So based on the information I read here and on some first hand experience, I ordered and installed the Flex-a-Lite fans on my 05 DMax. I ordered them from Jegs for about $500. Install went well except for the transmission control module mount but I worked around it.

So here's the good part, today while running around at lunch...I noticed my A/C start to blow real warm when I was stopped....it would come and go...after about 15 min of this on and off...I noticed the engine and tranny start to warm up suddenly. I pulled over and popped the hood. From inside the cab I could see the Flex-a-Lite fans were not running and I saw smoke coming from somewhere under the hood. I immediately shut the truck off and grabbed my fire extinguisher, ran around opened the hood all the way and followed the smoke to the 30 amp fuse block for the Fans......it was completely melted and smoking. I grabbed some wire cutters and cut the wire feeding the fuse block because it was still getting juice. I'll post pics tomorrow from work but the plastic on the fuse and fuse holder are melted together and I can't get the fuse out. It actually got so hot the wire feeding into it burned through and fell out when I cut it. The fuse however is not "popped" or burned through meaning it did not do what it was supposed to do.

Thank goodness I was on side streets and not the freeway and thank goodness it didn't catch fire actually or this could have been a very bad day. As it was I was able to splice the wire and bypass the fuse long enough to get me home. I have now returned the truck back to stock and have contacted JEGS. I explained the situation and they are giving me a full refund...minus the labor I put into it.

Up until this point I was pretty happy with the fans except for the fact that here in southern CA with the heat...they pretty much ran all the time.

So if you have the Flex-a-Lite fans take a look at your fuse block and make sure it's not getting hot. I think it was probably a bad fuseblock with a short on the in feed side that caused it to get so hot to melt...but I can't believe the fuse never "popped".

Thought I would share the info with you guys.

Chris

I have one on a 01 Dodge we use for pulling a trailer at work. Did the same thing 2 days ago. I also got it froms Jegs, so now that i know they will refund I guess I will call in the morning.

Flex A Lite has had problems in the past with their fuse holders, to the extent that some were recalled... You'd think they would quit cheaping out and start using something more reliable.

It sounds like the fuse blocks aren't up to the 30amp task.

Mine just did the same thing. Out doing some testing with the truck and suddenly notice "Engine Coolant Hot" on the DIC. I stopped my testing and took it easy for the one mile home. The cool air and coolant quickly got the temp back to normal without the fans. Got home and popped the hood and started looking at the controller. Coincedently, Nick (Diesel Power) told me today that he had noticed yesterday that his wires were completely melted, though the fans were still functioning. So, I immediately started looking at the wires quickly found that the main power wire from the controller to the fuse holder had melted at the fuse holder and wasn't secure. I wiggled it a bit and the fans started. I pulled the fuse out and a good bit of it is melted.

Needless to say I'll be on the phone with flexalite first thing in the morning.

I pulled the fuse out ............
:eek:

Careful, that's a very hard habit to break once you get started. :D

:eek:

Careful, that's a very hard habit to break once you get started. :D

):h

here is what mine looked like:http://dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25157&stc=1&d=1158132825

I never used my Maxi fuse, I using a 100amp braker, my automive electriction saw it and said those are junk and he had something better. I been using the same resetable breaker on my audio system in my past two truck and have never had any problems. I am amazed at the # of failures just in this group of people.

Mine didn't do as much damage as Nick's. Probably just because I caught it before it could. My fuse holder and the small wire to the controller looks exactly the same as his though, along with the fuse.

I've never used a fuse holder like this either, though I've used a dozen large fuses and holders in this truck without a problem. I would expect that a kit would come with a fuse and holder made for the application. This appears to be too much current for the fuse holder.

Is there only one 30 amp fuse for both fans?

The one Tx made has two 30 amp fuses, one for each fan... I wonder if this set up needs two fuses also?

Yep just one 30 amp fuse. I should have known better, it stuck out to me when I did the install I just trusted that the Flex-a-lite guys knew what they were doing. Mine looked just like the pics shown. The main wire on mine actually broke off and that's what finally shut the fans off. I think Flex-a-Lite need to make some changes before they burn somebody's truck to the ground.


Chris

man that sucks...and its scarey too

Don't thee fans pull 37 amps?

I would assume that someone here forward those pics and/or info to Flex-A-Lite. Anyone here and reply from them? Wonder what they would say about this.

Guess the good thing here is that your trucks didnt go up in flames. Then they would have said it was your fault for not istalling something right.

Yep just one 30 amp fuse. I should have known better, it stuck out to me when I did the install I just trusted that the Flex-a-lite guys knew what they were doing. Mine looked just like the pics shown. The main wire on mine actually broke off and that's what finally shut the fans off. I think Flex-a-Lite need to make some changes before they burn somebody's truck to the ground.


