Should fans be tied to the 10 Amp A/C fuse

Hi,

I'm still trying to figure out why my 10 Amp A/C fuse is intermittently snapping. When the A/C fuse is removed, the radiator fans verifiably cut off, whether the A/C was on or not (this can lead to overheating!) The question I have is, why on earth do the fans seem to be tied to the A/C fuse? Is this the way it's supposed to be? I've got the wiring diagrams, but I still don't see how they're wired to the fuse.

[lee]

the 10 amp fuse provides power to the relays.

are you looking at this diagram?

Wow, okay that's interesting because none of the diagrams I have show the relays being on the same circuit in the same way that one does. I've got two diagrams, one more detailed than the other and they aren't nearly as obvious as that one. Thanks.

Is it likely that one of the relays is shorting out? I'd like to think that the compressor is okay but given that it is new the clutch may be shorting out (or drawing too much current, or both). Is there an easy way to test this?

[lee]

you have to look at the A/C diagram as well as the cooling fan diagrams.

cooling diagrams cover the fans for the engine running hot. the A/C diagram covers one or both fans coming on (2nd fan has to do with the trinary switch & pressures) in support of the A/C system.

you got me in terms of why. if it works for a long time without the A/C running, then it seems likely to be an A/C problem. if it works for 10 minutes before blowing, then I think you have some real issues to troubleshoot. I wonder (and this is really just me idling thinking) if you have too much freon, then when the system builds up too much pressure, the trinary switch tries to kick in the 2nd fan, and that is causing the failure. Maybe you could pull the 2nd fan relay and see what happens????

I've never heard of a relay internally shorting, but then I've not heard of a lot of things that I learn new every day.

I could give that a try tomorrow. I'd like to test the current through the circuit, but since my multimeter only goes up to 250mA (what good is that?) I can't. I suppose I could put in a 5Amp fuse; if it pops immediately then that would indicate that the current draw is too much with the A/C on.

Perhaps I could also just drive around with the engine temperature sensor disconnected for a while? I think that would cause the ECM to freak out and run the fans full blast all the time.