A few days ago I was driving with my AC full blast when I noticed the temperature gauge on my car start to rise! I pulled over and opened the hood and saw that my radiator fans were not spinning. I checked the fuses and noticed one of them was burned out. I replaced the fuse and the fan relay made it home. I wasn’t sure which fan was tripping the fuse so I traded cables with the other fan and let my car run idle till it began to overheat hoping the faulty fan would trip the other fuse. Both Fans seemed to be working fine. I turned off the car … and waited for the car to return to normal temperature before proceeding with other tests… once cool the car wouldn’t start! I get power to all the instruments but the Starter wont turn! how are these things related?! help!
fuses tend to blow when there is too much current draw through them, that is what they are there for. But, since both fans work ok, it must be a short between one of the fuse wires, and ground. That would drain the battery, and if you also have poor battery connections, such as corroded posts, lugs, or wire to lug connections, that would explain the failure to start. This is one possible answer, but I am sure there are others.
I just tested the fans again running cables from the fan directly to the battery. One of the fans is definitely malfunctioning and struggling to spin like the other. That probably explains the fuse blowing out. Could I have tripped some other safety device that is not letting my engine start?