #1 09-30-2009, 09:41 AM

I have had several failures with a almost all of my customer cars in the last couple months. Please check your fan connection on the frame of the car, the Black flat connector, and replace your circuit breaker with a new one. These are failing and shorting out. First the fan stops working, "i.e.: you motor over heats", then the black connector melts and burns the harness.

Matt Crandall

Cobra4B · #2 09-30-2009, 12:16 PM

Our GTRA has a similar type relay... ours failed and was getting super hot. Fan wouldn't work. All is fixed now, but was very annoying.

David Eastman · #3 10-01-2009, 06:28 AM

Fixed that problem last year. I removed the fan and all the wiring. Saved about 25 lbs. The car never gets over 185.

David

feqrags · #4 10-01-2009, 06:43 AM

same deal just rewired 50 amp relay, new ends bigger wire, cleaned the flat black connector and wired in a switch in cab. but do need the fan if sitting in a line with the engine running, will go over 185 temp. also found short between the alternator and the rocker cover--pinched wire. and i thought i was the only one...

Jim woodruff · #5 10-01-2009, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feqrags

same deal just rewired 50 amp relay, new ends bigger wire, cleaned the flat black connector and wired in a switch in cab. but do need the fan if sitting in a line with the engine running, will go over 185 temp. also found short between the alternator and the rocker cover--pinched wire. and i thought i was the only one...

No I had the same problem w/the wc car and also the street Lincoln I had. I have rewired the connector also.

Cobra4B · #6 10-01-2009, 08:34 PM

Yeah I most definately need the fan... w/ the modded 302 it'll overheat when sitting at idle in the pits. W/ the fan on it stays in the 190s.

jmimac351 · #7 10-02-2009, 10:56 PM

You sit and idle in the pits? Are you trying to kill yourself or are you BBQ'ing something?

A buddy pulled the fan in his and he has no trouble. He has heads, etc. At first I wasn't sure about it but I did it to mine and it's a non issue. Don't even think about it.

jmimac351 · #8 10-02-2009, 11:00 PM

I also had the same issue with the little black circuit breaker that came with the black magic fan in my cobra roadster. I yanked it and replaced it with a 30 amp fuse (I think) and it was never a problem again.

KISS.

David Eastman · #9 10-03-2009, 08:22 AM

Bryan,

Idling in the pits has no pros only cons. You are useing fuel, engine wear, putting false hours on the car, and contributing to Globle Warming. As of this week the 2016 summer Olympic will be the last do to Globle Warming. The next time I see Al Gore I am going to report you.

David

eric1h · #10 10-04-2009, 07:41 AM

I am with David, I pulled the fan, no more electrical problems with it!

Racer9007 · #11 10-04-2009, 10:52 AM

I have to chime and say on a GTS car do not pull the fan, and if you say that you don't need it and you don't warm you car up in in the pits or on the pre-grid, that is just as bad for the car. The Oil is way to thick and to high of oil pressure to go out not totally warm. You can cold seize parts. The GTS motor has enough issues that not cooling is bad enough. Another item that is good to do is increase your Radiator cap pressure to a higher one so that you don't get a air pocket from loosing fluid.

Wess-RA · #12 10-10-2009, 03:28 PM

Matt where were you when I needed you.

A few weeks ago I was fighting an overheating problem and electrical problems on my GTS. Among other fixes my mechanic removed the fan, but later we discovered a head gasket problem which ultimately solved the problem. I was disagreeing with him on removing the fan but he won out on the discussion. His argument, based on him being a pilot, was that when you pull power to an airplane you instantly feel drag from the prop. That is the same principal he applied to this scenario. His statement was that you set the car up for driving speeds, and that it is easy to manage temps on pre grid by shutting down the engine. He said that none of the race cars he managed over the years had fans. Now you have me wondering again.

panozracing · #13 10-10-2009, 03:58 PM

LEAVE THE FAN INSTALLED. Sometimes you might overheat a starter and need to idle on the grid in additional to all the things Racer9007 said. Find a new race shop.

Racer9007 · #14 10-10-2009, 06:02 PM

GTS need fans! the car needs the air flow, it is not much of a radiator and the oil cooler also needs the air flow, although not as much. Also if you car is jetted lean at all it is very easy to overheat. We also had bleeders put in the back of the intake manifolds to get any excess air out of the heads that build pockets.

Wess-RA · #15 10-10-2009, 07:07 PM

OK, I will be talking to my mechanic on this, to get it reinstalled.

However since we are talking about the cooling systems......

Here is my newly installed power steering reservoir (dry sump)

My new self burping (highest point) coolant overflow reservoir. In an overheat condition, the stock one dumps all the overflow from the plastic container directly onto the belts thereby compounding the beauty of losing not only the coolant, but also the water pump and the power steering pump. The belts slip and destroy themseves instantly. This happened to me while turning a corner. Brilliant design!

Here is a view of the racing power steering pump. My other one was running extremely rough. At one time we thought it may have been contributing to the belt slippage problem, but hey how could we be sure; we kept fighting wet belts!

Also a new water pump. The one I took out was a complete piece of crap. Everyone with one of those should be removing it. It was "as cast" (low quality sand casting), with no passage way machining. the clearances were so big I could stick my finger between the impeller and the cast passages at any location (literally). The replacement is cast with the passages machined to a clearance tolerance (novel concept eh!) and has a squirrel cage type of impeller which actually pushes the water through. The original one used a sheetmetal formed and poorly designed impellar which undoubtedly cavitated at speeds. I confirmed a truly poor circulation through various rev ranges, which is easily done by looking into the new aluminum overflow canister as it is plumbed that way from the thermostat housing, also seen here. (I also removed that and put in a restrictor plate, eliminating that variable) The new pump has a confirmed active water pressure. I tested it before and after waterpump installation.

Next to install is an all aluminium radiator and a higher pressure cap which completes the system redesign. The radiator gets replaced because of the suggestion that if the plastic sides blow, it will immediately cost the price of a new engine.

So bottom line is there are several parts to this equation that need to be adressed to make it right. I learned this the hard way-through some spoiled track days. Hopefully this will help some of you guys out.

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