Chris

:exactly:

I was hesitant about the 30 amp fuse but since I had not heard of problems from the users before me I went forward with it. In addition, I accepted that Flex-A-Lite had researched this and knew what was needed...

I'm on hold with Flex-A-Lite as I type this to see what they are going to do and I'll be giving them a link to this thread.

I just got off the phone with Bob in tech support at Flex-A-Lite and he indicated they are working on the problem. He said they don't know what the problem is (though he indicated they had an idea) and really couldn't tell me what to do. He said if it were him he would use a 40 amp circuit breaker in place of the fuse holder for now. All he could offer was a new fuse and holder. I don't like that idea since the first one let go. He said they have 1200 of these out there and only a "handful" of them are having problems but they already know about the problem and even have one of the melted fuse holders there.

I gave him a link to this thread and advised him that he should get involved here so we'll see what happens.

Nice to hear that you got ahold of them. Hopefully they will listen and also come on the board to see.

The part that concerns me is that HE said only a handfull are having problems. That is a handfull TOO MUCH. This type of problem could burn someones truck down. Then what? Get the "Sorry, we only have a handfull of those that burn out" speech?

Sorry about the rant, I dont have one on my truck BUT just dont want to see any of our member burn their trucks up or worst, someone get hurt.

so what gauge wire are we thinking we actually need for the main power feed? 10 should be enough right?

This is my experience with Flex-a-lite fans...

Same product, but various ones I tried in a Jeep.

1st Recommended set, $300 bucks, vehicle overheated on idling, 2 fans
running. Temp control PCB to enable fans melted on day 2. Hard wired to switch, fuse holder and wiring burned up.

Solution to the above by Flex-a-lite was to buy an aluminum radiator and shroud, then replace with the same unit above. Obviously went back to mechanical fan and ran fine.

Now, 3 years later, new and improved units. Tried again for $330. Shroud had to be modified to fit, vehicle overheated by just idling, temp control circuit board got hot enough to melt solder connections. By passed again for switch and then fuse holder and wiring melted.

Advice again was to go to an Aluminum radiator with their fan setup.

By the way, no refund or replacement because obviously I did not properly connect the 12 volt connection properly. Apparently people get confused on red and black.

Reinstalled mechanical fan, works great. Changed to flex-alit flex fan. worked okay until under severe load. Could not flow enough. Changed to Derail flex fan, life has been good ever since.

Atleast I give them kudo's for consistantcy. I would not recommend this product to an enemy.

Back to diesels... It is my understanding that the current product offered by Flex-a-lite does not actually fit the radiator. It covers most, but not all. Is this true? If you pull, you have already lost CFM for the electric fans in addition to not pulling air through the entire stack.

I am not against electric fans themselves. Just this particular product.

4wheeln

so what gauge wire are we thinking we actually need for the main power feed? 10 should be enough right?

I'm thinking 1/0 ):h

Back to diesels... It is my understanding that the current product offered by Flex-a-lite does not actually fit the radiator. It covers most, but not all. Is this true? If you pull, you have already lost CFM for the electric fans in addition to not pulling air through the entire stack.


If you use a diesel for it's intended purpose (to tow heavy loads) these fans will not be sufficient. I rarely tow with this truck so I figured I'd give them a shot. After seeing how the react to an unloaded or only slightly loaded truck (12,000 GVW) I would not recommend them unless you use your truck as a daily driver.

You are right, they don't cover the radiator entirely. Add to that the CFM for them is already down from the fan clutch and you've got a disaster IMO if you try to tow any real weight.

Bob's attitude on the phone was not apologetic. He really didn't seem to show any concern for the problem. I had to dig pretty hard just to get a suggestion out of him to get my truck back up and running. And that's going to be at my own expense.

I'm waiting to see what, if anything, is done. I can tell you though that the fan clutch will be going back on my truck as soon as possible.

I got the same reaction when I called them and Jeg's didn't seem too concerned about it either. They are working on giving me my money back. Having switched back to the stock clutch fan I realized that the only benefit I saw with the electric fans was low speed or idle the A/C worked better. Other than that. I see lower tranny temps and lower engine temps even with light loads on the truck. I'm sure my milage went back down a little but that's not really a big deal for me.

I would not recomend these fans to anyone. It's just not worth the risk and if you think about the long term reliability...there is no way these electric motors are going to last as long at the clutch fan.

Chris

I just feel that it is to risky if im out of town on a long trip there is to many things to go wrong with them than the factory clutch

I'm thinking 1/0 ):h
:funnypost

Ok, I guess I can scratch that product off my wish list....

Ok, I guess I can scratch that product off my wish list....

:funnypost you may be able to get one real cheap now! it may be a little used and melted...

just installed mine three weeks ago "knock on wood" had to take plastic cover off tcm to mount.

