'03 LS8 Fan Failure

[TooManyToys]

I had a wiped fan, but still had issues after putting in a replacement salvage fan. This fan worked except not when the control signal plug was installed. It turned out that the crimp on one of the terminals was not fully done at assembly on the harness side, so my original unplugging and moving around pulled the wire out of the terminal. Externally it looked fine. Once that was corrected the fan has worked proper since. So I'd try a continuity check from the terminal to the wire about an inch downstream of the connector.

So the fan was frozen, a replacement worked proper, but I incurred a connector failure during the work.

 

[Jeff M]

It turned out that the crimp on one of the terminals was not fully done at assembly on the harness side, so my original unplugging and moving around pulled the wire out of the terminal. Externally it looked fine. Once that was corrected the fan has worked proper since. So I'd try a continuity check from the terminal to the wire about an inch downstream of the connector.

I wound up taking it to a small shop I know and it was a connection problem at the harness side of the plug you had problems with. It's sorted now and the new fan is working as it should. I had checked for power when the key was on but I had not tested the continuity of the other wire. So if you're having a non-operative electric fan that tests out good then start by checking both wires on the harness side connector.

 

[joegr]

I'll just throw this in...
Those connectors (like many) are very easy to damage when probing them. It's often best to get a small stranded wire and push that into the connector, instead of directly pushing the probes from your meter in.
(Not saying that is what happened here...)

 

[TooManyToys]

It wasn't for me, it was just disconnecting then reconnecting the harness. I would go as far to say that just moving the harness could cause a failure on some.

I've done a lot of harness work over the years on Ford based harnesses, and this was the first time I could where the wire supporting crimp was no completed, only the electrical connection crimp was done. The second wire of the connector was done properly.