black bear e harness melted in extreme heat

[candyman74]

has anyone else had their harneses melt in this heat. last thursday i started my truck up to let it cool down for about 10 mins and when i got to the gas statiion a few miles down i smelled a burning wire smell and then my fans cut off. i popped the hood and couldnt even touch the damn relays they were so hot. i hurried back to the house before the truck over heated. i let the engine cool down and noticed the harness had melted. my relays are zip tied to the power steering hose because the wires are too short to mount higher in the engine compartment.

 

[imi4tth3w]

you going to want to move those relays. and probably replace them. you do realize that engine coolant hoses are going to be VERY hot?

 

[candyman74]

i havent has a single problem untill now. im going with the exteme heat. also i mounted them on the power steering hose not the radiator hose but i will be making the wires longer so i can mount them away from the engine. i was just doing a fyi for anyone thinking about doing e fans with the blackbear harness

 

[Rivieraracing]

I agree with the wires being too short to mount them farther away from the engine and radiator, they need to be about a foot longer at least!!

 

[BlackBearPerf]

has anyone else had their harneses melt in this heat. last thursday i started my truck up to let it cool down for about 10 mins and when i got to the gas statiion a few miles down i smelled a burning wire smell and then my fans cut off. i popped the hood and couldnt even touch the damn relays they were so hot. i hurried back to the house before the truck over heated. i let the engine cool down and noticed the harness had melted. my relays are zip tied to the power steering hose because the wires are too short to mount higher in the engine compartment.

I agree with the wires being too short to mount them farther away from the engine and radiator, they need to be about a foot longer at least!!

We recommend mounting them to the PCM cover...

 

[RonG423]

Power sterring pump fluid gets very hot and even hotter as outside ambient temp goes up, hotter when big wheels are installed and hotter if the cooling system is insufficient. It averages 180-220* new or in its best condition. GM recognized this problem and started installing an oil-to-water power-steering cooler on the '98 SS and WS6 F-bodies, and also providing it as an option on all LS1-powered F-bodies. By 2000, the cooler was standard equipment on all LS1 F-bodies.

Julie is right, it should have been mounted on the cover. I'm almost 100% thats what install instructions show. The main purpose for dimentions of the harness are to limit its mounting and keep it close to the PCM as possible. The cover/pcm is completley isolated and is sitting directly behind the fan and only effected by engine bay temps and NOT engine operating temps like the P/S pump.

There are close to 1000 Blackbear harnesses in use and this is the first I have ever heard of being to short.

 

[ScottyBoy]

I have seen numerous incidents of this happening on all the forums I lurk on. You can't exactly blame Blackbear as they don't actually make the harnesses, they just sell them. I have NEVER heard of one report of an OEM relay harness melting or burning up, that's why I searched the Junkyards until I found one. I added my E-fans last summer using an OEM harness and relays I took off of a 06 in the junkyard. Everything has worked flawlessly since day one.

 

[dwmmatt23]

I was just searching for ways of testing my Efans cause after about six months they stopped working the other day, now at idle i over heat. My blackbear harness is zip tied to the pcm, I did notice the power wire coming out of the power box is melted where its sliced from blackbear into the loom. I was wondering if there was any fuses to check in a 2001 tahoe that could cuse it to stop or is it just the relays? If it is can you tell me what relays they are so I can pick them up after work and try them at home?

 

[candyman74]

i wasnt blaming blackbear i know they dont make the harness. and like i said it worked great untill the extreme heat. i was just asking if anyone else had this issue. id order another harness from them again not a problem. also i looked all around for an oem e fan harness and couldnt find one so i went with the next best thing.

 

[dwmmatt23]

Just looked at mine and my relay sockets are also melted, mine was attached to pcm. Can there be a short or something to cause this?