I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on what happened with my truck last week. You can see details in my build thread but these are stock 2012 Camaro fans and shroud on a stock 2012 Camaro radiator in my 1991 C1500. The truck has a little over 10K miles since the swap and it has never had an issue, even down here in the Florida heat. The fans don't normally even come on unless I'm stopped but it was in the mid 90's and I was stuck in some stop and go when I noticed it was running about 10-15 degrees hotter than normal. I got it home but it was raining so I wasn't able to look at until the next day. I popped the hood and noticed the fans were rubbing on the shroud, and crooked, pulled them and this is what I found. The plastic center of both fans is melted like the fan motor spun while the fans were stopped and it somehow spun the metal centers before the motors locked up.


I've ordered a new set and they'll be here today but I would like to figure out what happened so I can not have to do this again. Anyone ever seen anything like this?

Rock

 

Following along to learn something. Glad it didn’t overheat and damage anything.

 

How is everything mounted? Any chance the fans could've somehow shifted relative to the shroud? (In other words, the fan-to-shroud contact started before the fans overheated and melted the plastic.)

 

In the old 700 series Volvos, the fan into the shroud was a clear symptom of failed motor mounts....

 

Are the fans genuine GM or AC Delco parts, or aftermarket?

 

The fan motor got so hot that it melted the plastic around the metal mount. I would check the current draw from the new fans to make sure they are within spec.

It could be a simple as the bearings in the old motor were starting to wear and caused excess heat as well.

 

The fans in the shroud were brand new (Dorman brand) and they are mounted to a brand new radiator (AC Delco), everything is exactly how it would be in a Camaro none of the tabs are broken and the bolts were tight. Before it overheated the fans were working fine keeping everything cool in the Florida summer heat. I finally got the new fans and shroud I ordered and the shroud is cracked so I can't put anything back together yet. I'll check the voltage though when I'm able to put new ones in.

Rock