Had to call 911 on my car today.

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Terrapin88

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I had been sitting in the car talking to a friend with the AC on (car was idling) for about 30 mins. I dropped friend off and when she opened the door I could smell rubber or plastic burning. I tried to drive it the 3 minutes home to investigate but only made it 30 seconds before smoke was pouring out from under the hood. I jumped out and popped the hood and my passenger side radiator fan motor was on fire. I blew out the fire 3 times but it would relight each time so I called the Fire Dept. which was actually in view from where I stopped. IN the 4 minutes it took them to come I had the fire out. I had it towed home.

WTF? DO I have the worst luck or is this something that has happened to anyone else in a Lincoln or other cars? Been driving 26 years and a dozen or more cars now and have not seen this before.
 
Ugh - I've heard one of my fans making a noise. It's on my "eventually" lists but maybe I should step up its replacement schedule.

Until now I thought "Eh, it's just a bearing going, what can happen?"
 
My first thought as I was trying to blow the burning motor out was "why the hell don't I have an extinguisher in my trunk? lol

I felt like an ass when the fire truck and police showed up and there wasn't even any smoke left. When I called them motor was acting like trick birthday candles and kept relighting the fire so I just asked the dispatcher to send me someone with an extinguisher. But of course as soon as I hung up the phone I was able to finally blow out the flames. Glad I quit smoking a few months back. ;) On the bright side it was the passenger side fan so I just unhooked the power connecter to it from the driver side fan which is working fine. I drove around through town and the highway for an hour and the temp gauge didn't move. Not that I'm going to leave it at that but at least now I have a little breathing room to get the parts and time together to replace the motor. I'm going to do them both and get it over with.

I so wish I had taken a pic of my car on the side of the road with the fire truck and police surrounding it. Would have been a good profile pic. :)
 
Have never had this happen to a vehicle. Wouldn't think a Lincoln could catch fire like that, although stranger things have happened. If it's got 155k, it's hard telling what's been knocked around, overstressed, and otherwise worn over the years.
 
Yeah no doubt Septimus. I had a reply about this on another forum where the member said the owners manual states not to idle with the AC on for so long. I haven't had time to read the manual cover to cover yet but like you said, you wouldn't think a motor would catch fire like that. Evidently, from what I've read, the fans stay on the entire time your AC is on. They do not cycle like your compressor does but instead run constantly as long your AC is turned on. Who knew? I had a woman friend in the car with me and we lost track of time while talking, that and the fact that she was in a thin top and her headlights were on high due to the icy cold air coming from the dash vents. I sure wasn't watching the clock. ;)
 
I think the idling with AC has to do with the amp pull of that fan while the alternator isn't putting out much. The battery can handle the load for only so long.

Voltage drop = more current draw, which of course drops the voltage even more and raises the current draw, snowballing till something gives. Current = heat, so fan windings and fuses/breakers are likely to be unhappy as well.

It's still one of the best electric fans in the industry. It's a popular choice for people converting to electric fans on other cars.
 
I had to call 911 on my car also! (1999 Continental.) I was driving home from work. As I approached my usual off-ramp, I began to smell rubber or plastic burning. I took the off-ramp and pulled over on a wide, empty semi-industrial street. Once stopped, the smoke became quite evident, and when I opened the hood even more so. I kept thinking how this was the last thing I would ever have expected to happen to a car of mine -- it was on fire! I too called 911. By the time the Fire Dept. arrived the fire had gone out by itself. The worst part of it was, the firemen didn't believe me. I had seen flames on the passenger side radiator fan motor, but they were sure I had just panicked at the sight of a glowing orange component. They even thought it would be safe to drive home, which was only about 2 miles away. I did drive it home. A mechanic friend replaced the whole double-fan assembly for me that weekend. We found a pristine replacement assembly at a salvage yard for $16.00. Works fine now.

Small club. Nice to discover another member.
 
$16 bucks!? Wow Smokenuryzz, that's a steal. Yeah it seems to be a small club but I'd prefer not to be in it. lol My AC still works ice cold and I haven't overheated in traffic yet running just the one fan, but it try not to use the AC and never when sitting still. Replacing the fan is on my to do list, but it's such a pita to do it I've been putting it off. Plus an aftermarket replacement fan is $100. That kind of chaffs my ass.
 
If you're talking about the "cooling fan" that you can find on sites like AutoZone, you're in fotr a surprise - it isn't the right part. The replacement part is the whole double fan assembly and it costs like $600.00. I bought that "cooling fan" first and wound up having to take it back. That's when we headed to the salvage yard. My friend spent about 2 hours on his back under a junked Continental on a scorching day in So Cal getting that part out, then another couple getting mine out and putting the replacement in. I never ran my AC while sitting idling before then, but I have since then, and it works just fine. Maybe I'm wrong about the part, but that was my experience. Good luck to you.
 
No, you're right about the cost of the assembly. I've seen it from 400-600 bucks. Insanity. I have no need to replace the entire assembly. I just plan to replace the burned out fan itself. I had read that those single fans @ autozone, etc. were not direct replacements. I've been keeping my eyes open on ebay for a factory one. Sounds like you have a good friend. According to the manual, the radiator must come out to remove the fan assembly and then the individual fans. What a ridiculous pita. I've been procrastinating doing this job. I would prefer to install 2 new OEM fans instead of installing a used one to up the chances of me not having to do this again while I own the car, but the cost of doing so is prohibitive.
 
If I have to pull the radiator on a 15 year old car, it's getting a new radiator along with the new fan(s)!
 
In a perfect world (and if my car had 100,000 less miles on it) I would too. But @ 160,000 miles I don't want to sink too much money into it. It's a comfortable commuter but if something expensive that I can't or don't want to fix breaks, It's out the door. I'm just going to keep fixing the wear parts when needed and enjoy it as long as I can.
 
Terrapin88 said:
In a perfect world (and if my car had 100,000 less miles on it) I would too. But @ 160,000 miles I don't want to sink too much money into it. It's a comfortable commuter but if something expensive that I can't or don't want to fix breaks, It's out the door. I'm just going to keep fixing the wear parts when needed and enjoy it as long as I can.
Click to expand...

I would probably do the same. Had a conti from 72K - 226K and didn't have a problem with the fans. In that time, it NEVER once went on a tow truck. The only and last time it went on a tow truck was to the junkyard. I just got rid of it a few months ago after it sat for a year. No one wanted parts for these cars, so off it went. Still rode on air springs which I had replaced from the stealership for $2400.

Gone but not forgotten
[video=youtube;FC_PxUc_oH8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC_PxUc_oH8[/video]
 
I am back in college full time (@ 42 years old) so I'm living frugally as money is an object right now. I picked my 98 Conti up for $1100 in May w/155,000 miles on it. The engine, tranny and air shocks system all seem healthy. With the repairs I've made so far; water pump, tensioner assembly and pulley, idler pulley, 8 new ebay COPs, spark plugs, front rotors, calipers and pads, serp belt, replaced all the old rotting rubber vacuum lines I could find, and doing the labor myself, I'm into it for about $2200 including the $1100 purchase price and the $300 it cost me for a local muffler shop to weld up the rot holes in one of my cats and replace the flex pipe. I still need to replace the rear rotors, calipers and pads and replace the one burned out fan. Before the snow falls I'll need new tires too. I think I should be good for a while once that's all done. I need to get 2 years out of this car. Anything longer than that is gravy.
 
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