Glad I saw this, I was thinking about this mod, not any more!!!

Given the problems that everyone seems to having with the aftermarket fans, I will offer the following information from previous experiences with retrofit installs of electric fans:

1) The first time that I tried aftermarket electric fans (1989), only two reputable mfg's made electric fans and I tried them both when I retrofitted a 4.3 Vortec and trans into a Jeep Wrangler. They both failed miserably. Went back to a stock fan and fan clutch. The research went on.

2) At the time, I owned an automotive shop, and I was advised by the Delco rep to try the Impala V8 factory electric fans or the Caddy V8 elect. fans. When I asked the Delco rep. what was the rational for using these fans, he went into great detail about the durability testing that goes into GM products (such as fans). He went on to say that all electric/electronic components were tested up to 100K hours of use (both loaded/unloaded). He said that this was much greater than 100K miles of use in a vehicle.

3) Based on his recommendations, I went to the salvage yard and yanked some out of an Caddy V8 (covered the same radiator area) and installed them in the Vortec Jeep. They worked flawlessly (the first setup did require some sorting out on the primary electrical to mimic the factory setup). Consider that a ZO6 Vette (with tight spacing in the eng. compt.) has been more than adequately cooled by these fans for a few years.

4) I used GM electric fans on four other project cars since then and I have not had any failures with these.

5) Based on what I have read so far on this forum, I will research the closest GM electric fan that should work on Duramaxes and search the scrapyards again for the right fan. I will, of course, check the specs on the late model 5.3 ltr. GM truck elect. fan but I will also look into the ZO6 electric fan setup. It appears that it takes a lot of cooling power to keep 427 inches of pure evil in check.

By the way, one by-product of using GM electric cooling fan setups, is that almost all of the components are serviceable separately. That means that if your fan motor is out, you can buy and replace just the fan motor, the fan, the mounts, etc. Please comment or add with any personal experiences in this area :):):)

Given the problems that everyone seems to having with the aftermarket fans, I will offer the following information from previous experiences with retrofit installs of electric fans:

1) The first time that I tried aftermarket electric fans (1989), only two reputable mfg's made electric fans and I tried them both when I retrofitted a 4.3 Vortec and trans into a Jeep Wrangler. They both failed miserably. Went back to a stock fan and fan clutch. The research went on.

2) At the time, I owned an automotive shop, and I was advised by the Delco rep to try the Impala V8 factory electric fans or the Caddy V8 elect. fans. When I asked the Delco rep. what was the rational for using these fans, he went into great detail about the durability testing that goes into GM products (such as fans). He went on to say that all electric/electronic components were tested up to 100K hours of use (both loaded/unloaded). He said that this was much greater than 100K miles of use in a vehicle.

3) Based on his recommendations, I went to the salvage yard and yanked some out of an Caddy V8 (covered the same radiator area) and installed them in the Vortec Jeep. They worked flawlessly (the first setup did require some sorting out on the primary electrical to mimic the factory setup). Consider that a ZO6 Vette (with tight spacing in the eng. compt.) has been more than adequately cooled by these fans for a few years.

4) I used GM electric fans on four other project cars since then and I have not had any failures with these.

5) Based on what I have read so far on this forum, I will research the closest GM electric fan that should work on Duramaxes and search the scrapyards again for the right fan. I will, of course, check the specs on the late model 5.3 ltr. GM truck elect. fan but I will also look into the ZO6 electric fan setup. It appears that it takes a lot of cooling power to keep 427 inches of pure evil in check.

By the way, one by-product of using GM electric cooling fan setups, is that almost all of the components are serviceable separately. That means that if your fan motor is out, you can buy and replace just the fan motor, the fan, the mounts, etc. Please comment or add with any personal experiences in this area :):):)



i did basically the same thing as you. i used a set off a 94 model z-28 camero. they were a twin fan design. i installed them on a 96 2wd rc/sb truck with a vortec 5.7L. i also installed another set on a 95 tbi 5.7l 4wd ec/sb. both sets worked flawless on both vehicles. i never spoke with anyone with any knowledge of the products, i just assumed that since GM would offer a 3 year/36k mile warranty with an optional 100k warranty on their vehicles that they had alot of faith in them. i dont know the cfm of the z-28 fans, z06, or later model trucks. but surely one of these systems can be retrofited into a duramax and keep the ect in check.

fwiw, i used a painless fan harness to wire them up with. it used a circuit breaker and relay to power the fans. and temp sensor (180*) to ground/start the fans. maybe some of you fellas with the flex-a-lite kit could check on this as an alternative to the wiring harness that comes standard with the dmax electric fan kit. i suppose that with different wiring you would lose the "adjustment" of partial fan cooling and it would be either on or off.